Diet — everyone’s favorite topic!
Before I begin here, let’s not pretend I have all the answers in this department, because I don’t. I’m only interested in trying to figure out what seems to work best for me and I don’t care one way or the other which side of any sort of dogmatic fence that might fall on.
Look, sometimes I eat a strict ketogenic diet. Sometimes it’s just more low-carb. Other times it’d align more along the Paleo or Whole30 distinctions. There was even a long stretch of time where I was primarily shooting for a Vegan diet in a mistaken effort to lower my cholesterol.
And, more often than I’d care to admit, I dive headfirst into a sweet-ass, giant bowl of ice cream. (And then usually another one a few hours later. And then the next day for breakfast. I wish I were kidding.)
The point of all this is that my eating habits are all over the map. You might not even call them habits, because they can be so varied and straight-up bonkers at times.
What they do present, however, are a series of patterns that I’ve picked up after really just trying to tune in to how I feel based on what I eat.
Somewhat invariably, I feel my best when I eat and drink:
- Grass-fed and/or pasture-raised meat
- Organic vegetables (preferably grown by me)
- Fruit, in-season and local
- Fatty dairy (whole and/or raw)
- Coffee, to an extent
- Tea (herbal/green)
I feel not as good when I eat and drink:
- Anything that I intrinsically know is bad for me when I put it in my mouth
Yeah, I said it. Be real — you know when you’re eating something good for you versus something that is going to make you feel worse than if you didn’t eat it. That instinct, for sure, lives within you.
We don’t really need all of these health gurus and brand influencers pitching their specialized diets at us. We, as humans, have the ability to do an internal check when we eat something to just realize if it bettered the machine or made it worse. GO BY THAT INTERNAL GUIDE.
I guarantee if you just start from there and do that, you’ll feel just way, way better. Almost instantly, even.
Personally, I feel significantly worse when I go hard to the paint on sugar, processed carbs, soda, etc. Things like that. Things that we know we shouldn’t eat. The crap.
I encourage you to do as much reading and self-experimenting as you can. Pull things from any bit of information you find that resonates and isn’t obvious bullshit. Keep an open mind and try methods for yourself before dismissing them. Find what works for you — nail down the combination of things that you put in your body that equates to the best output at the highest-functioning level. The formula is that simple.
I try to stick to a keto-ish/low-carb-ish diet (really just meat and vegetables, to be honest) and just focus on ditching sugar as much as possible. It’s a struggle, but I always feel my best — and thus, am able to dad my best — when I follow that plan.
Thus, here are some resources to help you do that, if it sounds like it’s something you and your body might want to do:
- The Case for a Low-Carb Diet Is Stronger Than Ever | Elemental+
- Ketosis — Advantaged or Misunderstood State? | Peter Attia
- Doing Keto the Right Way: An Hour with Aubrey Marcus | Mark’s Daily Apple
- The Definitive Guide to Keto | Mark’s Daily Apple
- The Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss, Energy and Better Health | Onnit
- How to Lose 100 Pounds on The Slow-Carb Diet – Real Pics and Stories | Tim Ferris