There is nothing I hate more then unsolicited advice. Regardless of whether the person who is offering me the advice or providing me with their suggestions, is doing so with good intentions and only has my best interest in mind, if I’m not asking for it, I most likely don’t want it. And for this reason, I’m very careful with how I offer my own advice and selective as to whom I offer this advice to.

When it comes to giving advice and guidance on diet and nutrition, I’ve always been quite reserved with the information that I provide to my clients unless I’m asked for it. To me, diet is like religion or politics. What some people might consider “healthy” and “clean” foods, others might view as unhealthy and/or even dangerous to consume. A Vegetarian might believe that consuming meat is unnatural and cruel to animals. Whereas a Meat Eater might be under the impression that the best and only true way to consume quality protein sources is from lean cuts of meat. Then you have the so-called “Health Nuts” who believe that anything and everything that enters our mouths should be labeled as “Organic”. Throw in a couple of angry Vegans who will ostracize you from society if you even consider eating or using something that could be considered harmful to the environment, and you’ve got a massive can of worms that has just exploded in your lap to clean up if you even think about offering your two cents to the world.

Insta-Results

Truth be told, I honestly do not have a problem with the way that anyone chooses to eat and live their life. If someone wants to consume Pop Tarts and Coco Puffs before their workout because “It Fits Their Macros” then I say do it. And if someone wants to lose 10lbs and thinks that performing endless hours of cardio and starving themselves is the fastest way to do it, then I say go for it. And if someone believes that fasting for 18 hours of the day will provide them with more energy and allow them to develop a more aesthetically pleasing physique, then I say all the power to them.

But for those of us who look beyond the fad diets, bro science and the generic fat loss and muscle building dribble that is shared throughout the Cyber World, we need more. We are the people that demand to know the what and the why. We are the people that ask questions and only listen to facts. We are the people that want to understand the science behind the food we are eating and the exercising that we are doing. Unfortunately we are also the people that appear to be of a dying breed…….

Stop With the Generic Shit

One of my most popular services that I receive requests for as a fitness professional is for my Online Customized Nutritional Plans. When I first began my career in the fitness industry I focused solely on the training and exercising components for achieving results. Sure, I would provide a few diet tips to clients along with the occasional meal plan, however back then I always believed that nutrition wasn’t that important and that dieting always took a backseat to training. Luckily for me as I became older, my ignorance about diet and nutrition began to subside. As I continued to work with more and more people, I quickly learned that how my clients ate at home effected how they trained in the gym. Providing the generic dribble that you MUST eat before your workouts didn’t work for my clients that trained with me at 5am in the morning. I could not simply suggest to my client with Crohn’s disease to consume brown rice because it’s considered to be “HEALTHY”. Nor could I tell my client who is a true Celiac, that she NEEDS to consume oatmeal because it’s a complex carbohydrate. And what about my clients who are vegetarian and want to gain muscle? I could not just tell them that eating meat is the ONLY way to build a quality looking physique.

I needed to provide these people with answers. I needed to be able to help these people achieve results. I needed to start looking outside the box……..

Street Smarts

As anyone who has ever worked with me on their Nutritional Plan will tell you, I do not have a degree in Nutrition. I’m not a certified Nutritionist. I don’t believe in the Canada Health Food Guide. I think consuming something just because it fits your macros is stupid. I consider counting your calories to be pointless. I don’t starve clients that need to lose weight and I don’t overfeed clients that want to build muscle. I hate the word “cutting” and I cringed at the word “bulking”.

I structure my Nutritional Plans based on my many years of experience in working within the health and fitness industry. I customized my plans towards the individual of whom I am working with. If I’m working with someone who has a health condition such as IBS or Diabetes, I focus on eliminating the foods that irritate or cause issues to these conditions. If I’m working with someone who is obese or even slightly overweight, I have a look over their daily sugar intake and adjust that before even asking them to measure out their portions. I incorporate variety into my plans for those people who tend to get bored eating the same foods everyday. I provide alternative options for people who have allergies to particular foods or cannot tolerate certain ingredients. Yes, Quinoa might be a “Super Food” but I’ve got at least half a dozen clients that I can’t feed it to or it will make them constipated!

Food for Thought

If you really need someone to tell you what to eat, then just go google it. There are plenty of generic diet plans that you can copy and paste into your sever and follow. But if you want a plan that is customized for YOU, and a plan that will work for YOU, then you need to be able to read your body, or at least work with someone that can teach you how to read your body. Almonds can be a great addition to a healthy diet plan. However if you want to lose those last 5lbs before your Summer beach vacation, then those 207 calories for 1/4 cup will not do you any favours (besides who ever just eats 1/4 cup of nuts?). And Oatmeal is an excellent source of carbohydrates and is one of my personal favourites to consume before I go train. But when you’re exercising at 4:30am in the morning, sometimes a small piece of fruit or nothing at all might yield the best results depending on you how fast you digest your food.

Still confused when it comes to your diet? Then I suggest stepping back for a moment and reviewing the state of your current Nutritional Plan. Pay close attention to how you are feeling throughout the day. Are you really hungry or are you just eating out of boredom and/or habit? Are you noticing changes within your physical appearance? And you noticing changes within your mental state? Our bodies require food to function. How much food will depend on multiply factors such as age, gender, lifestyle and training goals. How you assess your current Nutritional Plan will ultimately be your decision.

But if you don’t start somewhere then you’ll most likely end up nowhere………..

Yours in Good Health,

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance