Flexible Dieting: How You Can Eat Ice Cream and Still Get That 6 Pack!

FORGET WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TOLD

Throughout our culture, we are taught that certain foods are “good” and certain foods are “bad.” It’s evident everywhere you look.

Everyone has their own conceptions of what is considered healthy from low carb, vegan, paleo, keto, vegetarian, and many more. Do you notice that there is a million different definitions of healthy? (I’ll touch on this in a later post).

For the sake of this post, lets consider “healthy” as high quality, minimally processed, micronutrient dense foods. Is that ok with you?

Most people think that in order for them to reach their fitness or body composition goals, they have to cut out all the “unhealthy food” from their diets and eat extremely strict/boring diet. Studies have shown that those who have a rigid/strict diet actually put them at a higher risk to binge on the food they were trying to eliminate.

I am a firm believer that if you fail to plan then you plan to fail. But having the “perfect” diet is not synonymous with having a “successful” diet either.

Plus if you eat a super strict/boring diet, then you pretty much alienate yourself from society as well and who wants that? You will find yourself saying, “sorry guys I can’t go out to eat and watch the Final Four because I can’t mess up my diet or go off my meal plan.”

What if I were to tell you that you don’t have to be that person!?

THE PERFECT DIET FOR YOU

First, you need to ask yourself when starting a diet is, “Can I see myself doing this diet for the rest of my life?” If not, then it is the absolute wrong diet for you! You will eventually fall into one of these three categories:

  1. You’ll get tired of the rules and quit your plan before reaching your goals.
  2. You will reach your goal and then get tired of the rules and quit.
  3. You will reach your goal and maintain our progress, but you’ll be so miserable that being lean isn’t worth it anymore. Then you quit and/or go crazy.

Now we need to ask ourselves these simple questions:

  1. Do you want to lose fat and stay lean with minimal effort?
  2. Are you tired of losing 10 lbs and then regaining it all back after your diet stops working?
  3. Are you tired of giving up your favorite foods in order to lose weight?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, Flexible Dieting is for you!

THE DECISION THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

Just over 3 years ago, I decided to give Flexible Dieting a try. I’ll be candid and tell you that deciding to start flexible dieting is in the top 3 of the best decisions I’ve ever made! (It’s up there with my religious denomination and starting my business, if that gives you any perspective.)

My relationship with food is amazing now! Food is no longer the enemy! I do not eliminate any foods from my diet. If I am craving ice cream, I most definitely will be having ice cream!

I started Flexible Dieting Lifestyle because I work with people on an everyday basis who struggle with their relationships with food. I was once one of them. They are constantly stressing themselves out with eating “clean” 24/7 and if they eat a type of food that is considered “bad”, then they beat themselves up about it. This type of relationship with food has led to so many people to developing eating disorders.

Here are a few questions to consider:

  • What are the foods that you eliminate from your diet when you try to lose weight?
  • Does this lead you to binge on those foods?

We all have a list of 3-5 of our favorites foods that are eliminated right away! That sucks! And what is the worst is that it creates this “win/loss” mindset with our nutrition. We are winning when we do not have those foods. And we have lost when we do. Or we call that “cheating”. And what’s the worst is that when we do “cheat”, we have this “get it out of your system” mindset that leads up to a glorified binge…. Trust me, I was that person for so long. You are not along if you’ve struggled with this.

So to say Flexible Dieting has changed my life would be an understatement! I am now in control. It has provided me with Nutritional Freedom! And I want to help you learn everything you need to know in order to achieve Nutritional Freedom too!

So lets get into what flexible dieting is, how it works, and how you can integrate it into your life so you can get that 6 pack you’ve always wanted or even get back into those high school jeans of yours!

Perrin’s 3 Month Transformation

“Flexible Dieting allowed me to stop worrying about food. I no longer saw food as “good” or “bad” but instead I saw it as fuel for my workouts. This mindset change allowed me to have a much better relationship with food and in return I was able to eat ice cream and transform my body while doing zero cardio!”

SO WHAT IS FLEXIBLE DIETING!?

Flexible Dieting, is most simply the tracking of your macronutrient intake to achieve a health and body composition goal. Your macronutrients are your proteins, carbs and fats. These macronutrients are the nutrients you need in large amount and are what give you your calories.

