Nutrition #6 - How to Keep a Diet Interesting?

A friend came to me with this question.

I'm looking around for some information on how to keep a diet/meal plan interesting while still convenient. It's not like anyone wants to eat the same food over and over, so for some one in my position who finds themselves very busy day to day tends to eat out more. What would be an easy plan with a lot of variety that isn't hard to stick to?

I thought this was an excellent topic to write about. Many people struggle with this problem. We are too busy, we don't know where to start, we lack the skills and knowledge to structure something that would work with our schedule and specific tastes, online meal plans are boring or lack variety.... There are a wide range of problems and issues that prevent us from following a healthy plan.

We've all encountered the overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to start, but on the flip side I'm sure we've all felt the spark of motivation to begin. This is an important realization to have.

Allow me to outline some of my best tips on how to structure a sustainable diet, and make optimizing your health and your life a priority to you so that eating well becomes an easy habit.

First thing I think everyone should do is read the two posts on the importance of creating goals and then the 5 tips to stay on track with your diet. They are short, easy reads and will really help you create a firm system for adhering to a change in your food choices. By building the foundation in this way, it will pay off dividends to you long-term in your ability to sustain the diet. Without taking these steps, you might find yourself falling off the diet more often, despising your diet, reaching for the ice cream, or a whole host of other derailing behaviors.

Side-note:
My goal is to empower people to in a manner that is sustainable, transformational (not even a word but you get it), and charitable. I hope that people see and understand the difference between simply 'dieting' and a lifestyle change. Taking the right steps to change your life in this way is critical.

Anyways, after you've created your meaningful goals and understand the basics for staying on track, it is much easier to talk about the diet itself. Here are my top tips for being successful with your own nutrition

#1) Breakfast and Lunch 

Breakfast and lunch should be the same thing, at the same time, every day. That way you get very efficient at making or preparing these two meals. Don't think about it, just do it. These should be the fuel that gets you through the day, and allows you to perform and function at your peak. That means absolutely no sugar, no refined carbohydrate, nothing that will put you on a roller coaster of recovery after consuming it. Avoid packaged goods, avoid carbohydrates entirely, and avoid fruit. Stick to protein and fat. Now I know we talked about keeping the diet and meal plan interesting and convenient, so this is where you have the ability to customize to your preference. All that is required is that you get good at preparing two meals consisting of protein and fat. You can do bacon and eggs for breakfast, chicken breast and avocado for lunch. You can do steak for breakfast and steak for lunch. You can put 4 raw eggs + whey protein with some stevia in a shaker cup and shake it up for breakfast, then have a can of sardines for lunch (this is what I do). The point is you do the same thing every day and stick to it.

#2) Three Square Meals a day 

Once you get in the habit of having a high protein/ fat start to the day, it will be very easy not to snack and to stick to the three square meals a day routine. This is very important for consistency. Fat is an extremely caloric dense nutrient and will keep you satiated through the most grueling work hours. The reason we stick to fat in the first two meals is to regulate hunger and avoid snacking, so we can have three square meals a day. This is important for convenience.

So now that the convenience factor has been taken care of, knowing we have two meals down and only one to go, here we can talk about making it interesting.

#3) Cook dinner 

Seriously, sit down and cook yourself a nice dinner at the end of the day. Nothing is more reflective like preparing a meal for yourself, and nothing is more satisfying if you are joined by others. By cooking your own meal you control exactly what goes into it, and can limit all the additives, preservatives, vegetable oils, and other unhealthy junk that goes into food-to-order. This is where you get creative with your diet and have fun in the kitchen. You also can allow your meal plan to open up a bit, because you've had relatively few calories up until now through the day by virtue of only two meals so far. At the beginning of the week, pick out one or two recipes that are relatively easy to make, get the ingredients for them, and master your ability to cook and prepare those meals for dinner. You will get better and better at making that specific dinner, and once you master it you can move on to a different meal to prepare.

#4) Follow the 80/20 rule

80% of the time - eat clean. 20% of the time, allow yourself some treats. This is important for the psychological aspect of dieting to most people. By being entirely restrictive, you are constantly taxing your willpower reserves. Science has proven we have a finite amount of willpower each day. Use that willpower towards more important decisions than avoiding a candy bar. The best way to do this is to follow the steps outlined above and start with the foundation that we talked about at the top. I strongly recommend that during the week, you simply avoid junk entirely. The best practice here is abstinence. It can be tough at first, but eventually you mind simply says "no" instead of really putting up a fight. If it is a weekday, you avoid entirely. Period. If it is the weekend, that is when you can relax a bit and enjoy time out with friends, family, or a treat here or there.


If you follow these basic rules, dieting becomes easy and fun. You look forward to dinner each night as that is your chance to get creative. You become skilled at making a simple breakfast and lunch. And you bust your ass during the week at peak performance since you are functioning off of great food, then allow yourself to dig into some beer and ice cream on the weekend, satisfying that psychological urge before it becomes an overwhelming, diet-crushing binge.

Good luck good mood food dudes!