How To Develop More Consistent Healthy Eating
You commit to the diet, you buy the supplements, splurge on the organic sprouted “bread”, & clear your cupboards ready for success. All is going well - you know what time to have your smoothie, you know when you’re working out and when you’re meal-prepping, you know what you can and absolutely cannot have. It feels safe, logical, and effective - although a little boring, and dare I say a bit sad.
The above strategy works well until it doesn’t. It really would be the perfect plan if we didn’t have feeling bodies, or perfectly capable stomachs - which work to alert us of hunger & satiety based on the unique rhythms of the body. See, the body always wins. In the end, you can strategize, plan, and “commit” yourself to the diet or “lifestyle regime”...but the body always wins. It’s not an issue of willpower - it’s a blessing of your innate bodily signals.
If you end up binge eating later on in the “diet”, or simply have trouble staying “consistent” with your new glorious “healthy eating habits” - there’s a reason. In fact, there’s several…
Why consistency with healthy eating is hard
The body craves variety
If you eat the same thing over and over again, that means you’re getting the same nutritional inputs over and over again, which sooner or later will lead to deficiencies. When we open up our diet to include a variety of ingredients - spanning a wide range of proteins, fats & carbs, we can easily satisfy our innate human instincts for diversity in order to keep the physical body adequately functioning in all areas.
Another way to look at it would be that if we are eating the same thing/way/time each day, but our day-to-day life has variety, then obviously there is an asynchronicity here. We are meant to adapt to our life’s circumstances, which are constantly changing.
When choice is restricted, satisfaction is almost impossible
When we are limiting our choices in food (think: can’t eat this, can only eat ‘X’ amount of that, etc.) then we are automatically placing ourselves in a deprivation mindset, in which satisfaction is nearly impossible to achieve. Instead, we thrive in an abundance mindset, whereby all foods are available to us to choose from, so that we can make the proper choices moment-to-moment, without interference.
This is often the reason why even after a binge, and even if you know that you “overate”, and actually feel uncomfortably full, you may still feel like you just haven’t “hit the spot” yet. That’s because it’s almost impossible to satisfy a craving when the underlying driver is restriction.
We are all unique living in unique life circumstances
Ever wonder why the studies on nutrition are constantly changing? One year fat is the devil, the next year fat is the new fad everyone wants more of. Coffee will kill you until it’s the next best 'biohack' for optimal health & boosting your metabolism. Carbs are in until they are absolutely to be avoided like the plague.
Here’s the hidden truth behind why scientific studies are forever changing our minds: they are studying a different group of people at various times in their lives. We are all made up of different genetic tendencies, affected by a wide array of environmental factors, and have various stress-levels, activity levels, etc. Rather than follow a one-size-fits-all approach, it’s best that you harness the unique wisdom of your own unique individuality - you’ll never find that in a nutrition book or even the most sought-after white-paper!
Our bodies are constantly changing
This one is similar to an earlier point: things change! This is one of the universal laws: The Law of Vibration. We change, our bodies change, our lifestyles change - and our diets naturally reflect our changing needs if we are attuned to the rhythms of the body. When we impose guilt or rules because we want to stay the same (think: “but I was doing so well just eating X, Y, Z,” etc.) then we are working against rather than with the body. When we are open to receive the communication coming from our innate body wisdom, we ease-fully and gracefully gravitate towards the foods we need to best serve our current requirements for thriving health.
Diets are interference from our innate bodily communication signals
In summary, when we subscribe to “one way” and will-power our way through to maintain this “gold standard” of health as determined by someone other than you - we are unable to tap into the desires of the body in the present moment. In other words, we actually fight our way towards ignoring our cravings, as if our body was designed to go against us and cause us harm. Rather than think of and treat your body like the enemy, you can care for it as an ally to your greatest health and happiness. It just wants you to listen. And remember: change is the only constant in life!