Today we have a guest post from my man Venny. I met Venny a couple weeks ago while I was up in NY. He got a hold of me on IG and mentioned that he saw me at the gym and wanted the opportunity to meet me and chat. To make a long story short, after our talk I wanted to give him an opportunity to share some information to the world. So here we go…
Guest Post by Venny Lalu
So you just heard about Flexible Dieting and you’re probably on one of two sides of the fence.Either you’re sitting there incredulously wondering if anyone could be stupid enough to think that they could get shredded eating pizza, ice-cream, and pop tarts, or you’re sitting there with a big grin on your face packing your bags for the land of milk and honey (pun intended).
In this article I’d like to take a closer look at the flexible dieting trend and the common misconceptions that people are making when they jump on board it’s junk food filled bandwagon.
What Exactly is Flexible Dieting?
If you don’t yet know, flexible dieting is a method of caloric management that relies on manipulating macronutrient intake. Macronutrients, which are the constituents that make up the total caloric content of the foods you consume, include protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
When an athlete understands the methods to manipulate their macronutrient targets, they can better chart their consumption for improved performance or body composition goals. This also allows the inclusion of certain foods a traditional “clean” or “bro” diet would not…like Poptarts.
Macronutrient manipulation in and of itself is no new idea. Even the great Mike Metzner talked about the importance of reducing macros in balance as opposed to simply reducing carbohydrates or overall calories for the dieting bodybuilder. However, somewhere along the line the idea was repackaged and inserted deep within the mainstream fitness industry where it continues to produce controversy between two sides that are really just missing the bigger picture.
The Bigger Picture: A calorie may not be a calorie but a diet is a diet.
Did you ever hear the story of God’s Hat? It revolves around two guys arguing about the color of god’s hat. One guy swears he saw that it was red and the other guy swears it was blue. Turns out it was both but they each could only see one side of the hat from their respective vantage points.
Clean eaters and flexible dieters can be seen arguing about diet methodology in much the same way. Both systems work because while a calorie may not be just a calorie, a diet is most definitely a diet.
When we talk about dieting what we’re really talking about is energy balance.
Essentially, you need to take in enough energy for your body to perform on a daily basis. Too much energy (calories) and you’ll start to get a little fluffy. You decrease your consumption and you begin to lose weight.
So when a flexible dieter says “Hey man, let me tell you all about how I ate nothing but pizza and got shredded” he or she isn’t speaking outside the realm of possibility.
While you can lose weight by simply eating less and thus creating a caloric deficit, it would hardly be the most optimal way to do so.
Anyone invested enough in their fitness to follow a dieting methodology has to have goals. If you are an aspiring athlete utilizing flexible dieting your nutritional goal should always be to realize the food choices and distributions that optimize performance when applied to your macronutrient targets. I mean did you really think the intended purpose of flexible dieting was to allow you to use frosting as your main carb source?
For strength and aesthetic athletes flexible dieting is a wonderful tool but tools in the hands of an inexperienced carpenter can yield unwanted results.
The Good, the Bad, and The Oatmeal with Sprinkles on Top
As a flexible dieter, I personally track my macros with specific goals in mind. Currently I am prepping for a bodybuilding show and I eat primarily what would be considered “bro” foods.
This ensures that I can hit my fiber and micronutrient in addition to macronutrient goals. I have also found that by spacing my meals apart and eating more traditional diet foods I am more satiated via the volume of foods I consume. This prep I experimented with having high GI carbs almost exclusively around workouts and post workouts with great results.
With all of that in mind I must say I enjoy having my oatmeal in the morning with a small candy or sugary topping to go along with it. If I am going to be working out in the morning the toppings get even more sugary. I do this because it tastes good, psychologically it helps me stave off the feelings of restriction during prep which often results in people binging and failing to meet their goals, and it fuels one hell of a workout.
I use flexible dieting as a way to optimize my sports performance. In my life the flexibility is twofold. It affords more of a personal learning experience than a straightforward meal plan where meals consist of tilapia and vegetables for every meal and it also allows me to have some sort of balance in my life even in the hardest parts of contest prep.
Just a few weeks ago it was my birthday. I enjoyed a small piece of prepackaged cake, I enjoyed some sensible portions of food and most of all I enjoyed my time celebrating with loved ones while still progressing towards my goals..
The Long and the Short of It
There is no easy way. There are a lot of excuses that can be made for not working to the best of your ability. Optimizing your nutrition isn’t about eating foods off of a premade list the way some clean eaters do and it’s not about seeing who can eat the most confections and still get shredded the way some flexible dieters do.
In either case, these ways of dieting fall short. The responsibility falls to you to make the most of your nutrition.Read as much as you can. Learn as much as you can. And most importantly, experiment as much as you can so you know which foods allow you to progress and get your work done efficiently.
Any diet that once existed and fell out of the mainstream, any diet that is currently popular, and any diet that is yet to come, are all simply templates. Think of them as tools in your tool box. Take what is useful and discard the excess.
Other Articles You Might Like
1. How to Start Flexible Dieting
2. Refeed: Overeating to Enhance Fat Loss
3. Cheat Meals: The “Clean” Eating Disorder
4. Reverse Dieting: How to Build Muscle and Stay Lean
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