1 gram of protein = 4 calories

​1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories

​1 gram of fat = 9 calories

​Most people are familiar with counting calories, but Flexible Dieting focuses on tracking your macronutrients.

So you and I are more focused on hitting 175g Protein, 140g Carbs and 60g Fat, which equals 1800 calories rather than just 1800 calories.

  • ​Protein: 175 x 4= 700 calories
  • Carbs: 140 x 4 = 560 calories
  • Fats: 60 x 9 = 540 calories

When all these 3 are added up, you get a total of 1800 calories. Why does this matter for you to get the specific amounts of macronutrients in order to reach 1800 calories!? I’ll touch on that next.

CALORIES VS. MACRONUTRIENTS

​Well calories in vs calories out is what determines weight loss or weight gain but macronutrient ratios are what influence our body composition/optimal health rather than just weight loss or gain.

  • ​Sufficient Protein intake is necessary to build/preserve muscle mass and organ tissue.
  • Sufficient Carb intake is necessary to provide your muscles with enough energy (glycogen) so you can hit your workouts with high intensity. They also play a huge role in the health of your Thyroid (engine for your metabolism).
  • Sufficient Fat intake is necessary for production of vital hormones (hormone synthesis) that set the tone for all of the functions in our bodies.

Who Would You Rather Be?

So the question arises, would you rather be a lean 165 or a skinny fat 165? This is why counting macros is far superior to counting calories because it allows you to focus on improving body composition, not just focusing on the scale. I’ve had clients who’s weight stayed the same or went up when we switched around their macronutrient profile even though their goal was weight loss.

Alex’s 2 Month Transformation

Just look at Alex, pictured above, who was skinny fat in his before picture. In 2 months time, he dropped 7% body fat and gained 17 lbs! Not only that but he was able to eat twice as many calories due to his increases in muscle mass! That’s pretty damn awesome! Getting leaner and building crazy amount of muscle. I think we all want that and it is living proof that macronutrient ratio is more important than just counting calories!

Ohh and don’t forget about his girlfriend (Perrin, testimonial above) that did the same thing! Flexible dieting turned them into a power couple!

Pop Tarts vs Sweet Potatoes

Ok…. Now to get to the part where it is going to sound like voodoo or magic, or whatever you want to call it. What you eat to hit your macronutrient targets is secondary in importance when we are talking about strictly body composition. So what does this exactly mean?

  • ​Ex. Your friend eats a pop tart for his snack and you eat a sweet potato.
    • Both are carb heavy choices
      One is considered “good” and one is considered “bad”
    • As we stated above, carbs in the pop tart and carbs from the sweet potato both turn into energy (glycogen).
    • So since our bodies do not necessarily distinguish between sources in regards to glycogen production, both will have the same affect in our bodies.

Ok so you must be thinking that I am advocating that you can only eat McDonalds, Poptarts, Ice Cream, Pizza, and any other food you once thought were off limits and still get shredded/toned/whatever you want to call it!? Well yes…….. and no

ACUTE VS INSIDIOUS DAMAGE

​Just as why I advocate the flexible dieting strategy to anyone and every one because it is the diet you can use for the rest of your life, I also advocate that our diet should be a tool to ensure that we live a long and healthy life!

  1. A​cute symptoms and affects are what you will see in the short term
  2. Insidious symptoms and affects are the small changes that you will see in the long run.
  3. Most people think in the short term and do not think of the long term repercussions of their decisions. The same can be said with our diets.
    • Ex. So lets say that our diet is consists of low quality protein sources like McDonalds, micronutrient sparse pop tarts, and a large amount of our dietary fat coming from the trans fat that tags along with our McDonalds.

Let’s go back to our example above.

Sweet Potato vs. Pop Tart

At the macro level, these are the same but at the micronutrient level, they are not.

I want you to think of your micronutrients as little buckets of life giving nutrients that you need to fill up on a daily basis.

Sweet Potatoes offer you tons of micronutrients.

Pop Tarts do not….

Sweet Potatoes also give you a lot of dietary fiber, which you will learn how important it is later in this post.

