I sometimes get asked a lot of the same questions; whats the best diet to follow and whats the best exercise program to do. The real answer to this is that it depends on what you think you might enjoy doing. Lets be honest, whatever activity we choose it needs to be fun and enjoyable. It should be the best time of the day for you. Also, eating food shouldn’t be a miserable experience. We should want to enjoy good and healthy food. So here is my answer to both of these questions.
Exercise
Exericise is really just moving your body to expend energy. There are a million ways to do this, you must find the one that you enjoy doing and is sustainable for you long term. For some people that CrossFit, for others thats pickleball or basketball. In reality its all doing the same things, expending calories, relieving stress, harnessing and creating lifelong friendships. I have found that most people dig deep into the nuances of each exercises program and how biologically and physiologically it develops the human coding system. (I made this part up) What we need to realize is that our exercise program we choose to do isn’t just about physical fitness, it is mentally and spiritually significant as well. I know a lot of people that tell me they are a better husband and father because of the workout they do 5-6x per week. Thats very powerful stuff and shouldnt be overlooked.
Everybody enjoys a different style of recreational activity. Some people like the feeling of strength training where you feel pumped up after the session. Some people like more slow and steady cardiovacular endurance training. Some people enjoy stretching and holding poses in a sauna. These are all great forms of exercise and each one has its pros and cons.
Nutrition
I view nutrition the same exact way. We have all ventured off into an extreme diet and then come back to the center of a 80/20 diet. 80% of the time we should be eating lean meats (Chicken, beef, fish), vegetables and fruits (5 servings a day) and some form of healthy fats (avocados, nuts, seeds, olive oil). Use this chart to eyeball it to control portion sizes. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/calorie-control-guide
Once you have established this as your baseline, we can stray off about 20% of the time. Usually this comes in the form of a cheat meal or mental sanity meal.
I always look at diets as a guideline of eating. For instance I prefer the Whole30 diet due to the fact that its very clean and I actually enjoy eating whole30 recipes. For me this is very sustainable due to those facts. So when I am looking for what to make, I type in “Whole30 recipes”. There are about 2,000 different recipes that pop up. I am using this as a guideline, but not following it to a T.
Choosing the right diet to use as your guideline should be similar to you choosing your exercise program. Find out what is sustainable and what you enjoy eating. Some people can do the keto thing (<70 g of carbs per day), I would lose all of my friends due to the fact that I get very hangry and really enjoy my carbs. Try a few different ones and see what works best for you.
At the end of the day just paying attention to what you are eating and having a plan is pretty much all you need.
So there you have it! The connection between exercise and nutrition is choosing an activity that you enjoy doing and that is sustainable for you and choosing a diet for your guideline of eating and also something that you enjoy and is sustainable for you.