“This diet is just too hard to stick to” is a common excuse I hear as a personal trainer.
I know that one of the reasons why people find it hard to stick to any form of diet plan is that they lack any flexibility when it comes to putting it into practice.
I have always found when coaching nutrition is to give a basic set of rules to follow alongside a sound scientific and common sense understanding of what is and isn’t good nutritional practice.
You can apply the same to exercise too.
No point going hell for leather with an individual who a) hasn’t had a full nights sleep in 12 years and b) has the stress levels of a burnt out mother of 14.
In this case you can simply flip the scenario and instead of ‘busting my ass for 45 minutes 3 times a week’, ‘getting out for some exercise and to clear my head’ will be enough to stimulate results.
You and I both know at this stage that it is what you eat and THINK that can make and break your health.
Having a set of nutritional rules is much easier to adapt in any given circumstance.
Like, when you are out for dinner with your mates. Do you a) stay and home and make polite excuses or b) head on out and enjoy yourself with your set of rules.
In this case it could be, no starches with dinner because I haven’t trained (rule number 1). That way you don’t feel like a plum when you order and can happily sit there without a face on you.
Like when you slept it out, slipped getting dressed and ran out the door with your shirt hanging out and your iPod ear phones tangled in knots in a last desperate reach for the train.
Or the kids have you up since 5am watching Peppa Pig whilst rein-acting scenes from Star Wars.
Whoops…no breakfast…again.
That’s ok because you are an expert at preparing meals and always having left overs (rule number 2). You reach for the bowl of salad that is already prepared and leave it in the lunch box with some pre-cooked meat leftover from the night before.
You breathe a sigh of relief as you get into the office because at least you remembered to put it into your brief case the night before.
Likewise after dropping the kids off there is a huge pot of soup and some cold chicken in the fridge. You knock up a 5-minute meal and warm it. Suddenly your stress hormones come back down to normal for wee while.
Equally those delicious pancakes that you made for the kids at breakfast the other day double up as lunch for them saving you more time in the morning.
Rules save time and effort. Often the sheer stress over worrying about what to eat can add more stress. Why do this?
Change is hard enough as it is.
Set rules. Write a list of behaviours that come rain wind or shine you stick to.
Some of the rules I teach my clients are to drink a certain formula of water every day, eat a breakfast, or the first meal of the day, contains protein and vegetables, exercise every day for a minimum of 20 minutes. If you feel you have the energy to train do that 3 times per week. Eat starches and refined carbohydrates only after you have trained. Prepare your meals in advance. Swap the coffee for green tea. Record your food intake 7 days a week. Hit the hay by 10.30pm every night.
These are simple rules and are a great place to start. Imagine taking one of these rules a week and giving it all you got.
Like all rules there are no grey areas. You either stick to it or you don’t. That way you can assess how you are progressing with it.
The rules of crossing the road apply whether you are in Ireland or Timbuktoo. The same applies to your diet and your nutrition practice or at least it should.
John Lark is owner of Sphere Fitness with personal training centres in Dublin and Maynooth. Head on over to http://spherefitness.ie/special and download your 2013 Transition to Health Pack including a Cookbook, Home Workout Programme and Nutrition Manual Today.
