Just Eat It

It’s amazing how adaptive the human body is. If you think about how many environments people live, grow, and develop in, it’s wild.

People can be found in places like Alaska ranging all the way to the equator. Not only that but if you look at the foods we eat, we have people that live vegan and are competing at the highest level of sports and we also have people that eat primarily meat and perform right alongside them.

Talk about adaptability.

So, why are people so set on having to eat a certain way? 

Obviously, most of them work. May some work better than others? Sure. But, with the amount of science out there, we don’t really know.

But, as people, we like rules. Not for health, and not for performing better, but to mentally keep us sane.

Don’t believe me, go find two kids playing on a playground and ask them if they have rules, I bet they do.

Go find a tribe in the middle of a jungle somewhere, I bet they have rules. We just like rules, the same goes for how we eat.

Making rules for how we eat makes things easy.

This reminds me of a marketing class I had in college that could literally be summed up into: Fewer choices are better and make sure you are meeting a need or want.

What do I mean by this?

Example:  People need food, so they go to a food stand to buy it. If that food stands only has three or four options as opposed to having 20, they not only do better but people are happier with their decisions.

It’s the same as when we make diet rules for ourselves. We say we perform better if we only eat low carb, or we’re vegan, or we’re paleo, but just saying that food is specifically making us better is ignoring a huge part of the mental game. 

Consistency, historical positive reinforcement of what works and doesn’t, and just being confident in what we are putting in our body goes a long way for our mental state. And, as we have talked about extensively before, our mental state and physical state are inextricably linked. 

So, before you jump on the next fad. Think of what you will actually gain from it. If you already know what works and there isn’t a problem, don’t change it. There is no cheat code.

As long as you are consuming vitamins minerals, some amount of fat, some carbs, and adequate protein, your body will figure it out. Then if something is breaking down, then let’s talk.