What is the best of way of eating for you ?

People often ask me what I think the ultimate diet is, the truth is the answer isn’t that simple. They want to know whether I advocate a low carb diet for my clients or carb cycling, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, macronutrient splits or maybe intermittent fasting.

I actually get frustrated with my industry when personal trainers, coaches, and nutritionists get some results using a certain type of diet and then only advocate that way of eating. They start preaching that’s it’s the only way to achieve your goals and everyone should be doing it. I agree that there’s a lot of fad diets out there which shouldn’t be given the time of day but it’s about finding a diet which works best for you.

This is why my answer is always more complicated then people want it to be. In my experience of working as a personal trainer with many different clients, I believe there is no one diet that fits all, there is no way of eating that will suit everyone.

There are so many factors which determine what could work for one client may not work for another –

 

*Time – Some clients come to me and have time to eat 4 small meals per day which are prepared at home and can train 4 times per week. Others simply do not have the same amount of time to devote to their health fitness.

 

*Lifestyle – Some clients have to eat out a lot with work wining and dining their clients 3 times per week while others may play sport regularly, don’t drink alcohol and eat homemade meals.

 

*Nutritional Knowledge – Some clients already have a good understanding of nutrition, many do not. There is no use in giving a client macronutrient breakdown in their nutrition plan if they don’t know what a protein is, it would be too complicated. Sometimes the most basic plans are the best plans.

 

*Genetics – body types vary, some people find it particularly hard to build muscle but can stay lean while others find it tough to lose body fat but can add muscle mass.

 

There is simply not one way of eating that will help all these clients facing different time constraints, lifestyles, knowledge, and genetics. So it would be narrow-minded to make everyone follow one protocol and one protocol only.

For example the 5:2 diet (a form of intermittent fasting) may have worked for you personally in the past which is fantastic news. But to suggest that because it worked for you, that everyone else should follow the same program just wouldn’t be wise.

 

The good news!

The good news is that all the best nutritional protocols like carb cycling, macro splits, intermittent fasting and ketogenic programs have a lot of things in things in common –

1) Raising your awareness of what you are eating – The fact that you are consciously trying to eat healthier foods will automatically raise your awareness of what you are eating. Whether you are counting your overall calories, focusing on eating more vegetables, only eating organic produce or eating carbohydrates at certain times of the day it all makes us much more aware of when and what we put in our bodies.

2) They all focus on the quality of food – Although some nutritional protocols put more emphasis on the quality of the food you eat than others, pretty much all of them recommend eating unprocessed nutrient dense foods over processed ones.

3) They help control how many calories we consume – Calorie intake is extremely important. If you’re goal is to lose body fat you have to be in a slight calorie deficit, you cannot lose body fat if you are eating too many calories. If your goal is to increase muscle mass you have to be in a slight calorie surplus. If your goal is to increase your performance in sport your calorie intake has to relect this. When we are more aware of what we are eating we will be more aligned to eat the right amount according to what our goal is. That’s because there’s much less mindless eating and more mindful eating. You don’t necessarily need calorie counting here. Focusing on food awareness and food quality is usually enough for people to tune into their own hunger and appetite. And that means calorie control without having to count calories.

4) Promote regular exercise – If you are motivated enough to commit to a diet you will usually end up committing to some form of exercise too.

My advice is to think about your lifestyle, habits, likes, and dislikes when it comes to food, relate it to a nutritional protocol that fits your mold and commit your self to it. If for example if you are not that bothered by carbs but love steak and fats then the ketogenic diet (low carb high fat) could be the one for you. If you love carbs then perhaps look into a carb cycling plan, if you are new to eating healthily then perhaps just focus on cutting out processed foods and be more mindful of your portion sizes. Diets only work if they are sustainable so choose one that fits you and commit to it.

 

Tom Winterbottom personal training in Marylebone and St. John’s Wood.