paleo – Warrior body and mind

This will be more of a rant post than anything else, but it has been festering in me for a while now. Let's do this. Rant mode on. What is the best diet for you? I have been asked quite a few times what is the best diet. The short answer is of course, none. There is no best diet (even keto)for all people and the variety of their goals. The reason I don't recommend a single diet is the following. I am not arrogant or foolish enough to think such a thing was possible. We are not machines, we are not mass-produced in Chinese factories on conveyor belts and adapted to the same specifications. No, we are the product of a number of different genetic backgrounds and geographic locations, from which each individual has received a unique set of instructions from their maker so to speak. There are no simple answers to the question of the best diet. There are just people in search of an illusion that doesn't exist. As intelligent and thinking beings, we need to embrace the fact that our concept of the simplicity of the world around us is no more real than the best diet we seek to find that benefits all people equally. Abandon your belief in egalitarianism. All humans were not created equal. As such, all humans will not benefit the same from a certain diet. You are your own person and as such embrace your individuality, your faults, your fallings and your strengths. These things are clues that will allow you to find the best diet for you. The fact it, I spent the better part of this decade on researching nutrition. Reading countless books on nutrition, articles in magazines, analyzing studies, and even more importantly, putting it all into practice and testing it out. Anyone who tells you there is a diet that fits all is full of it. Hell the best diet for a you can change from one period to another of your life. If that seems obtuse, allow me to explain - there are huge biochemical, physiological and hormonal differences in a person’s internal environment throughout his or her life. One’s body is hardly a static environment - we are not machines, remember? It is impossible for a person to repeat the most perfect day, for maximal hypertrophy and minimal fat loss. None of these is perfect for everyone As you age the level of your hormones, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. This alone can play merry hell on your dieting. Now add into account your stress levels, sleep, training, exposure to environmental toxins, sexual activity, and illnesses. There are far too many factors at play for anyone to state unequivocally that a given diet is best in all cases, for all people, at any age. Any statement to the contrary is either a blatant lie or the product of an idiot. Sadly there are many of those around. Now this this is not a cop-out, nor is it an excuse for the possibility of dietary failure if you follow my dieting strategies to a “t”. Instead, this is a rational, educated adult attempting to impart a simple fact of life to other rational, educated adults. There is no magic diet that will work for you every day for the rest of your life. Instead, there’s the best diet for you, right now, and it’s up to you to pull on your big boy or big girl pants and experiment until you find it and kick ass! Until next time. Yours truly, Ivan.