I enjoy eating. I don’t like restrictive diets telling me to give up my favorite foods.
After years of trial and error, I developed a system where I can eat for pleasure and still be in excellent shape.
Here are my 5 strategies to stay in great shape while enjoying the food I eat:
#1) Be fit
A few years ago I went on a scuba diving day trip with my girlfriend.
There were around 20 other people in our group. Our boat took off at 7 a.m., brought us to a great cove. We spent the whole morning scuba diving, swimming and socializing.
I don’t know why but swimming has a way of making me too much hungry.
When it was lunchtime, we were hungry like wolves. The crew put together a rich all-you-can-eat buffet on the deck. The food was delicious and plentiful.
I ate 6 plates of food and my girlfriend ate at least 4 plates. We were that hungry.
We both noticed that we are the only ones eating too much. Other people ate only a little and stepped aside. There was still plenty of food left but nobody was eating.
My girlfriend was surprised that other people weren’t as hungry as us. I wasn’t surprised. Because I used to be fat and I could relate to their psychology.
I and my girlfriend were the only fit people in the group. Other people were all overweight. That’s why they were self-conscious about eating in a public gathering.
When you are fat and you have to eat in public, you feel the immense pressure of imagining what other people may be thinking when they see you eat:
“Look at that fatso eating like a pig. That’s why he is so fat.”
Now, the other people probably aren’t thinking like this. It’s only imagination. But the imagination is there and it prevents you from enjoying the food you eat.
Actually, eating when you are fat is still not enjoyable when you eating alone. There is always this nagging voice in your head saying “I’m already fat and I’m still eating.”
This guilt feeling greatly diminishes the enjoyment you get from the food you are eating.
On the other hand, when you are fit, eating is a great pleasure. When you are fit and you happen to eat a huge meal, people will be in ave. They will say “Wow. You are eating so much but you are in great shape. I wish I was like you.”
The action is exactly the same but the reaction you get (both from others and yourself) is as different as day and night.
The secret benefit of getting in great shape is the peace of mind that comes along.
The enjoyment you get from your food greatly increases when you are fit because there’s no nagging voice inside your head to scold yourself for eating things that you shouldn’t be eating.
Instead of torturing yourself whenever you eat for pleasure, get in shape first and eat with the great pleasure you deserve. Keeping in shape is infinitely easier after you first manage to get in shape. Believe me, it’s worth it. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you get to enjoy the food you are eating.
#2) Build muscle
A fast metabolism is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself. The faster your metabolism is, the more calories you burn in 7 days and 24 hours. That makes it not only easier to lose fat, but it also makes staying in shape a breeze.
Building muscle is a surefire way to fire up your metabolism. Muscle tissue burns a lot more calories than fat tissue. Muscles are fat-burning machines that work in your favor even when you are doing nothing sitting on your ass.
My family, friends, and my girlfriend are always amazed at how much food I eat and still stay in excellent shape.
Building muscle is not that difficult if you know what you are doing. Moreover, once you build your muscle mass, it’s easier to keep it because of muscle memory.
As if building muscle doesn’t already have too many incredible benefits, it also allows you to get away with eating more food without getting fat.
I calculated that it takes me approximately 3000 calories in a day to keep my body weight level stable. Imagine how much food you can eat if you have a 3000 calorie budget that renews every day.
#3) Don’t snack
It’s a myth that you need to eat 6 meals a day to prevent your metabolism from slowing down. Your metabolism will not tank by skipping meals. You are not that fragile.
Aristotle used to wait as long as he can before he eats so that he can get the most enjoyment from his food.
It’s not earth-shattering news that you get more pleasure from eating when you are feeling hungry.
I eat 2-3 meals a day. I don’t like snacking because it diminishes the pleasure I get from regular meals- breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
#4) Count your calories
Whenever you see a person who says calories don’t matter for fat loss, run away. That person is either a charlatan who is trying to steal your money or a dingbat parroting the talking points of a charlatan.
When you eat more calories than you burn, you gain fat. When you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose fat. Simple as that.
If you count your calories for a while, you take full control of your body fat levels. You will also see that counting calories is easy.
Human psychology is interesting. When I tell a fat person to try counting his calories at least for a few weeks until he has an idea how the fitness game works, he thinks it’s too daunting of a task. Counting calories is so easy that it will not take you more than 5 minutes a day. The same person who doesn’t want to count his calories will go ahead and waste 5 hours a day watching TV. You would think people would care about such an important part of their lives -which is called their body-, but apparently, they don’t.
Don’t be one of those ignorant people. When you study the calories you are consuming for a while, it will set you for life. You will know exactly how many calories you need to eat in order to stay in shape. When you know that, you don’t worry about eating food you love and gaining weight. You will be damn sure that as long as you don’t eat more calories than you burn, you will not gain fat.
Here’s how it goes:
As I said, I have a budget of approximately 3000 calories a day. This means I can eat anything I want and still not gain an ounce of fat as long as I eat 3000 calories a day on average.
Let’s say I want to eat a delicious pizza for dinner. I may skip eating breakfast, eat a 1000 calorie lunch, and eat my pizza without an ounce of guilt at dinner. Or, if it’s a last-minute occasion I still can go ahead, eat the pizza, and skip breakfast the next day. Can you imagine the peace of mind that flexibility enables me in my daily life?
#5) When it’s time to feast, go ahead and feast
Another irrational fear of the people is that when it’s time for a feast on an event such as Christmas or Thanksgiving, they are going to cause irreparable damages to their diet.
Look, you can’t consume that many calories in just one day. When there is an occasion of feasting ahead, people make plans of eating all the delicious foods only to find out that most of the food they prepare goes unconsumed.
People tend to overestimate the food they can eat in just one day. Nobody is fat because of eating too much food in only one day. Getting fat is the result of bad eating habits extended over a long period of time.
If there’s a feasting event, go ahead and eat whatever the fuck you want. If you are too much worried about gaining weight, restrict your calories for a few days after the feast.
Feasts are there to enjoy. Enjoy them without worries.
Conclusion
Staying in great shape doesn’t need to be boring. Follow the strategies above and enjoy your favorite foods without guilt.