“… I eat really clean. I know I’m going to get at least 20g of protein with every meal, and I try to eat low-glycemic-index carbs. It takes a little bit of planning, and it’s a pain in the ass, but that’s how you’re going to keep your body in the best shape.” – Dan Bilzerian, 16.9mm Instagram followers, Men’s Health March 2015
Check Yourself
This post is pretty self-explanatory and if you haven’t educated yourself on how to eat clean and what are good vs. bad food choices then you need to stop kidding yourself and do that right now.
We’ve all heard the saying “Abs are made in the Kitchen” and whether you like it or not, it is the truth. Even Dan Bilzerian, the Instagram King, who seemingly has it all and lives the rock style lifestyle that we all dream of, admitted recently in an interview with Men’s Health that it’s hard work to keep his physique.
It’s a fact of life I’m afraid and it is something you need to stop resisting and just start accepting.
I spent the first 5 years of my fitness journey spinning my wheels for nothing. I thought “fitness” was only about working out and while I attacked my workouts with great intensity, after 5 years I actually was fatter than when I started. This was extremely demotivating for me and I knew something was wrong.
When I finally checked myself and got serious, I realized that I was clueless on the diet and nutrition aspect of fitness. Deep down inside I was secretly hoping that my efforts in the gym could somehow offset poor nutrition and a bad diet. Eating clean blows and after all, it’s calories in vs. calories out…isn’t it??
It was only when I finally took a serious introspective look at my life and was honest with myself that I realized that fitness is 85% diet and nutrition. No wonder I looked like shit! I was only doing 15% of the work.
The inherent problem with the word diet these days particularly when it involves a fitness program or regime is that the word itself has the connotation that it is temporary. “I’m going on a diet this month.” “I can’t wait till I’m done with this diet and can get my life back.”
I’ve always been an advocate of changes in diets being permanent. A change in a diet is really a change in one’s lifestyle. When you decide to “clean up” your diet that should be a permanent decision, not something that you go on for a month or two.
You need to be ready deep down inside to make this sort of permanent change in your life and that is the only way you will sustain your fitness in the long term.
From this point forward when I say “diet” on this post or any other post just know that I am talking about your actual diet as in the foods that you are choosing to put in your mouth.
Resources
There are 2 resources that I would highly recommend to the reader to gain general knowledge and understanding on basic diet and nutrition that should be fundamental to any fitness program incorporated in your life.
The first book is called “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” by Tom Venuto. This book was a life changer for me. I picked this up after 5 years of zero progress to educate myself on what proper food choices are and have reread this many many times.
Tom is an ex-natural bodybuilder and an expert in the world of health and fitness. His blog www.burnthefatblog.com offers a wealth of knowledge that is one of my go to resources for research.
The second book is called “Bigger Leaner Stronger” by Mike Matthews who runs the website www.muscleforlife.com and his sister site www.legionathletics.com which is a supplement site. Mike is a true practitioner in the fitness industry and he offer a very honest down-to-earth approach to his readers which is a refreshing change from the usual lies and gimmicks that are constantly being peddled by the multi-billion dollar fitness industry. His book is sort of a modern day “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” and a must have for anyone that is serious about fitness.