Yep that’s right I am going to share with you the perfect diet, crazy I know!
So what makes this diet perfect? How does it differ from other diets? Why does it work and how does it manage it? I expect and want you to be suspicious, dubious and cautious, but don’t despair, I am going to answer all these questions, and believe me when I tell you I will, because as stated, this diet is perfect, there are no flaws, you cannot find a better diet than the one I am going to share with you now.
The Major Ingredients
This diet has three key components, that in combination make this diet unstoppable, get one wrong and the whole diet is kaputt, get all three bang on and well you are in for a treat!
Ingredient No.1 – Preference
So here is the first ingredient, preference. This means that the foods you choose to eat should be governed by you and only you. Everything you eat is your choice, and because you like what you are eating, you will stick to the diet. Sure you will have some overriding objectives, a calorie or macronutrient target to hit, but the foods that get you there are your choice. There are no ‘bad’ or ‘good’ things to eat, just those that you either enjoy or don’t, and if you don’t enjoy it that’s fine, don’t eat it!
Furthermore, as individuals we all have different genetic make ups, of course we share more than 99.9% of the same genes, but then all life on earth shares roughly 50% of the their genes. These small genetic differences are called ‘Genetic Polymorphisms’, and they explain why people react differently to different diets.
So what I am saying is that just because one person is in great shape and eats certain things, doesn’t mean you have to follow their exact plan. For example, I like to eat frequently through the day, it keeps me nice and satisfied, however, many people find that by following an Intermittent Fasting (IF) protocol they feel far less hungry. Furthermore, I do lots of exercise, I am young and fit, therefore I can eat carbs galore, however, for someone who is mainly sedentary and doesn’t do a lot of intense exercise, may do better by eating more fat preferentially to carbohydrates.
Key here is finding out what nutritional regime works best for you, because you have a whole host of different methods to choose, and they all work, just some may be more effective for you.
This ingredient is probably, no definitely, the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the diet, trust me if you get this one wrong you will fizzle out quickly. Why? Because, we all want what we can’t have, if we go long enough without it we will in one way or another get it, even if we go about it the wrong way. This when applied to foods leads to binge eating, and you’re fooling no-one when you call it a ‘cheat meal’, you’re falling into an eating disorder. Furthermore, this is the classic ‘yoyo’ dieting outcome, in which you follow a strict plan for months, but then you break, you always do, and suddenly you’re back where you started, or worse.
Ingredient No.2 – Flexibility
The next component is flexibility. Using a flexible dieting approach you are going to be less stressed, anxious and enjoy your diet more than ever. Diet plans should be abolished, they put a number of rules and regulations in place that don’t need to be there. You must have 100g of chicken breast and 200g of sweet potato at 1:00pm, no thank you sir! Imagine if you were out all day, you had to see family, go to business meetings etc. you didn’t have time or the ability to hit all the meals on the plan. You get stressed because you have to stray from it, and you might even take it out on your family and let it impact your work.
I’ve been there and done that, and it is not nice, for you or the people around you. This is where being flexible makes dieting easy, because you can hit your goals in a way that suits your lifestyle. You don’t have a meal plan, a specific time to eat, you just know that by the end of the day you need to have eaten a decent amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat. Out all day? that’s OK, get in your nutrition when you can, make choices from what you have available, fit them around your goals and you will be fine.
Ingredient No.3 – Evidence
The final ingredient is evidence, and it is the backbone to this diet. By using the latest scientific research you can get the most out of your diet. By following evidence you are effectively learning from others, seeing what works and then implementing it for yourself. It’s almost a fail safe approach, especially if there is a great number of studies backing up certain dietary aspects.
Scientific research is ever evolving, and this means you will continually update your knowledge, making the perfect diet tentative. That might sound like a weakness, but it is a massive strength, you will be at the forefront and take advantage of any new research that might enable you to get to your goals quicker or more efficiently.
Be open minded and skeptical, follow the grounded scientific concepts and beware of anything that strays too far from them.
Putting it all together
There we have it, the perfect diet. By using the current most up to date scientific research we can select a dietary outline that will lead us to our goals, using this we can choose foods we enjoy and fit them in around our lifestyle. This makes the diet enjoyable, easy to adhere to and doesn’t take over our lives. It’s really a lifestyle, you don’t come off this diet feeling the need to pig out, because you don’t have rules and regulations, you have freedom and flexibility.
The perfect diet is continually evolving, around you and around the evidence.
If you want to know more about how to make a diet be sure to check out Need to know nutrition Part 1 and Part 2.
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