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July 21, 2023
If you want to have freedom and flexibility in your diet, you have to learn and respect the rules first.
I’ve written before about how I prioritize principles over dogma. I can’t stand arbitrary nutrition rules, for example, that are based purely on tribalism and have no grounding in how the body actually works.
But you may have noticed in last week’s edition how I highlighted Chris Cornell’s nutrition rules. He follows a set of rules in order to remain healthy and improve his body composition:
He has a protein goal and a carb limit.
He has an eating window and doesn't eat outside of that time frame.
He avoids specific foods that cause inflammation for him.
Is this a contradiction of the "principles over dogma" idea? Should we follow rules in our health journey, or should we forego them?
Today, I’m going to show you how freedom ensues from following and internalizing smart rules.
You will only be able to thrive in a more flexible environment if you have first learned discipline.
Sometimes it pays to have set boundaries (i.e., "eat this, don't eat that"), and sometimes you need a little more freedom (i.e., "intuitive eating"). But - and here’s the key - that freedom won't be helpful for you unless you have a healthy respect for the basic rules of nutrition.
Intuitive eating only works if you've first learned how to meet your body's basic nutritional needs, and which foods do and don't work for you.
This principle holds true in every area of life.
You can only be a “hands-off” parent if you’ve first instilled a respect for authority in your children.
You can only write poetry in a particular language if you've first mastered the basic principles of that language.
You can only improvise a piece of music if you’ve first mastered the music as written.
Jordan Peterson explains this principle well:
Let’s apply this idea to nutrition.
With my diet, I used to be all flexibility and no rules. I decided what to eat based on what I was craving - whether or not it contributed to my health and well-being didn’t even cross my mind.
That led to things like eating an entire sleeve of Oreos in one sitting, or having a dinner that consisted of a whole pizza and a 2 liter of soda.
And it eventually led to multiple health conditions - digestive issues that landed me in the hospital at age 28, for example.
What I needed at that time in my life was a set of strict, even somewhat arbitrary rules.
So I did a Whole30…and then another. I started putting boundaries around what I was eating:
No grains
No added sugar
No baked goods (even “healthified” ones)
No dairy
Instead, I ate meat, eggs, vegetables, and fruit…and that was about it. I became a nutrition rule-follower to the extreme. Lo and behold, my health made a 180-degree turnaround. I started recognizing which foods were at the root of my health issues. If I hadn’t followed those rules so strictly, my health probably never would have improved.
I also went through a period of time where I tracked everything I put in my mouth. I learned so much from that time:
How much protein I should be getting per meal
Which foods are calorie-dense and which foods are nutrient-dense
How calories from eating out or hyper-processed foods add up quickly
Paradoxically, it was those two periods of being a strict rule-follower that ended up honing my intuition around food. Now, I can hit my protein goal and maintain a healthy weight without tracking a single thing. I can also feel my best from day to day because I’ve already learned which foods trigger inflammation - for example, I can immediately feel my asthma worsening after I’ve had gluten.
Summary
Rules have their place - especially rules that are rooted in how things actually work. But the ultimate goal of rules is to hone your self-awareness and intuition to the point that you could incorporate flexibility from time to time - you could break away from the meal plan, or stop tracking macros, or have a treat every now and then - without it sabotaging all your progress.
Today’s action step:
Take stock of your current health situation. Would you benefit more from following strict rules in your diet, or from loosening up a bit and practicing flexibility?
If you need help determining which approach would be best for you, health coaching may be beneficial for you. I'm currently accepting new clients - click here to book a free, no-strings-attached discovery call.
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