Diet vs. Nutrition

It was about one year ago, right around the time of my birthday that I decided I had had enough. I was tired of being overweight. I was tired of being out of shape. I was tired of being less than my best. My birthday is right around the corner and as I look back on what I have accomplished I am pleased but I know there is still so much more to do. What was once a chore has become a lifestyle and I hope to share my enthusiasm with you.

Where to begin?

The choice for health is a simple one that can be summed up in a simple maxim:

“Eat Better. Move around More.”

That is it folks.

No tricks, gimmicks, fancy lingo or anything like that.

Eat better. Move around More.

You know what it is to eat better. If you can get it at a gas station or while you are sitting in a drive through, chances are pretty good it is not to be found under the banner of “Eat Better”.

Yes, plenty of multi-national companies have spent a ton of money to try and convince you that if you eat off of this special menu at their restaurant or if you simply buy this product you can be the statistical anomaly (think Jared of Subway Fame or the Taco Bell Lady) and become “healthy”.

Aint gonna happen.

If you think about the food you put into your mouth as being part of a “diet” you will fail. Being on a diet is basically saying you are slave to food and have no power over your choices. This is no place to draw strength from.

Instead, you have to think about the food you consume as being part of a nutritional plan and you will begin a Copernican Revolution with your relationship with food.

It may seem like a trifling bit of semantics but hear me out.

Being on a “diet” implies you are temporarily deviating from the norm (the food choices you previously made that ultimately provided the impetus for wanting to go on a diet) and once you reach a new point of stasis, chances are you will simply return to the old ways.

Hello Slave!

If you look at the food you eat as being part of a nutritional plan you start to see things from a much different perspective. You aren’t looking to go back to the old ways ever again. Of course there will be a stray bite of chocolate cake, or whatever it may be, but you are in control of your nutritional plan.

I have found a tremendous amount of success following the Paleo/Primal mode of nutrition but this isn’t for everyone, just as veganism, raw, or any of the other countless modes of nutrition aren’t for everyone.

The trick is to find out what works for you.

Be skeptical of anyone who seems more interested in selling you a “health product” than in showing you a better way.

To put it another way, if there is an advertising budget behind it, chances are the goal is Profit and not Health.

Your body is the greatest tool you will ever own and it deserves to be treated as such. You show nothing of virtue by abstaining from alcohol or tobacco or vice when you are slugging down monstrously oversized soft drinks or imbibing in any of the near criminally toxic “Food Products” that try and pass as Food.

Are you fed up with business as usual?

The choice is yours.