Everything I do is because it feels right.
Q: I KNOW YOU DON’T GO INTO GREAT DETAIL ABOUT YOUR DIET ON YOUR BLOG, BUT I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT HOW GOING PLANT-BASED HAS WORKED FOR YOU. DO YOU GET HUNG UP ON FRUIT SUGARS OR DO YOU JUST EAT WHAT FEELS RIGHT? **
A: First of all, fitness pros who know about nutrition don’t worry too much about fruit sugars in regard to everyday diet (competition diets are a whole different ballgame). I actually did a video on this on my YouTube channel and recommended another video by a professional bodybuilder and trainer which dispels the whole myth about fruit making you fat. Here’s my video from August 2012 with my friend, Mike Perrine: FRUIT MAKES YOU FAT?!
There’s a really complicated way to explain this, but I’ll keep it simple. If your diet is mostly raw and plant-based and you exclude ALL processed foods, you will never have to count calories or worry about how much or little you’re taking in. I eat lots of fatty avocados, nuts and seeds and indulge in sugary bananas and grapes almost every day. My body fat percentage has remained steady and within athletic range for many years.
Weight loss is simple. It’s calories in, calories out. However, being healthy requires the examination of the quality of the food calories that you’re taking in. True health is about efficient digestion, good sleep, abundant energy, and emotional fulfillment (and boys, sexual function has tons to do with diet – read my pal John Joseph’s book for dudes about meat).
Animal products are hard on our systems, taking a lot of our bodies’ resources to digest. They’re great for muscle building and sustained energy, but not so great for you overall. If you’re interested in learning more about building muscle or training like an elite athlete on a plant-based diet, there are plenty of examples to follow. One of my favorite plant-based athletes is Brendan Brazier, elite triathlete and founder of the Thrive diet and the Vega nutrition system. Animal products can certainly be tolerated by most humans and often have good nutritional value, but they should be eaten in limited amounts, if at all.
Unless the animal products that you’re consuming are from animals raised in an organic environment that totally supports their individual dietary and digestive needs, they really aren’t clean. I see a lot of posts on instagram and twitter tagged “#eatclean” or with another hashtag of the like. Then, upon further investigation, I discover what’s being tagged is a recipe with bacon in it. Things that make you go “hmmm”, right? The source of all your food (even fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds) should always be considered. There’s also the issue of the enormous toll that farming animals takes on our environment.
I’m lucky to be counseled by some of the foremost authorities on plant-based nutrition. But the basic tenant is the same – eat real, eat clean, limit animal proteins, eat raw whenever you can.
I don’t weigh myself, count calories, work out more than a couple times a week (unless I’m training for something specific), take supplements (though I understand a lot of people should), or deny myself anything I crave. I also have tons of energy, strong muscles, good flexibility, and I sleep like a rock every night. This is all because of my mostly raw, plant-based “diet” that happens to include some animal proteins, but not a lot. You know I love my backyard chicken eggs from my well-loved hens!
Everything I do is because it feels right, but I’ve also done a lot of hard internal work and self-analyzation to help guide me toward healthy dietary choices. For me, diet and exercise without spirituality – without going inside – is empty and unsustainable.
Even though this a very simple approach, maybe too simple for most to accept, it’s really the only one that works for true health (no worrying, no obsessing, no counting, no peaks and valleys, no struggle). You have to almost throw out everything you thought about meals and how to eat, and just eat like we were intended to – without complicated meal preparation, without denying ourselves when we’re hungry, without feeding ourselves when we’re not, without putting ourselves on timers or requiring a certain number of meals a day.
My wish is for all of us to start operating from a place of awareness of what FEELS GOOD, what really WORKS and SERVES us well… physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Hope this helps!
** The information is offered as opinion only and based on my own experience. The dietary advice in this post is based on the needs of a healthy adult without medical condition(s) that would limit them from eating certain food(s). Please consult your physician and use your own judgment before trying any exercise or diet program. You know your body better than I do. xo
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