What “diet” is really right for you (if any)?

I’ve always had the view of dieting being quite restrictive, and I get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I mention that word. It’s been a word I’ve used for a lifetime, and I believe it started before the transition to a teenager.

I didn’t have an upbringing that encourages eating healthy. Therefore, it was my responsibility to start forming habits based on my dietary needs, which would become most enjoyable long term. When you think about the so-called “diet” in that sense, it becomes something you can develop into a plan that’s not restrictive but nourishing and vital to leading the best possible life.

When you decide to follow a particular nutritional plan (as I don’t use the word diet anymore), there are many things I first consider. It depends on the following:

I always make sure I sit down with my laptop and start typing out what I want. I make sure that it’s an unambiguous representation and that I’ve exhausted the wants and needs to make the change. This brings up a lot of emotion for me, and anything you plan to do back with high levels of emotion will serve you well and pull you through those tough times ahead.

As you go along, your lifestyle nutritional plan can change. What does that mean? Perhaps you’ve lost all the weight you wanted to, and now you want to tone up and build some muscle. Maybe you’ve become so fit that your next goal is to run a marathon or take up a sport of some kind. All of these factors mean you may need to tweak your nutritional plan. That’s all going to depend on your particular goal – but usually, you can instil the help of a personal trainer, naturopath or nutritionist. I would personally visit a naturopath, as they can provide you with alternative herbal medicine that will assist your goals. I have a particular nutritional, herbal remedy that assists with gut candida and helps me eliminate many digestive issues. It’s worked so well that I use it every single day. These are the most rewarding finds you can get from a specialty-trained naturopath. I genuinely believe in the medicinal powers of herbs.

I’m not too keen on following caloric controlled dieting. I did it for many years, and it never produced any results. Instead, I practice the art of intermittent fasting and have so for about a year now. I choose to skip dinner every day and try to eat lunch early, so I accumulate a window of about 17–18 hours fasting every day. This number seems to work well for me and allows me enough room to consume the needed calories. I have tweaked my fasting times for a while and found that restricted timeframes don’t allow enough food to be consumed. I have a susceptible digestive tract, and overeating food in one sitting does more damage to my digestion than negates fasting. The real point of fasting is that you don’t consume food for several hours, allowing your digestive system to relax and your body starts to regenerate and heal. When we’re constantly eating, inflammation begins to take place, and our body becomes overly taxed. There are so many more benefits of fasting that this blog post would go on for a long while. Now you probably understand why I do not calory restrict – as I don’t need to. Fasting allows me to make that caloric downturn without too much effort or stress on my part. Plus. I save a lot of money on food!

You cannot predict what the future holds for you in terms of your nutritional needs. The best thing to start with is planning for a realistic set of objectives to shift and change as you evolve. I always tell my clients to start with the basics, something easy to action every day. Perhaps that’s pre-preparing a set of meals for which you have the recipes. Make those meals simple, and at first, follow your macro needs. As you become more experienced and understand how your own body works, you won’t need instructions set in stone. If you would like a simple, delicious and nutritious recipe pack containing all of these, please click on this link for your copy.

When you have answered the questions above, you should decide, based on your answers, what plan will be right for you. But do not feel restricted to this for the rest of your life. As I said before, things and people change – so do be flexible.

When you start this nutritional plan, do give it 3–6 months to effect. Fasting itself will begin to show you its power about a week or two into the game. It’s fast-acting, so expect to see results faster than any other plan you’ve ever tried. But, it does take commitment and self-discipline. This is where most people start to make the downturn. Nothing is ever 100% full proof, and we have not leapt creating something. You won’t know what works for you until you get in there and try.

I do hope this has helped you. I would love you to upvote it if you did. Please also join me on my various social platforms and do go ahead and download your Empowering habit changer guide. I’m also on Instagram.