A question that we as coaches get asked a lot. The answer is, as you would expect, very complicated. Or at least that’s what we as humans want to believe. If nutrition and dieting is complicated then we have an excuse as why not to stick to it. Seems legit!
The true fact of the matter is, the best diet for your specific body type, blood type, age, gender, race or whatever tell tale that you believe in, is the one you can adhere to and follow for the rest of your days. A diet that includes all your guilty treats and pleasures. A diet where you can actually look forward to sitting down and enjoying your meal guilt free.
If we should look at all the options available, there are quite a few to choose from. Counting calories, macro split, keto or banting, intermittent fasting etc. All of these work and all of these can also not work. Let’s have a look at these famous methods:
Counting calories - This is where you get out that fancy calorie app (MyFitnessPal for ex) and you slot in your daily edibles. You can easily track the amount of calories you consume on a daily basis. This tool is very handy especially for those individuals who think they enjoy fat free products, but then are blindly taking in excessive calories in the form of carbs.
Pros - You know your calorie count.
Cons - Time consuming and at times frustrating.
Macro Split: We also use our fancy calorie counting app, but we shift the focus to the amount of protein, carbs and fats we consume daily. Albeit time consuming and frustrating at first the goal is to hit our set macro targets on a daily basis with our main focus being protein.
Pros - You know your daily macro consumption.
Cons - Time consuming and at times frustrating.
Keto or Banting: “Ketogenic” is a term for a low-carb diet (like the Atkins diet). The idea is for you to get more calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates.
Pros - Very easy to ditch all things carby and just indulgence in fats and proteins.
Cons - You will crave bread and starchy food soon enough and then binge like there is no tomorrow.
Intermittent Fasting - The idea stems from having an 8 - 10 hour feeding window and then fasting for 14-16 hours before having your next meal again. You can also just skip your breakfast and have your first meal at lunch.
Pros - Not any I can think of, unless you are not a breakfast person.
Cons - If you do like having breakfast, you will wake up hungry and God help every person around you till lunch time.
So looking back on these “diets” none of them are good or bad or better than the other. The diet that will work best for you, is the diet that you understand and secondly again, the diet that you will be able to stick to until your last breath.
Other things to take into consideration when choosing your diet is your lifestyle, training habits, and palatability. If you enjoy having a slice of toast with your eggs for breakfast, then I strongly urge you to not opt for keto and, or intermittent fasting.
Which diet should you choose then?
ANY DIET YOU WANT! It really is as simple as that. But - yes there is a but. No diet will work if you consume more calories than you expend. That is the only golden that will really give you the results you want. After you achieve this, you can break it down into macros, training goals, physical goals and whatever it is that you want to achieve.
It’s easy, but it’s also not. Every diet needs work, planning and 80% dedication. Yes only 80 - you are human so leave yourself with 20% of non dedication. You also won’t get it right in the first week or even two weeks. But you also didn’t wake up one day squatting your current personal best back squat.
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