The Training Lifestyle

I hate the term diet.

I know, I know - "hate" is a strong word. But I seriously hate the word diet.

Why? Because it insinuates that eating healthy is something you're only going to do for a specific period of time. In other words, you'll stay on said "diet" until you lose X amount of pounds, Y amount of body fat, or generally feel the way you want to about yourself.

And after that? You fall right back into your lousy nutritional habits, effectively ending up right back where you started!

One of my pet peeves in this industry are people who condone this. It's one thing if you're a competitive bodybuilder, fitness or figure competitor - you really are dieting to get down to a ridiculously low body fat, to compete on a given day. The general population, or people who just want to be healthy, don't need to "diet." In fact, they'd be better off if they banished the word diet from their vocabulary all together!

If you want to stay healthy and be in shape for many years to come, you need to develop a nutritionally sound lifestyle; this will allow you to be successful over the long haul. If you go over to T-Nation.com, they are literally hundreds of articles on how to eat properly. If you want something a little bit more complete, check out John Berardi's Precision Nutrition or Mike Roussell's Naked Nutrition Guide - either will get you on the way to long-term success.

Regardless of what path you choose, understand that a "diet" is a short-term band aid. Instead, choose a path that will give you the greatest possibilty of long-term success.

Stay strong
MR