The Hardest Part of Fitness! (It’s not what you think!)

The Single hardest Part of Fitness (It’s not what you think!)

Written By

Nathan Bosley

While the common idea is that the hardest part of fitness is the actual working out, that is definitely not the case. Even if you do know what the hardest part is, it’s still very difficult to do it right. Now, as you may have guessed by the image up top that what we’ll be talking about has a lot to do with food. Which, naturally, would make the most challenging part of fitness: Nutrition: Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient nutrients causes malnutrition. Wikipedia.

What Makes Nutrition So Difficult

Nutrition is difficult for a multitude of reasons but some of which I think everyone already knows. The biggest reason why nutrition is so difficult is that we are constantly tempted to eat good food. There is great food all around us and we know how good it would taste so resisting that urge is extremely difficult. Although, that is -in my opinion- the hardest part of good nutrition it is by no means the only factor that contributes to the difficulty.

Another reason that it’s hard is that, as a beginner, you do not know what to eat in order to reach your goals. You may have heard all your life that you have to eat chicken, rice, and broccoli for all your meals but that is not the case. While that meal is very nutritious and can be a great meal for weight loss there are tons of other meals which provide similar nutrition levels and probably taste better. Sometimes when I scroll through Instagram I find great nutritious recipes that taste far better than chicken, rice, and broccoli. So, as we get further into the article I will help you to figure out what kinds of foods will support you on your way to mastering your own personal nutrition.

Nutrition is also very difficult because there is no one size fits all kind of plan. One reason it’s so distinct from person to person is that everyone burns a different amount of calories. Some people a lot while others are going to burn far less. In addition, people are picky, it can be very hard to follow a meal plan that has foods you do not like that much, especially if you have to eat it frequently.

P.S.

With those three reasons I mentioned above, you may be feeling somewhat discouraged; but I like to remind people that if it was not difficult, everyone would have it. Continue Striving to Distinguish yourself and become great.

How To Make it Easier

There are some pretty straightforward ways that can make nutrition easier. The first I recommend for people to do is to take advantage of a BMR calculator. What a BMR calculator is going to do is calculate your Base Metabolic Rate. Your Base Metabolic rate will be how many calories you burn every day. It will also show you how many calories to eat based on how active you are. Even if you are not tracking your calories, having an idea of how much to eat per day will help you to get closer to that amount everyday.

Another way to make having good nutrition easier is to find foods that you enjoy and are also nutritious. If you happen to be bulking and are struggling to meet your calorie goals you can read my article with some foods that are great for bulking. If you are instead trying to lose weight and do not know of foods that you like I recommend that you do some general nutrition research. You will get a better understanding of nutrition as a whole and some of the small intricacies that will not be talked about here.

Different Types of Diets

There are four diets that are pretty well-known right now.

Keto

The Keto Diet. This diet is aiming at putting the body into a metabolic state called ketosis (a state where the body uses fat as energy instead of using carbs). To do this the amount of carbohydrates consumed must be drastically decreased. The average calorie split on a keto diet is; Fats-80%; Protein 20%; Carbohydrates<10%. So the keto diet is a fat intense diet aimed at putting the body into ketosis.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting. This is less of a food diet but more of a time diet; as weird as that sounds it’s true, let me explain. When following a system of intermittent fasting you are going to have a period of time during the day in which you can eat. The rest of the time in the day; you cannot eat. Coffee and water are okay to drink during the fasted periods. Caffeine will suppress your appetite, as well as give you energy if you do something like fasted cardio. So intermittent fasting is a system where you set an amount of time you can eat in the day and get all your calories in inside that period.

Vegan

The Vegan Diet. I am sure you have heard of this one but I will give you the basics anyway. The vegan is diet is a diet that excludes all animal products. Anything that did not come from animals is okay in this diet. Some more extreme forms of this diet such as raw veganism only allow raw foods as you may have guessed by the name.

Paleo

The Paleo Diet. Some people call this the caveman diet as it only allows foods that have been around for very long periods of time. It focuses on a balanced diet that has sufficient levels of protein, carbohydrates, and fats on each plate of food you eat. Experts say to have a palm-sized portion of protein, fill up half your plate with carbohydrates, and one serving of fat like oil or nuts. The carbohydrates in this diet are restricted to only vegetables and fruits, so nothing like pasta or bread. So Caveman Diet (a.k.a. paleo diet) allows you to eat meats, vegetables, fruits, and fats like nuts, oil, or ghee.

Do Diets Really Work?

Now that I got you to read all about those 4 diets I am here to tell you that I personally do not believe in diets. Not that I am not totally against diets but only think they work in special circumstances. Scientists say that 80-95% of people who go on diets regain the previously lost weight. Why is that?

First of all most people go all in to a diet immediately. A lot of foods they previously enjoyed are completely removed from their diet. With such a strict diet it’s almost bound to be broken. In conjunction with losing their favorite foods people usually go on a big calorie deficit. Now this person is eating foods they may not be particularly fond of and they may be going hungry. While this may be sustainable for a period of time it is not sustainable long term. When you realize that it is not going to work, you start to transition back into what you know. And what you know is what got you into the situation in the first place. If you think you can overcome these obstacles then maybe a diet will be good for you, but if not, continue reading.

The Key to Consistency

Consistency seems to be the hardest part. Anybody can eat good for a day, but even just two or three days and it becomes difficult. Before you start you have to realize that to see genuine results you have to make a long-term change. You cannot eat great for one day and be healthy just like eating badly one day does not make you unhealthy.

Be consistent by being lenient. It is okay to mix some of your favorite foods into your diet (food and drink regularly provided or consumed). There is a beautiful rule called the 80/20 rule. This rule states -I’m paraphrasing- that if you do good for 80% then the other 20% does not matter. This is a great rule to have in mind when you think about nutrition. It promotes a mindset where you can be conscious of that 20% but not guilty about it. Follow this rule as you begin improving your nutrition and not far in the future it will become second nature.

Final Thoughts

As you have gathered in this article, Nutrition is the hardest part of fitness. Although, for someone who is just starting to try and workout regularly the workouts may be the hardest part. But in due time –18 to 254 days– the habit will be formed and working out will feel as natural as getting up in the morning. So stick it out and face the next challenge which happens to be nutrition. Remember to set goals and always accomplish them. Practice success, not failure.