Is Restriction Necessary to Be Healthy?
Many clients who come to me have already tried many different diets and workout programs yet they still are not feeling or looking the way they really want. I hear their frustration when they feel they are putting in the work but still not getting the results they truly desire.
One of the main struggles people have with their diets is that the burden of restriction required in their diet is so great that it becomes completely unsustainable and then it is back to old habits and square one. However, there is a balance you can achieve when it comes to restriction. To quote Peter Attia: “Some level of restriction is a necessary component of living healthier.” If you exercise no restriction at all, then you have SAD. (Standard American Diet). A sustainable eating lifestyle involves what I call: Cyclical Restriction
To simplify, you can think of it this way: If you are trying to achieve any health goal (example: weight loss or high- level performance or healthy weight maintenance), at any given moment you will have to restrict your food in one of three ways:
Quantity: restricting calories
Type of foods: restricting specific foods
Food timing: restricting the time period in which you eat your meals
Generally when any one of these restrictions is implemented, it automatically effects at least one of the other two, sometimes both. For example, if you are cutting back on portion sizes (quantity and calories) you are most likely also cutting out types of foods. If you are practicing eating windows (restricting all of your meals within an 8hr period) you could also be cutting back on calories (quantity).
Where people get into a bit of confusion and frustration is trying to exercise all three restrictions at once and all of the time. Personally, I am not an “all or nothing” kind of person so I find too much restriction: "too much". Instead, I take on a cyclical approach which means that you are focusing on only one restriction at a time. As you will see, this approach will naturally have an effect on at least one other restriction making your healthier life much easier, less all consuming and will be much more doable.
So if you are too busy to fit everything in, or you don't want to obsess over macronutrients or counting calories, then guess what? You don't have to. You can start by picking one of the above to focus on for this week, and see how you feel by the end. Hopefully you will feel a bit less restricted or less like you can't have any fun. Instead, you will be satisfied with your better choices and you may discover they were easier to make than you originally thought.
If you would like to explore this idea further on how it applies to you or would like some recommendations on what part of the restriction cycle is right for you to start with, you can REPLY here
This is just one of the many common topics that come up in my 1on1 sessions... so much so, that I am putting together a group workshop around it. If this is something you are interested in, click HERE and you will be on the list to receive the details when they become available.
Have a wonderful day! More to come soon,
xoxo
Ariel