There is this KETO DIET, INTERMITTENT FASTING DIET, PALEO DIET, VEGAN DIET, ZONE DIET.. lists goes on…
Whenever I get these questions I simply say to them that I don’t fall into a single “diet camp”. And that frustrates the hell out of people since the human brain likes easy categorization.
Since we human beings are tribalistic by nature, we always tend to cast the same principle to our nutrition too. We live in a different world today as the culture or tradition or demography doesn’t bound over the choices of food a person can have.
A common bedouin person in the barren desert can have the leisure to consume the most luxurious Caviar with nonseasonal exotic fruits.
That might be a bit exaggerated, but you get the point.
Here’s why: I don’t accept there’s a single, absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt best diet for every person to accompany, always, and forever.
and I wish if the people who ask me to choose the single best diet can Spend enough time actually, working with my clients — like I do every day — and they will probably start to feel the same way too.
Diversity of human beings.
As I mentioned earlier we live in a crazy world bombarded with an abundance of choices and opportunities.
- Body type: There are Different kinda body types like Tall Skinny and Round chubby with different fat disposition & Genetics.
- Dietary preferences & prohibitions: Some clients come to me eating lots of meat every day. Others come with vegan philosophy.
- Budget: Some clients come to me with an incredibly low budget. Others come with an unlimited budget.
- Organic/conventional: Some clients come to me eating only boxed and packaged foods. Others come eating only natural, organic, whole foods.
- Nutrition knowledge: Some clients come to us as devoted followers of a certain dietary habit. Others come with very little nutrition knowledge whatsoever.
- Time: Some clients come to us with lots of free time for a health and fitness project. Others come with a super tight schedule with very little time to devote to health and fitness.
There’s simply no way to help all those folks make incremental improvements in their eating if I were militant about a single nutrition model.
The most qualified coaches don’t have a restricted nutrition philosophy.
Sure, if a particular nutrition idea — like Paleo or vegetarianism — worked for you personally, that’s awesome. You should be happy you found something that helped you reach your goals.
But to suggest that because it worked for you, at one point in your life, under a particular set of circumstances, now everyone else should follow the same program? Well, that’s just silly.
Physiologically, the human body can do well under a host of different nutritional conditions.
This is only possible because the human body is amazingly adaptable to a host of different dietary conditions.
It is possible to be healthy and fit whether you eat mostly meat or mostly veggies, mostly fat or mostly carbs, many times a day or just a few times, and so on.
This means that, as a nutrition coach, I shouldn’t belong to any specific nutrition camp at all.
But wait … how can all these different diets actually work?
You’re probably wondering: How can such wildly different nutrition programs all lead to positive results?
My response: They’re not as different as you might think.
Most effective nutrition programs are more similar than different. (Yes, even Paleo and plant-based eating.)
When done properly, Paleo diets, plant-based diets, high carb diets, low carb diets, eating small meals frequently, eating larger meals infrequently, etc. all fulfill the following:
- These diet plans promote nutrition consciousness and awareness.
simply paying better attention to what you eat is a key factor in whether you’ll lose fat, get lean, and enhance your health.
Whether your thought is trained on avoiding carbs, eating more vegetables, seeking out organic/free-range food, avoiding animal foods, or avoiding “non-Paleo” food, it’s all good.
Because what you focus on may not matter as much as simply caring more about what you’re eating in the first place.
2 . These diet plans concentrate on food quality.
Paleo and low carb advocates want you to eat more natural, free-range animal-based foods that are higher in protein, higher in fat and are minimally processed.
Vegan and high carb advocates want you to eat more natural, plant-based foods that are higher in fiber, antioxidants and are minimally processed.
3 . These diet plans help eliminate nutrient deficiencies.
This is huge. We often look, feel, and perform terribly when we’re deficient in important nutrients. But within a few weeks of correcting these deficiencies, we feel totally rejuvenated. (And because the transformation is so dramatic, that’s often when we become diet devotees.)
4 . These diet plans help control appetite and food intake.
When we’re more conscious of what we’re eating, choose more pleasing, higher-quality foods, and discard nutrient deficiencies, we almost always end up eating less total food. We feel more fulfilled. We lose fat, gain lean muscle, and perform better.
5 . These diet plans promote regular exercise.
When people start paying attention to their eating, they usually start thinking about physical activity too. In fact, many of the diet camps recommend regular exercise. (Which is a good idea, since focusing on diet alone may actually hinder establishing a consistent exercise routine.)
There’s no such thing as one, universal “best” diet.
There’s no one absolutely, positively, the without-a-doubt best diet for everyone. Humans have evolved to do well under all sorts of dietary conditions.
That’s why I’m happy to help people find the best one for them, no matter their dietary preferences.
Most popular diets actually have a lot in common.
Most popular diets — when done with care, attention, and a little coaching — help control appetite, improve food quality, promote exercise, and raise nutritional awareness.
Habit-based coaching is better than diet-based coaching anyway.
Long-term nutrition habits trump diet plans and “rules”. Always.
I favor a nutritional progression model (which builds habits intelligently and sustainably over time) versus asking people to “follow a diet” (which means doing a full lifestyle overhaul on Day One).
So, the best diet to follow actually is …
… the one that’s best for you.
If you want to follow a Keto diet, we can help with that.
We can also help out if you’re vegan, prefer to eat more carbs (or less), are on a tight budget, or only eat organic/free-range foods.
Let me listen to your needs. What you want to accomplish. How you live. What’s really important to you. Then let me help you create the right dietary approach for you; one that’s specific to your goals and your lifestyle.
Cheers