Okay, okay, a little white lie. No, my grandfather is not a nutritionist. After spending some time in the army, he dedicated his life to painting and decorating, and spent much of his free time fishing on the Lakes of Killarney. I'm always keen to learn
from the stories that he tells, but today's lesson was unintentional and came from a casual conversation about his meals.
About 20 years ago, he had a heart attack. After that, he took ownership of everything that he could. No smoking, no drinking, no salt, no sugar, no junk food, daily walking, medication adherence etc.. Basically, if there was something he could do to ensure he did not have a repeat event, he was on it, and that has been the case now for 20 years.
On top of these rules, to use the cool kids' terminology, he is a very "mindful eater". He pays attention to his activity, hunger, etc., and hence makes changes to his energy intake without actually ever dreaming of tracking calories. In a conversation about his meals, he said "I wouldn't eat a dinner everyday, only some days, I don't need that these days when I'm not out as much". To be clear, "dinner" for an old man in Ireland does not just mean
"eating in the evening", but rather the consumption of a fairly large meal that probably consists of meat, potatoes and vegetables.
Therefore, despite not being aware of his energy intake, daily steps, total daily energy expenditure, etc., he is able to use what he would probably call common sense to keep his bodyweight and health in check. And, up to this point, it has been working very well. He's in great shape, has a decent level of function, great cognition, and has had little trouble with his heart despite having a very serious event previously.
Now, why am I bothering to tell you this?
Well, the reality is that most of us (I put myself in there too) are just running around in circles. We always think there is something more. My grandfather did not care to seek out a new diet or supplement every month, but instead focused on some very basic habits and implemented them for as long as some of us have been alive. His basic food rules gave him what he needed, and even though one could argue that he *could* eat a different diet and get the
same outcomes, why would he care?
The goal of improving your nutrition is not to do so for the sake of arguments on the internet; your goal is to win. What winning means is going to vary between individuals; it could be avoiding a heart attack, losing weight, improving your blood glucose, gaining muscle, or whatever. The key lesson here is that, when modifying your nutrition, pick some basic behaviours that are likely to work and
implement them long term. Be consistent.
Yes, this is basic advice, but when so many people are cycling from one diet to another every other week, my grandfather's common sense lessons more valuable than your favourite instagram guru teaching you to "hack your metabolism".
Until next time... Keep it 2ez.
