What defines a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet? According to the Canada Health Food Guide a “Healthy Diet” is defined as a diet which is heavily weighted towards “good foods” while minimizing “bad foods”.  Well that makes sense……except it actually doesn’t.

How “Good” are Good Foods?

Most people know that highly processed foods, deep fried dishes and sugary snacks such as cookies and muffins are considered to be “Bad Foods”. However what the majority of the population fail to realize is that many of the so-called “Good Foods” can be even worse then their counterparts. I’m talking about foods with misleading labels such as “All Natural”, “0 Trans Fat” “No Fat” “Low Carbs” or my favourite – “Organic”. Many foods that the public consider to be healthy, are in my opinion just brilliant marketing schemes created by the companies who sell these products. These marketing geniuses have been able to creatively hide the fact that these foods are just as bad if not worse then the foods that we are told to avoid.

The Culprits

Let me make things simple. If your goal is to lose weight and keep the weight off for good then there are certain “Healthy Foods” that you are going to need to avoid moving forward. Foods such as Granola, Whole Wheat Pasta, Multigrain Breads, Fruits that contain copious amounts of sugar such as Pineapples & Mangos and pretty much any Cereal that comes in a box are foods that should generally be avoided. I know, I know, most of these foods are considered to be part of a “Healthy & Balanced Diet”. However in my opinion the standards of a Healthy & Balanced Diet have seemed to become extremely low these days…..

My Dieting Rules

The most common question I receive from clients on a regular basis who want to lose weight and build muscle is what exactly they should eat. Again, there is no one size fits all answer for everyone. However a standard rule of thumb that I follow both for myself and implement into my nutritional plans is the “Less is Best” rule. Now by “less”, I don’t necessarily mean less calories. Although portion control is extremely important within any nutritional plan, I’m referring to the less ingredients in your foods the better. The second rule I implement into the plans that I create is the “Stop the Sugar” rule. The first thing I look for when I read the back of a nutritional label on a particular product is how much sugar it contains. Whether this sugar is processed or natural, I still want to know exactly how much sugar is in the product that I’m consuming or recommending to a client. Generally, if the product contains more then 5g of sugar per serving (natural or not), it’s not going to be on my nutritional plan. The third and final rule that I use when creating a customized nutritional plan is “Listen and Learn From Your Body”. By this I simply mean, pay attention to how your body responds to certain foods. For example, Quinoa is considered my many to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet. And although I completely agree with this statement, I have plenty of clients that cannot digest Quinoa properly. For these clients I will usually recommend an alternative complex carbohydrate to Quinoa such as Brown Rice, Yams, Sweet Potatoes, or Oatmeal. You have to learn what works for YOUR body. We’re are all built differently and following a plan that has been designed for the masses is just ignorant and can actually become dangerous for both yourself and your body.

The Secrets to Success

So what’s the secret to successfully achieving the results you desire with both your physique and your health?

1) Define Your Goal – Whether your goal is to lose weight, build muscle or improve your performance and agility for a specific sport, or perhaps a combination of all three, you need to have a precise goal in mind that you want to achieve. Working towards a specific goal will help keep you focused and motivated towards reaching that goal.

2) Educate Yourself – Ignorance is no excuse when it comes to a lack of results in anything that we want to achieve in life. If I don’t understand something, I try my absolute best to learn it on my own or seek out the assistance of a trained and trusted professional who specializes in the subject that I wish to learn about. There is no shame in not knowing; the shame lies in not finding out.

3) Watch, Learn and Listen – Once you’ve defined your goal and have began to educate yourself on how you are going to achieve your goal, the third and final step to successfully completing your goal is to watch, learn and listen to how your body responds throughout your transformation process. If something is not working then change it. If you are finding a particular food difficult to digest, get rid of it. If you’re slowly achieving results every few weeks, then continue to do what you are doing. Don’t look for ways to speed up the process. Be patient, be smart, and be resilient. Results will not come over night. But if you learn how to achieve them correctly, then you will be able to sustain them for life.

“Fall in Love With The Process, And The Results Will Come”
Eric Thomas

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance