Why keep nutrition basic
In the interest of complete transparency, I should begin by pointing out the irony in the methods prior to me writing the article that you are now reading.
This is in fact the third version of this blog post. It’s the third, because – twice – I read back the content and realised that I had completely fallen victim to the same fallacy that the blog post criticises: making nutrition way too complicated.
It’s THAT easy to do. While there are a number of more questionable reasons for why; influencers, marketers, and particular organisations will over-complicate nutrition – a lot of the time it’s likely just a result of having such an abundance of information available to us and not a lot of tools to know how to navigate this sea of nutritional facts.
The good news is, you don’t need to spend a lifetime trawling through the most recent articles published in medical journals and trying out every new and exciting diet strategy shared on social media. Most of what we NEED to know in order to feel great in our skin, live full lives and perform well – can be pretty simple, and when actioned well – even enable us to truly start LIVING and reduce our time focusing on the minutia or humouring the latest fad diet.
Hey, sometimes the small stuff, the nuance, is mega-exciting. I love talking about muscle protein synthesis and the conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA. But I know that 99 times out of 100 – these aren’t going to be the big rocks, and by putting too much focus on them we could fatigue our ability to make dramatic changes in areas that are simple to action and can have huge reward.
So if Omega-3 Fatty acid conversions aren’t the big rocks, then what are?
The Big 3 Rocks
The big rocks are the actions you can take that deliver the results you want while being understandable and implementable enough that they fit into your lifestyle and can therefore be sustained. If you can find actionables that you can sustain, you can equally find results that you can sustain. And THAT is winning.
Protein
The most common big rocks that we find when working with our clients and members are things such as; finding a way to increase protein consumption. Just increasing your protein consumption can help manage your appetite, improve your immunity, and your growth and repair of muscle, so if it’s something you’re able to do – you’re ticking lots of boxes by making one adjustment. Furthermore, it is something that is fairly easy to do in our modern world, with the fitness industry making everything from protein bars to protein pasta and with easier access to meat and vegetarian sources of protein – it removes barriers to entry of increasing your own consumption if it’s something that would be helpful to do.
Water
Another big rock can be increasing your water consumption. It sounds simple on the surface, but by drinking an extra bottle of H20 or even being more mindful of your fluid consumption – you can improve your; digestive health, performance, cognitive awareness, appetite and a number of other benefits.
Sleep
Sleep is another powerful area to place your attention, also boasting the ability to be addressed in a number of ways – from working on your time spent sleeping, to your quality of sleep, your sleep environment, the things you are exposing yourself to before you go to sleep etc. With so many ways in which we can choose to improve our sleep – based on our own personal situation – most people will be able to find a protocol that works for them and in turn – makes them feel more vital, energetic, responsive, aware of hunger cues and overall healthier.
Three big – effective - rocks. But I bet they hit the audience of your mind like a tumble weed…
I hear you. These things have probably been said to you hundreds of times and they don’t sound as sexy or exciting as a ‘fat mobilising diet shake’ or a ‘three hour metabolism spiking intermittent fasting protocol’. That’s the exact reason we are here today talking about the importance of keeping nutrition simple, because someone has to stand up for simple – when simple doesn’t sell – but wild and exciting does.
Actionables
While we have extensive experience in what can be effective for most people - the big rocks are completely personal to you. Your change may be cycling to work instead of driving, or prepping salad for lunch the day before, maybe it's spending more time doing the things you love. The action that you take that has the potential to cause the most dramatic positive change – doesn’t have to sound wild or exciting at all – it only has to deliver on your health – and be actionable for as long as you want to sustain your results (we are talking a lifetime chief).
If you are reading this, and you’ve ever felt demoralised or demotivated after trying a new meal plan you bought from an online coach, or trying out a new diet strategy that you read about in the newspaper – you’re not alone. The likelihood is – you tried these things out, because you’d already considered the stuff we’ve talked about and it didn’t work for you, and someone else told you that their method was new, exciting and magically effective. This someone then appeals to your experience of trying other things before, and wraps up their product or diet in a big bag of complicated explanations that sound completely new, and understandably you pluck up the courage to give it a try.
The huge positive takeaway here is what this says about your proactiveness and willingness. Even if the method didn’t work (that’s not on you), it gives you an example of how committed you can be when you choose to take action.
Put Principles into Practice
If we can apply this commitment and willingness to the big rocks, the changes can be transformational. Even if you know about; protein, water and all of the other things that seem simple but can be greatly effective – sometimes the roadblock can be in our intervention – not in our understanding. We may know how helpful it can be to have more protein and consume more water, but the means that may be necessary to achieve that will likely be different for you than it will be for the next person. The principles can be simple and sometimes universal – but the methods are often not. Keeping it simple in principle e.g. ‘some more volume in your meals may help you feel more satisfied’ gives you the space to play around with methods to add more volume to your plate and work out what works for you. Making it complicated ‘add these fibre tablets to your drinks and include 356 grams of spinach with every meal when the moon is full’ sounds so new and different that it appeals – but it’s method in practice is unsustainable and far more rigid than it needs to be – leading to the inevitable outcome that we are unable to keep up with this protocol, even if we noticed some benefit for a time.
Team, keeping it simple gives you space to personalise your own journey through nutrition – to make decisions that align with the science and with your own values. As another ‘hat-nod’ to science, generally speaking, the things that have the strongest evidence base are often the most simple principles. So next time someone asks which exciting diet you’re on, and you explain to them how you’re following some key basic principles, remember your principles may seem simple – but this doesn’t make you any less of an exciting scientist.
Here’s to health.
Coach Louis
If you’re already a member and haven’t watched the nutrition basics course please head to the SweatIT App to watch.
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