I am excited for this year’s Super Bowl. Not for the commercials. Not for the hopeful Patriot loss and Brady’s immediate retirement (fingers crossed). But because these two teams illustrate things I’ve been trying to convey to the Aesthetic Physiques community for a while.
Consistency and finding what works for you.
These two boring things separately are next to useless. Together they get you to the Super Bowl.
Let me explain.
(Winslow Townson/AP Images for Panini)
This is going to be more painful than you know, but like a ripping off a band-aide I’m going to make it quick.
We will never see a run like the Patriots have put on the last 15 years again. This is history in the making folks.
Oh God that hurt.
The Patriots have been the most consistent team I’ve ever seen in any sport. They don’t really have bad games or beat themselves and it sucks.
Bill game plans and the team executes every single friggin week. Once you start getting some consistency things get easier. You know what to expect and how to handle the what-ifs. Play to your strengths and most of the time your opponents beat themselves trying to play your game.
This kind of consistency can be applied to dieting.
Consistency with these three things will make dieting so much easier and your goal of getting in shape that much more attainable.
But then there is the dark side of consistency or what I like to call the Cleveland Browns type consistency.
The Browns consistency is constantly eating crap even when you know it’s bad for you (RGIII, really?!?). Constantly doing the bad things leads to bad results.
Consistency in the right direction brings success (aka the Patriots) and consistency in the bad direction causes your fans to wear paper bags over their heads.
I’ve been a Matt Ryan fan ever since he came out of Boston College. For just about every year he’s been in the league he has been my fantasy quarterback.
Unfortunately, Matt has been average all those years with the exception of 2010. He also had the same coach with the same play calling all those years up until the 2015 season. Whenever I’d catch a Falcons game things always seemed a little off. It never looked like he was comfortable.
Then this season started and things seemed to click for the Falcons but more specifically for Matt. This past season in the current system he had an MVP year and a crazy 5.4 TD to int ratio.
So what made the difference in 2016 compared to the previous years? Was it his offensive line? Possible.
Did he get smarter at the ripe old age of 31? I doubt it.
In my opinion, he found the right system for him. He’s now playing to his strengths and the rest of the league is paying for it.
Think back to the last time you dieted and failed. Did you pick a sustainable diet or did you try a “quick, amazing, super terrific” 30 day cleanse to drop 20 pounds in a week? Be honest with yourself did you try to fit yourself into the “perfect diet” when it doesn’t work with your lifestyle? Or did you just half ass the diet because it was hard?
Finding the right diet is like finding the right offense for you. When it’s not right you get crappy consistency. When you find what works everything just seems easier.
If you read between the lines of Joe’s story, you’ll notice he picked a diet that he likes. That’s why he is successful and he’s dropping weight like crazy. He found his offense that suits him. He isn’t forcing a square peg into a round hole.
The same goes for my dad. The only two changes he made to his diet were limiting fruit and eating a protein based breakfast rather than a “low-carb” bagel. He lost 30+ pounds doing that and never did one rep of exercise! He found the right offense for him.
Asking what the best diet is like asking what the best color is (it’s red btw). There is no best diet. It’s only what is the best diet for you.
Different regions of the world eat differently based on what is available.
Each of these communities are low in Western diet related health problems despite widely varying diets.
To say one diet paradigm is better than the other is asinine. It’s what works best for you.
Over the last year I’ve tried intermittent fasting, the ketogenic diet, the anabolic diet, anabolic fasting and the slow carb diet. All these diet were supposed to be the answer to all my problems. This is also the fattest I’ve been in years. So much for being the face of the Aesthetic Physique franchise lol.
All these diets have been put on a pedestal as being “the diet” and the rest can suck it. Well they didn’t work for me.
While I did get frustrated that they didn’t work like I saw them work for seemingly everyone else over social media and the interwebs, I always knew where I felt best. Carb cycling with small meals every couple of hours.
I found this out by experimenting, asking myself questions and giving honest answers.
Going back to our football example, look at the players that have cycled through New England. Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne, Chad Johnson. All wildly successful receivers on other teams and they can’t make the Patriot roster. Does that make them bad players?
Hell no. Especially Torry.
It just means that the Patriot offense wasn’t the offense for them. While guys like Wes Welker, Matt Cassel and Dion Lewis thrive(d) in the offense but couldn’t do anything on other teams.
Just because a certain diet doesn’t work for you doesn’t make you hopeless. You just haven’t found the right offense.
Telling you to find the right offense and not showing you how to find it is like telling you to go to a house and not give you the address.
Here is how you can find your offense. Don’t try to fit yourself into anything because it’s “cool” or the new fad diet (gluten free diet when you can easily digest gluten). That’s like saying you want to go to the Browns so you can turn them around.
What are you allergic to or do you have any metabolic conditions?
If you are lactose intolerant don’t go into a diet heavy in dairy. Likewise, if you are diabetic, don’t go after a carb heavy diet. Side note, it might be worth a conversation with your Dr. about the Slow Carb diet if you are diabetic.
What do you like to eat?
Don’t like meat? Then a Paleo or high protein diet might not be right for you. Do you like pasta, bread and rice? Maybe carb cycling is your jam. Or are you like the people of the artic and stick to animal proteins and fat? Maybe you’re a ketogenic person then.
Do you like to eat big meals?
Do you feel better after a few big meals or do you like smaller meals throughout the day? If you like bigger meals check out intermittent fasting or the warrior diet. Otherwise stick to smaller meals throughout the day.
What is your activity level?
Do you sit at work all day then veg out on the couch? Try a low carb diet like Atkins or Slow Carb. Highly active? Try a bodybuilding diet that is higher in carbs and protein.
Now that you have a better idea of things to narrow down the diet search, here is how you can pin point it.
Can you afford it?
Buying organic can get expensive, likewise if you have to buy supplements or meals specifically for the diet like a Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem.
Do you go out to eat or travel a lot?
Some diets are a pain in the ass to find at restaurants. A gluten free or raw food diet might not be the best option here. If you go out a lot maybe an IIFYM or Paleo might be your best option.
How anal are you?
Counting calories can be a pain in the neck if you don’t like keeping track of things. If this is the case, try Paleo or Slow Carb. If you don’t mind, then IIFYM or a carb cycling diet might be for you.
I hope by now you at least have somewhat of an idea of the perfect offense for you. Once you find the perfect offense then the next thing you need to do is get Patriot like consistency.
Before I, go here is a list with links to good resources about different diets. Find something that seems like it would fit and experiment. If it doesn’t work, try something else. I do all the time and I know what works for me.
Slow Carb
Religious diets
It’s not the end of the world if you picked the wrong one because at the end of the day you at least you aren’t a Cleveland Brown.
If you know someone who could benefit from this article, please share it on Facebook or Twitter. 2 out of 3 people are obese today, let’s start a change.
Dave
P.S. GO FALCONS!
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