Our friends over at Precision Nutrition recently did an interview with Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon, nutrition guru and coach, and we really resonated with what she had to say. Maybe you do, too?
When asked “What are the 3 areas where people go wrong with their nutrition?” she responded:
“1. Over-thinking things and creating overly complex ‘rules.’
Keep it simple. Keep it flexible. Keep it real.
Rules and restrictions lead to blowouts and binges, feeling deprived, anxiety, and just way too much mental real estate devoted to the wrong things.
2. Under-feeling things and tuning out their body cues.
‘Listen to your body’ is a cliché now, unfortunately, and most people don’t know what the phrase actually means. It means that you must be able to sense in – physically – to the changing sensations in your body that give you important information about your biological needs.
We ignore those cues now, or have forgotten how to hear them. Or we simply can’t hear them against the din of “information” and the workings of our thinky brain.
3. Giving eating too much gravity and shrinking their perspective.
Stay loose and easy with it. If you can keep it simple and devote yourself to learning, hearing, and truly respecting your body’s signals, then that’s all you need.
When you focus too much on the details, you lose the big picture.
You might be mowing the lawn with your house on fire – drinking açai smoothies or popping green coffee bean extract or not eating after 7 pm –when really, all you need to do is learn when you’re truly physically hungry, and when you’re physically satiated.
When you over-focus on your food, eating habits, and body image, you shrink your world and become a very limited human being. You use food and eating and focusing on body composition as a way to escape the real world and real feelings.
And in the end, you don’t get what you really want, which is to feel good in your body, soul, and spirit.”
-Dr. Krista Scott-Dixon
Are you “mowing the lawn while your house is on fire” — aka not addressing the most important issues?
Forget about supplements — or fiddly details — if you don’t have the basics right. It’ll just make you anxious and crazy, and you won’t effectively solve the original problem.
Before you get too caught up in complicated nutrition or exercise math, ask yourself:
* How WELL are you doing your nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle basics? Like getting enough lean protein, eating your colorful fruits and veggies, getting your sleep and regular movement… stuff like that?
* How CONSISTENTLY are you doing those basics? Every day, no matter what?
* How LONG have you been consistent? A few days? A couple of weeks? Make sure your timeline for “progress” is realistic.
If athletic achievement or a magazine-cover physique isn’t your full-time job, you probably don’t need to be focusing on details.
Relax. Step back. Do your basics consistently.