It’s Behavior, Not Biology.

It took me over 12 years of experience working out, 7 years of practice as a personal trainer, and three college degrees to figure this out. I tried all of the things the internet and other fit people said to do, but it was all biology based and that didn't work for me. I finally have a far better understanding and application to eating healthier and making it less shitty.

Biology plays a factor in your nutrition, but it’s not the main answer to your problem.

The other half of the problem, the more important one is your behavior.

You can’t use biology to fix a behavioral problem when it comes to your diet. When I use the term biology, I’m referencing to the biology of how nutrition works. This refers to the breakdown of macronutrients & the process of how your food is constructed and broken down.

Biology teaches you a band-aid approach to nutrition that teaches you how to diet. It will teach you what to eat and how much of it to eat. An example of this idea is using a daily caloric intake that breaks down the number of calories you eat in a day along with the specific number of macronutrients with it and the quality of the food.

When you approach nutrition as a behavioral problem you can begin to address the true issues by using simple habit change to elicit long-term change. The reason this works better than just using the biological approach is because you’re changing the way your brain works to match the behavior that will lead you to better health.

Here is an example:

I was tired of binge eating sweets at night. After supper, I would typically go to the pantry and eat a bunch of candy. Go back to doing what I was doing then about repeat it again once I got bored or craved that sweet sensation again.

This called a habit loop, this is where a person has a cue, routine, and a reward. Charles Duhigg has a book called “The Power of Habit”, where he talks about how habit loops really determine our behavior.

Cue: Wanting something sweet after supper.

Response: Go get something sweet from the pantry.

Routine: Go to the pantry for something sweet.

Reward: Eating the candy because I like having something sweet after something savory.

Here’s what I do now that I’m aware of my behavior and learning how to change my routine.

Cue: Wanting something sweet after supper.

Response: Go to the kitchen to get something sweet.

Routine: Look for fruit, Greek yogurt, granola, protein shake, protein bar to eat.

Reward: Get something sweet that is healthier but still satisfying my sweet tooth.

This isn't always going to work and that's okay because it's impossible to be perfect. What's possible and totally up to you, is the choices you make. No one is telling you to keep doing this shit, expect yourself. Well, that was the case for me in my experience, it was me who was going to the pantry, it was my choice to go buy the candy, it was my choice that I put them in a place I would easily access them, and many other things that were fully my responsibility. You can't be perfect because it doesn't exist, but you can be consistent.

Learn your cue and routine to understand your reward. Then switch the routine to fit the reward with a better choice. If you're stuck with what's a better choice, literally go to google and ask, then find one you like or pick a random one. The answer to your problem isn't in the solution, it's in the action you take to resolve the the problem. It's all up to you now, take action and do some cool shit.

If you would like more help or how to go further with this idea, email us today to set up a FREE consultation!