Getting Lean With An Open Mind

Introduction

I’m starting a blog about nutrition and training, basically about getting and staying lean and anything else related, or any random stuff I want to write about to be honest. It was kind of difficult to know what to start with, so I’m starting with the first thing that came into my head which is this article about my current opinion about the importance of an open mind. It’s up to you to make up your own mind about what I write, just keep an open mind. Please excuse the appearance of this blog and the quality of grammar in this article, for now I’m just starting writing for a bit of fun really.

With everything you read about nutrition and dieting I think it’s important that you approach it with an open mind. I’ve noticed more than a few examples of keen gym goes who are stuck in their ways, know what they know and are very reluctant to challenge what they think they know already, and I’m not just talking about the older more experienced guys in the gym.

Whilst I think the most important factor of any diet is that you find a method that works for you and your lifestyle. Although, just because something might be working and you feel it’s a good approach for you, your lifestyle, and your preferences, it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be better.




Challenging My “Knowledge”

For a few years I followed the 6 meals a day rule, but I always liked to eat big and never felt satisfied unless I felt full. Eventually I would end up binging and eating massive meals to the point where I was in pain, much to the amusement of my university flat mates. I consider myself to have good will power, but this diet was ultimately not working for me and no matter how strong my will power I would eventually crack so I would just be in a constant cycle which was preventing my from staying ultra lean.

When I was at University I never had the time in the evenings to really do any thorough research about nutrition to the level I wanted to, I could only read the odd article here and there, and I would often read from the same source (a popular health magazine). The problem was, this single source of information tended to repeat all the same information every month, through this repetition I effectively brain washed myself, and took what I was reading and the final word.

However, since graduating I found a bit more free time in the evenings where I could read and research things more thoroughly, and importantly start reading articles from a range of different sources. It was through this research that I eventually found Leangains, a blog by Martin Berkhan. Stumbling upon his most popular article “top ten fasting myths debunked” was a turning point for me. What a was reading challenged almost everything I had ever thought I knew about nutrition, building lean muscle and burning fat. Several great articles by Martin Berkhan explain so many different scientifically based theories that I had never read of before. Reading Martin’s blog I was introduced to the world of intermittent fasting, and his Leangains approach. I’m not going into detail about intermittent fasting in this article because Martin Berkhan has done a great job of this on his blog (www.leangains.com).

I used to think the idea of skipping meals and especially skipping breakfast was ludicrous. I had been reading the same stuff month after month about how breakfast is so important to keeping weight off and losing weight, stoking your metabolism (probably stuff we have all read). Read Martin’s Blog for a different perspective with results and scientific references to back it up.

My personal experience with eating is that once I start eating that’s when I get hungry, that’s when my cravings start to kick in, and that’s when I want to continue eating. Until I start eating my will power is much stronger and the urge to eat isn’t so strong (reading Martin‘s blog, it seems this may be due to a hormone called ghrelin which helps regulate appetite). So when I stopped eating breakfast I found my urge to binge pretty much disappeared all together, which is completely contradictory to what is often written in many popular health magazines. I had thought that I would struggle stopping eating breakfast. I was always a big fan of breakfast and would go to bed genuinely excited to get up and eat breakfast the next day (I think this over enthusiastic excitement was due to the fact that my habit of eating 6 regular small meals a day was effectively teasing my system by never eating to the point of satisfaction). When I eat now, I eat huge meals, to the point that my brother is still mystified every time I bring my trough of food to the table (this is after eating for this way for several months).

I do count calories, it’s the way I’m wired, I like to be in control, so the counting works for me. So long as my calculations are correct it mathematically guarantees that I will meet my fat loss goals and I like that assurance. Having that assurance also makes it easier to adhere to the diet. Once I have met my calorie count for the day, I stop, and knowing I’m stopping because I have met my pre determined calorie allowance, which will lead to results, makes the whole process so easy. I don’t have to battle with myself to stop eating anymore, partly because seeing the results is so satisfying, but also due partly to the fact that eating my food in a shorter feeding window allows me to actually eat until I am truly full and satisfied. So it doesn’t feel like a diet, I’m enjoying it, and so it has become a lifestyle rather than a temporary “diet“. Since starting intermittent fasting I’ve found myself getting leaner, stronger, and enjoying my food and training much more. I also adopted a new training approach which I will talk about in another article.


Conclusion

Without an open minded approach I would have missed this opportunity to develop my methods and reap the rewards. Obviously not everything you read will work for you, my advice would be to give things a try for a little while, if it doesn’t work, go back to what you know, at the very least you may learn something about the other approach which you might be able to use to tweak your current methods.

One thing I noticed when I first adopted the intermittent fasting approach was that I felt a little embarrassed to contradict methods that I had been living by for the past few years. It was a lesson to me to ensure that I never get to the point where I believe that any single article or dieting method is the final word. I make a conscious effort to ensure I now challenge what I have learnt  and challenge what I continue to read, whilst approaching things with an open minded viewpoint. I think it’s important not to be ashamed to change what you believe in. As you learn more and read more I think it’s natural for your views and opinions to change, surely its how we grow up and grow in wisdom. I think fear can be a very destructive emotion, and stands in the way of a lot of personal development. So challenge yourself, challenge what you think you know and challenge what you learn in future. Approach things with an open mind, and take what you can from what ever you read and apply it to your life.

Keep learning, keep improving.


TP