The Absolute Best Diet.

In today’s email I reveal the absolute best diet.

It is … the one you can best stick to and which optimizes your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

This sounds obvious, however I see many people who are not following this diet, sometimes with detrimental consequences.

1. The Big Picture 🖼️

2. Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦

3. The ‘Absolute Best’ Infographic 📊

4. Possible Action Steps 🪜

5. Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

Let’s begin.

The Big Picture 🖼️

[absolute]: free from imperfection; complete; perfect.

Intuitively we know that there is no such thing as ‘one perfect diet for everyone’.

Yet the temptation to follow and identify with trending diets is strong.

There are multiple factors at play here, such as:

• We have hopes & dreams about how we want to look and feel.

• We like to join ‘tribes’ and have a sense of belonging.

• Marketing is very powerful.

• We don’t like to admit we were wrong or change positions.

A well-produced Instagram feed repeatedly telling us only to eat meat & organs like our caveman ancestors supposedly did becomes very convincing.

Or, we feel we must continue to wave the flag of a 100% plant-based diet, even if it means ignoring the signs that our physical health is suffering.

Neither of these leaves room for anything in between.

What’s practical - what you can actually stick to - lies in between the extremes.

While it may be painful to loosen our grip on strongly held beliefs at first, once we do, we open up a spectrum of possibility and flexibility.

Of course there are some basic nutritional principles which we cannot escape from, but they are not extreme.

Inside those principles you can craft an enjoyable life of eating that includes hitting your goals and having fun.

Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦

Today’s topic, as simply as possible:

“There is no one diet that works everyone.”

The ‘Absolute Best’ Infographic 📊

Obviously this the absolute best infographic ever, because I said so. 😀 

This chart is not absolute!

A sound diet has a few ‘absolute truths’, such as: ‘if you take in twice the amount of calories per day than you expend, then, barring a medical exception or anomaly, you will gain weight.’

But you get the point.

If you disagree with something I’ve said here, please let me know. I actively welcome constructive criticism.

Possible Action Steps 🪜

“OK Coach Matt, I agree with you so far. So tell me, how do I figure out the best diet which I can stick to, and which optimizes my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being?”

The answer is the reason I write this newsletter and do this work.

I promised to keep each week’s read time short, so I will expand in future editions.

For today, uber-simply:

Gather Data ➡️ Test 1 New Variable ➡️ Measure & Evaluate

So for example you might want to determine whether or not your eating too much or too little:

1. For 3 days, measure your food intake and bodyweight.

2. Following guidance from a reputable & qualified source, set a new target for total daily caloric intake based on your history, life, & goals.

3. Adhere to the new target as consistently as possible, usually for about 2 weeks. Be sure to measure this as well.

4. Don’t make other significant changes during this time.

5. Evaluate the results with your coach or practitioner if you have one, and then assess what to do next.

This is an outline of one of many possible courses of action. Please reply to this email if you have questions about details, execution, or personalization.

Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

A simple word, phrase, or thought to take with you:

Have a great weekend!

Coach Matt

P.S. New reward available if you refer this newsletter: