FLEXIBLE DIETING MYTHS DISPELLED: If Your Diet Isn’t Flexible, You’re going to BREAK

For those who are familiar with me and my work, you’re probably well aware that I am a huge proponent of “Flexible Dieting.”

​If you haven’t heard the term “flexible dieting” before, I’m about to hit you with some life changing knowledge.

 My Instagram and SnapChat posts are usually peppered with posts of poptarts, Chick Fil A sandwiches, and the occasional pint of Ice Cream.

This always leads to a barrage of comments like “oh, well you’re lucky and can eat whatever you want” and, “boy, if I ate that I’d be so fat!”

At first, I’d chuckle a bit while scrolling through these comments, share my information about flexible dieting and HOW my food choices are made, and carry on thinking I’ve changed the world.

In fact, I’ve built a pretty solid business on this premise. 

But the more content I put out and the more viewers I get, the more resistance and confusion I get about flexible dieting.

Which is what led to putting together this little write-up.

Before I go any further, I’ll explain what flexible dieting is for you guys still in the dark here.

“Flexible dieting” incorporates all types of food choices and doesn’t restrict any particular food group or specific foods. 

It’s a nutritional concept (not a diet) that accounts for the calorie content of foods based on their macronutrients. (Macronutrients are protein, carbohydrates, and fat)

All foods have macros.

Everything from chicken and rice to ice cream and McDonald’s burgers.

Because we know almost EXACTLY what macros we’re consuming with every meal, and calories by extension, we’re not limited to restricting any certain foods and limited to “eating clean”, whatever that means.

This means we’re allowed to eat poptarts, fast foods, and foods that have been deemed “unhealthy” and “fattening”.
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By the way, there is no such thing as “unhealthy” or “fattening foods”.  It’s all relative HOW MUCH you’re eating in a given time period. 

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EAT JUNK FOOD, ALL DAY, ERRR-DAY. 
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I mean, you can if you want, but you’re probably not going to get too far with it. 

Social media (myself included) might be the reason to think all we do is sit around eating boxes of snack cakes all day. 

This might be noted as the “glamourous” side of flexible dieting, and these foods actually make up a small portion of our total daily macros and calories, probably no more than 20%.

Snack foods and “tastier” foods tend to be higher in calories and will use up more of your daily allotted macronutrients than more voluminous whole foods like meats, veggies, and grains.

What you don’t see is the other 80% of the diet that is comprised of tuperware chicken breasts, bags of rice, broccoli, and salads.

That kind of stuff isn’t glamourous, so it doesn’t get broadcasted on social media.

Truthfully, you wouldn’t get very far eating only junk as it’s not conducive to building muscle, losing fat, or improving daily performance.

A flexible dieter’s diet mostly contains lean meats, complex carbs, and quality fats.

As long as the daily macronutrient goal numbers are being hit, the types of foods you consume are completely up to you. 

The idea here is to stop labeling foods as “clean” or “dirty” and see them for what they are in terms of macronutrient composition. 

​This will go a long way in helping you understand the freedom of food selection this nutritional concept creates.

No more of this “Cheat Meal” nonsense where you’re falling off the wagon and actively cheating on something you’re supposed to be dedicated to. 

“IF I ATE LIKE THAT, I’D GET FAT”

Did science throw a party and forget to invite you!?

Without even getting into the science of the concept, here’s the cold hard truth: every diet, regardless of food selection consists of specific macronutrient numbers.

It doesn’t matter if you eat 20 cans of tuna and 5 bags of broccoli every day, these food still have macronutrient contents. 

There’s also nothing that says you have to eat donuts and ice cream to be a flexible dieter.

Some people just don’t flat out enjoy eating junk foods. (God knows I’m not one of these people!)

The wonderful thing about flexible dieting is that you can eat whatever foods you enjoy as long as you account for them properly and they fit into your daily macros.

If you’re someone who truly enjoys eating nothing but chicken breasts and rice forever and ever (let’s be real, there’s nobody who can do this forever) you can still apply flexible dieting.

All you would have to do is figure out your daily macro allowances and fit your “clean” foods into them.

Simple as pie (which you aren’t eating BTW)

Most importantly, if you’re someone who just “eats clean” without measuring or tracking your actual caloric intake, there’s no way of knowing if you’re eating the same amount of food each day. 
 
If you’re not tracking calories and macros, one day might be filled with 300 grams of carbs and the following day you may have 50 grams.

Without even realizing it, your calorie intake is all over the place.

A scoop of peanut butter here, half an acavado here.  Maybe some chicken breasts today, maybe half a piece of salmon tomorrow. 

Your body undoubtedly does best when there’s a form of consistence calories being consumed day to day.
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The idea that a flexible diet can’t work for you is invalid; it WILL work for you and I can guarantee it will be better than whatever it is you’re currently doing. 

IT MIGHT MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD, BUT CAN’T POSSIBLY BE HEALTHY. 

​The whole flexible dieting premise began in the bodybuilding community by guys who figured out they could get the same spectacular body composition by hitting daily macronutrient targets with the foods they love just as they could by eating “clean” foods.

An added bonus was they didn’t experience any of the associated psychological effects that occur when you eat nothing but brown rice and boiled chicken breasts forever and ever.

So it makes you look good apparently, but will you be healthy following flexible dieting?

The answer: MOST CERTAINLY.

As I stated previously, a flexible diet is made up almost entirely of wholesome food choices.  Fruits and veggies which provide exceptional MICROnutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc) are still incorporated.

In my personal and professional opinion, I’d go so far as to say a flexible diet is much healthier than a strict meal plan. 

The reason: VARIETY.

It’s not easy, fun, or advised to always eat the same foods day after day after day. 

The best way to consume vitamins and minerals is to eat a wide range of foods. 

I hope this serves as a bit of insight for those of you looking to incorporate flexible dieting into your lives.

If you’d like to see a bit of how flexible dieting works in action, check out my Snapchat as I typically do “full days of food” on my snapchat story.

You can see the food choices I make and how I properly account for all my macros.