So if we take the route of taking in low quality sources of food to reach our body composition goals, we are putting our overall healthy at risk. We might not see any short term, acute problems to our health, but in the long run, the insidious damage that will occur will lead to us increasing our risk for developing cancer later on in life. Just think, somebody doesn’t just wake up at 50 and get cancer. It is something that is a result of a lifetime of experiences that the body has been through. So take my advice in the next section because ain’t nobody got time for cancer!

THE PERFECT RATIO FOR HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE

THE 80-20 RULE
  • 80% of your daily calories come from healthy (high quality, minimally processed, micronutrients dense) foods that you enjoy.
  • 20% of you daily calories come from those foods that are at the opposite end of the spectrum that you once thought were off limits.
    • 3 meals per day for 7 days = 21 meals
      .2 x 21 = 4.2 (so lets just say 4)
    • Number of meals per week to incorporate my favorite foods: 4 meals per week
  • The Best Diet is the one you can stick to.
    • By not putting any foods off limits then you substantially reduce the risk of binging, developing an eating disorder, excessive concern with body size/shape, and an increased risk of rebound weight gain after dieting.
    • By all means am I not advocating that you can’t eat 100% “clean”! If you thoroughly enjoy eating 100% healthy, minimally processed, nutrient dense foods, then go for it!

But there is one key understanding I need you to have. Remember our buckets of micronutrients I mentioned above? Those buckets can be filled with with 80/20 strategy. Overflowing those buckets do not give you any added benefits. So if hitting 80/20 or even 90/10 or even 99/1 makes you feel less stress than 100%, then please do that! The chronic stress of trying to eat 100% clean is really what is taking years off our lives!

SO WHAT IS FLEXIBLE DIETING!?

  • ​A diet that allows ALL Foods and is more focused on the hitting of our overall nutritional needs.
  • A diet that allows ALL meats, fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains, nuts and legumes (beans) without demonizing any whole food source.
  • A diet that is not a diet. It is simply nothing more than an understanding that all foods can be had to achieve sufficient nutritional intake for health and body composition. Life balance is the key to long term dietary success.
  • Is a form of eating that allows you to enjoy foods without guilt of self punishment.

WHAT YOU LEARNED TODAY

  1. ​Eat smart and flexible, not stupid and restricted.
  2. Food is not meant to stress you out! It’s a tool that helps us live the life we desire!
  3. If you are currently doing a diet you do not see yourself doing for the rest of your life, STOP immediately.
  4. Eliminating foods you love from your diet sets you up for failure and science shows that.
  5. Calories in vs calories out = weight gain or weight loss
  6. Macronutrient Ratios = Body Composition/Health
  7. The 80-20 Rule = 80% from “healthy” foods, 20% from foods you once thought were off limits

YOUR HOMEWORK ?

    • You will need to order a digital food scale. This is the one I have.
    • Also, Download the MyFitnessPal app on your phone and start playing around with it.
      Here’s a great tutorial video I created taking you step by step on how to use it.
    • Start tracking your intake if you can because in the next post I’ll be outlining how to figure out your macros and you’ll need to of tracked 3 days of your normal intake as the first step.
      • Important! Please do not change your eating or use the macros MyFitnessPal has given you. This will ruin why we are doing the 3-days of tracking. This 3-days of tracking is to see where your metabolism is at right NOW. Don’t change a thing of how you normally eat.

If you do all this before the next post, you’ll be ready to go then!

Click here to read the next post where I will give you a step by step guide on how to calculate your own personal macro ratios based on your goals, activity, and body type in order to create the best diet for YOUR LIFESTYLE!

THE “ONE” THAT MAKES OR BREAKS IT……….

I would love to read in the comments what that one food is that would make a diet impossible to stick to if you were told that this food was off limits. Mine is rice cakes (yes I know that is lame). Feel free to make fun of me below and don’t forget to share yours as well!

And being the nice person I am ? Here’s the next post I promised again so you can just keep those gainz a comin!​

Thanks and God Bless!

Zach​

P.S. Friend me on Facebook or follow on Instagram to see all the other awesome stuff I post (well awesome to me..) that doesn’t make it to the blog!

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