3 Ways to (Finally) Win at Nutrition
"We had to pull you away from the mashed potatoes when you were a baby"
As my Mom's quote shows, I loved to eat from the start.
At times that was good (when I was trying to gain weight for football) and at other times it caused frustration (as I got out of school and my activity slowed and I gained weight quickly).
Much of my life my weight would fluctuate 10 or more pounds...and I can gain weight very quickly.
When this would happen, sometimes I would look at others and wonder why this was harder for me than them.
I would look at my brother Johnny and notice he never had any challenges maintaining his weight even after his sports career ended.
Then one day it struck me: my brother and I look at food totally differently.
I developed a theory: there are "high interest", "medium interest" and "low interest" eaters.
I was definitely a "high interest" eater and he was probably "low interest"-my brother was the kind of person who sometimes "forgets to eat" (I have NEVER, ever forgotten to eat). 🙂
I realized many "high interests" eaters spend much of their life trying to apply "low interest" strategies...and it doesn't work...because the two groups view food entirely differently.
I see this almost every day working with clients.
"My spouse says I should just do X or Y" to eat better.
Well, a lot of time one spouse is a "low interest" eater while the other spouse is a "high interest" eater and the same strategies don't always work.
Here is what I have found DOES work for High-Interest Eaters:
1. Improve the Environment (most important)
If junk food is in the house, a "high interest" eater is going to eat it (while a "low interest" eater might ignore it for weeks or months). Structure for Success
2. Strict during the week/more relaxed on the weekend
People need some flexibility but too much makes it hard to see results.
I don't intentionally try to eat unhealthy foods on weekends-I actually try to eat pretty healthy--.but I don't worry about it if I stray a bit.
3. Avoid crash diets
Crash diets tend to produce a "pendulum effect"- temporary loss but followed by swinging back hard to old ways. 1 step forward/2 steps back.
#overcometheoffice