The All-Or-Nothing Diet Approach
I was on holiday around the pool when one of my close friends said -
"You've got big nipples"
Everyone burst out laughing. I looked at theirs and then mine and realised -
"Yeah they are a bit bigger"
Embarrassed, I grabbed my t-shirt and pulled it over my head as quickly as I could. I went into the bathroom that night looking at myself in the mirror. Poking, prodding and pinching... I analysed every part of my body.
I picked up one of my mates men's health magazines and started comparing my body against theirs. They weren't the same, I didn't like what I saw.
I thought to myself -
What could I do to change them?
This is the first mistake I made. I cared too much what others thought. So I decided if I got as lean as the guys in the magazines, they would shrink. And if I gained muscle on my chest, they'd change shape. So as soon as I got back off holiday, I started going to the gym.
I saw results fast…
My chest got bigger, the veins on my arms popped and my abs were more defined than ever. I became obsessed with progress, like a 5-year-old discovering Pokemon for the first time.
I was lifting heavier than all of my friends and they started coming to me for fitness advice. I was adding 2.5kg - 5kg to my squat, bench and deadlifts every couple of weeks. I was getting compliments about my shape too.
This highlights exactly what you can expect to see if you're new to resistance training…
You see results faster. Why? You have a lot of room for progress. But there will be a point when these kinds of gains slow down. And hitting that sweet spot in training requires a little work. But when it's done right, you can continue to see amazing results.
Back to the story...
Seeing this much progress made me feel like I had my training sorted. But I wanted to take it up another level. I wanted to be bigger, stronger and leaner so that my nipples would shrink quicker.
That's when I started to look at what I was eating more closely:
I bought myself protein powder
I started eating an extra meal each day
I became more and more focused and the changes showed
My chest got even bigger…
I was lifting even heavier and the guys I respected in the gym starting paying me compliments. It felt like my nutrition was the missing piece of the puzzle.
But despite months of hard training and looking at what I was eating more closely, my nipples hadn't shrunk or changed shape. My answer was to train more and start tracking everything that I was putting into my body.
So I started eating 3500 calories a day, 200g protein, 350g of carbs, and 144g of fat, so I could change my body faster.
Yeah I got really anal at this point…
And it was working. I gained even more muscle. My biceps were popping out of my t-shirts. And I was eating what I wanted. But looking in the mirror I still wasn't happy. To anyone else I looked great. But I hated taking my top off. I hated going on holiday sweating in a t-shirt because I wouldn't take my t-shit off. To the point where I stopped going on holiday altogether.
I'd tried changing the one thing I didn't like about my body and it hadn't worked. I felt like giving up.
This is where things started to get worse.
Gradually I found myself eating more to feel better. My diet started to change. I started choosing foods I wouldn't normally. Well, not in those amounts anyway.
And the more I did it the more I ended up eating. But the more I ate the guiltier I felt. It was a vicious circle. I knew I needed to break it before it broke me. But I was too late.
I didn't see the changes I wanted to see in my body. So I started eating to feel better. But the more I ate the worse I felt. I'd tried to break this cycle many times without success.
Then one Saturday everything came to a head…
I ate 2 tubs of Ben and Jerry’s, 2 whole packs of biscuits, and a bag of sweets. All in the space of 2 hours. My family watched in disbelief.
I laughed it off. But I regretted it immediately. I'd been doing this for months. And I'd got to the point where I felt like the food had started to control me. And I needed to take back control.
So I went upstairs, went into the bathroom, threw my head over the toilet and made myself throw up. But looking at my reflection, I had a moment of clarity. I realised this needed to stop - I'd gone too far. All this had started with one conversation around the pool. I'd let one throw-away comment control my life for so long.
It'd turned into an unhealthy obsession with the way I looked and the food I ate…
That's when I decided to make changes. I hit the reset button on my diet. I stopped tracking because it'd become obsessive. Instead, I started measuring my food differently.
That might sound a little weird at first. Let me explain...
I started measuring my food with my hands:
A fistful of chicken is roughly 20-30g of protein
1-2 fists of vegetables make up roughly a third of a plate
And I started to build my plates of food like this. Tracking at this moment in time wasn't working for me. But despite this, I still had fitness goals.
I wanted to feel fitter, stronger and healthier. And we knew there would be others - like me - that didn't always want to track... But still had fitness goals they wanted to achieve.
So Nick and I started working on a solution…
And we created Lean6 High-Performance Coaching.
Remember when I asked the question -
Do you know one of the biggest reasons we're unable to stick to our diets?
This story highlights one reason. We adopt an all-or-nothing approach towards our diets. Which means the food we eat is either 'really good' or 'really bad'. And we've been made to think this way. But once we understand why this happens... THEN we can change our perception of food and "dieting".
This is one-way supermarkets and food companies influence what we buy. Did you know end-of-aisle displays increase sales of fizzy drinks by over 52%?.
Is it any wonder we struggle sticking to our diets when we're constantly bombarded with hyper-palatable food and drinks? Think about what you see at the end of an aisle. Buy one get one frees, red labels, discounts and brightly coloured packaging. Rarely do we see fruit, veg and water placed here.
Here's the research articles if you wanna check it out
Anyway, back on the topic…
Ever bought a family-sized chocolate bar and eaten it in one go? I used to buy them every weekend. And once it was open I knew it would be a matter of minutes, before the whole thing had gone. I used to think to myself -
"I know I'm going to eat you so I may as well get it over and done with now".
I wasn't thinking about enjoying the chocolate bar. I was just thinking about finishing it. When I finished the whole bar, I felt guilty and really bloated.
It felt like I'd just undone all of my hard work. Then I'd feel even worse about my body and eat to feel better. I didn't stop and take a moment to breathe and think.
This is one of the biggest reasons we're unable to stick to our diets…
We think of them as all-or-nothing. One beer, chocolate bar or bag of crisps can make us feel like we've blown it. Like we've let ourselves down.
And then what do we do? We think "sod it" and eat more. But let's be clear…
Is an extra 200 calories of chocolate, crisps or beer going to throw our diet out the window?
No. But 2000 calories might. We need to stop thinking about our diets this way. It stops us from ever getting to our goals. Boom or bust. On again off again. Fall off the wagon Fridays. Back on track Mondays. That's how this approach plays out.
Remember when we mentioned supermarkets and food companies influence what we buy?
Well, this fuels the all-or-nothing way of thinking towards our diets. Why? Think about when people come back from shopping with more than they need…
The family-sized bag of crisps, a 4 pack of chocolate bars or a multipack of beers are often cheaper than buying one. So 1 bar can quite easily become 4 if it's in the house.
Food companies, drink companies and supermarkets have made it easier and cheaper to over-consume less healthy food and drinks.
We're not saying these food and drinks are bad, but they should be consumed in moderation, especially if we have fitness goals. It's important you're aware of this, because then we can change the approach towards our diet.
Make a shopping list.
By doing this you're less likely to buy the stuff you don't need. We've designed shopping lists so that you can go into the supermarket with a plan, and without picking up stuff you don't need.
Just so you know what happened with me…
I've got a much healthier relationship with food now. Fortunately, I knew what I needed to do. Because I'd studied food psychology, I could see what was happening and was able to nip things in the bud.
I put a plan in place and became a lot more mindful of what I was eating. And I felt way happier. This shift in focus made me less concerned with the way I looked.
I'd love to tell you these changes happen overnight. But it's not like that. You need to stick at it. And it's why Lean6 High-Performance Coaching is designed so you can approach your diet in a way that works for YOU.
