Diets can be a complicated topic but to me should be relatively simple. As I go through life my diet has focused more and more on less micromanaged stuff and more “big picture” things for the sake of simplicity. I don’t want to spend my time obsessively counting every calorie or macro or anything like that. To me that’s ridiculous and not a very good use of time. Granted there are times when you might have to do this. For example making weight for a competition, first learning the basics of portion size, and a few other things. However lifelong this isn’t something I want to be doing.
Now I should also say that I’m not a doctor, that nothing I say/write/do should be construed as medical advice and that always check with your doctor about making changes to your diet. All I’m doing here is listing some changes I’ve made that have helped me in particular, nothing and nothing less. Recently I’ve been studying and adopting two different “diets” that have impacted the way that I eat. Now I’ve eaten just about every diet out there within reason. Paleo, keto, traditional bodybuilding, and a few others. And most decent ones have some pros and cons to them.
But the two I’ve studied recently are more broad based things than specific. They are the Weston A. Price “diet” and the Carnivore diet. If you want introductions to either check out the Carnivore Diet by Shawn Baker and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon-Morrell. They both focus on animal products and I find that they complement each other very well. But anyways here are some of the changes that I’ve made from learning about the diets.
Dietary Change #1 – Meat, Meat, & More Meat
To me meat should be the staple of a human’s diet, especially red meat. Read either book above if you still believe red meat is bad for you. I always ate meat but in was in equal proportion to other things. For example a fistful of meat, fistful of something like sweet potatoes, and a fistful of broccoli or whatever type of deal. But now meat is the staple and everything else works around it. So far everything has been good, lean body mass has increased, eat less often, and health markers are all good.
And the biggest thing is that it simplifies things so much. Instead of doing this and that I generally slow a big slab of meat in the crockpot and then add in around it if I’m still hungry. I focus on beef, lamb, game meats, and organ meats with fish/chicken as more of a side dish. I know the organ meats are jammed packed with good things so eat those 1-2 times a week depending. I know they’re rich and I don’t think something you want to eat every day.
Dietary Change #2 – Real Salt
There’s a book called the salt fix you might want to read if you think salts bad for you. But I started adding real salt to my food and even my water and had some surprising effects. First off I’m not talking about table salt. Like everything in the Western world it’s been tampered with and most of the good stuff destroyed from it. Rather I’m talking about real salt like Celtic sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, and the like. I’ll add it to things like potatoes, meat, or water. Which brings me to the biggest benefit I got from it.
When I added in salt I noticed I had more energy. I also started adding salt to my water when I go to training and found I had way more energy. I sweat a lot and apparently was losing a lot of minerals/electrolytes/whatever makes you get up and go in training. After an hour of grappling at the end of the hour of striking I’d be whiffing and exhausted. I added salt to my water (usually .5-1 teaspoon but varies) and found I was having energy the whole way through. Might be something worth trying.
Dietary Change #3 – Fermented Foods
I had stomach pains for a large part of my life and stomach issues. I had to be very careful of what I ate if I was going to be out or didn’t have access to a bathroom. The issues would flare up then kind of go away for awhile then come back, some things were worse for it than others. I started adding in kombucha and kefir to my diet and these stomach issues have cleared up and stayed gone for years now. Also whenever I used to wake up way earlier then usual I’d have this weird painful feeling in my stomach and not want to eat at all. Now I feel just fine.
And there are plenty of other benefits to it as well. I’ve also added in raw milk which helped as well. Raw milk is not legal everywhere so make sure its legal for humans in your state if you wish to consume. I’ve also recommend kombucha for those trying to get off soda and/or alcohol with varying success. It has the fizz and the bit of bitter taste in it many people miss and so can help with those things. Also lots of probiotics and vitamins that make it worth it. Make sure you get legit stuff like GT’s Kombucha and not the sugar filled kind that’s essentially pointless.
Finding What Works For You
That’s what’s been working for me, maybe something different will work for you. My advice would be to look at diets and health plans and do like Bruce Lee. Take what is useful discard what is useless. Find your own unique way of eating that works for your life and body style. There’s a lot of misinformation, straight up B.S., slick marketing, government/corporate interference, into what is considered healthy and what is not.
So you’re going to have to do some experimenting and searching to figure out what works for you. Like I said these are three dietary changes that have helped me and may or may not help you. Read, learn, experiment (safely), and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t. The journey to health can be a long and complicated one unfortunately but its worth it in the long run. You might want to give Nourishing Traditions and the Carnivore Diet a read as well. They helped me and might help you.
If anything I said here interests you I’d highly recommend you check out The Ultimate Alpha Collection which is a compilation of 16 of my books for the price of 5. It covers everything from being a man to making money to getting the right mindset to getting girls to fighting and more and is a resource no man should be without. Pick up your copy today!
-Charles Sledge
