his past week, I was talking with a number of Performance Lifestyle community members (by phone) about eating for health, higher performance and natural weight loss.
As usual, someone asked, "How do you stay so disciplined", as if it was hard to eat a better quality d.iet.
I smiled and thought to myself, this person needs to get free of the nutrient poor way of eating AND "thinking". I’m not sure what keeps a person stuck more, nutrient poor eating, or thinking.
How we eat is a major influencer on how we think, because how we think about food, is largely based on the results we experience.
When you eat nutrient poor, you are going to think poorly about food.
Case in point:
I eat a nutrient rich di.et. That means, I eat a diet comprised of foods that give my body all of the nutrients it needs to maintain health and perform at a high level.
That also means I don’t eat much at all of those foods that fill my body up with stuff it doesn’t need, or want at this point.
Clear and simple…
What’s not so clear, are the reasons why eating the "nutrient rich" way requires virtually no discipline, meanwhile millions of people struggle to eat better and resort to eating less in order to shed the inevitable – excess pounds.
Here’s the reason why…
You will have little to no drive to eat those advertised-popular, addictive, drug-like foods that load your body up with stuff it doesn’t need, but at one point truly desired…
…you know the stuff that you’ll find abundant in nutrient poor foods – artificial sugar, saturated fat, caffeine and various other stimulants and waste products that found a way into your meal…
when…
…your body gets used to eating real clean, food. You know the foods that contain vitamins, minerals, water, fiber, real food carbohydrate, health – promoting protein, essentials fat, phytochemicals etc
… food without that crap that screws up your system.
At one point I truly desired the pseudo and junk foods that contained all that stuff, even though my intention was to eat better. That is probably your experience too.
Like you, I had been trained to eat those foods, my body craved them, especially when I stopped for a short period of time and experienced withdrawal.
My body "tolerated" them, but ultimately did not need or want them. It let me know this in no uncertain terms as I slowly stopped eating them and periodically tried to eat them again.
As timed passed and my body got clean because I was eating real food in ever tastier ways, my body would not let me eat unsuccessfully with unwanted consequences…
… my body wanted health and success, and so does yours.
It took time to get free of those foods, but at some point what I once resisted "give up" – (nutrient poor thinking) I simply "eliminated" – (nutrient rich thinking) for the primary reason that started this message…
… NOT because I am "that" disciplined and NOT because I gave up anything. I always maintain(ed) that I can/could eat anything I want.
The only time dicipline is required is when you are in transition and you need to change a response to the negative consequences created by nutrient poor foods, or you are in social situations, but are not set up to succeed.
Sure, I can stay focused like the best of them, but the truth is, when it comes to food, and addiction to stimulants that make you
feel high, (at least at first), I am just like everybody else – prone to addiction.
Oh the stories I could tell!
Besides the fact that I love the way I eat, look, feel and perform eating NutrientRich; the reason I appear so disciplined, is…
PAIN AVOIDANCE!
I feel like such shit when I eat poor quality food, that it just isn’t worth it.
Go to nutrientrich.com to see a video where I talk about this on Comcast.
It’s about time this becomes one of the topics of conversation. I am not alone.
I hear the same thing from just about everyone I talk to that cleans up their diet. They too are not that disciplined. Like me, they just aren’t in pain and feeling like crap.
Once you start eating nutrient rich foods, it eventually becomes very hard to go back to eating nutrient poor…
… your desire changes.
My next post will be about eating the way you desire… it’s the only way to eat successfully.