Why I Get Frustrated!

About three years ago, I was contracted by a group of professionals to do a nutrition seminar for them. It was one of my first, so I was a little nervous. When I arrived and set up, people slowly started filling the room. It wasn't a huge room, but by the time I started there was probably 45 or 50 people in attendance.

I had already set out a few sheets of paper and a pen on the tables where everyone sat.

I introduced myself and asked a few people in the room what their occupations were. These were legal secretaries, lawyers, brokers, entrepreneurs, doctors, and a couple travel agents. So I had a room of pretty smart cookies here.

I joked that if they were all so smart, why did they need me to tell them how to eat to be healthier and change their bodies?

I got some laughs.. but then they all kept staring at me.. obviously because the still felt they needed my help. Well either that or they were thinking I was a smart-ass! ;)

So I asked them to all write down on one of the sheets of paper, what they thought a perfectly balanced meal plan would look like for just one day. It took about ten minutes, there were some little discussions here and there, but as people finished writing, they all seemed to have sort of puzzled, unsure expressions on their faces.

I continued and asked them to now take a second piece of paper, and to the best of their recollection, write out EXACTLY, what they had eaten the previous day. From the time they got up, to the time they went to bed.

It was as I expected...

The postured perfect day of food consisted of eggs (some bacon), cereals, fruit, milk, nuts, lean meats, vegetables, milk, and I even had a few people list "a protein shake".

The order of foods, and the combinations wasn't necessarily the best, but the content was great. It was mostly foods that you eat in their natural state, with but a few exceptions.

Then the laughter came...

Having some of the audience read out what they'd consumed on the previous day was met with snickers, and smiles across the room.

One gentleman proudly read out his list:

Breakfast
nothing
Lunch
nothing
Dinner
Fettucini Alfredo
4 Scotch drinks
1 piece of Tiramisu

Late Evening
1 bowl oreo ice cream


His was definitely the worst, but most of them weren't that far off. Missed meals, carbohydrate only diets, donuts and coffee for breakfast, it was quite funny.

Funny, that these "smart" professionals could all list off what a fairly healthy diet would consist of, yet most of them were eating pretty horrible diets.

At this point I really wanted to make it clear to them that they had hired me to provide knowledge. But Knowledge without it's application is useless. I could give them some pretty amazing meal plans with carb-rotation diets to really help them peel off their last few pounds of bodyfat, but if they don't follow the diet, then what's the point.

This is what gets me frustrated!

Almost everyone you know.. knows how to eat healthy! But so many don't! So many people don't eat healthy because they don't see it change their health for the better.. immediately!

Yet all you doctors, lawyers, investment bankers all tell people that they need to stop smoking, get proper legal advice, or put away money for the future, because it pays off down the road.

The same thing goes for intelligent eating habits.

Don't keep reading new books on diets and food, don't keep hiring nutritionists to tell you what to eat (again!), and don't keep asking your doctor what to do to be healthier.

Just write out what you think will make you healthier and do it!

That's it.. that's all!

Almost any positive change will make you healthier. Start with just one or two, make them stick, and then introduce more changes. But whatever you do, don't try to do it all at once. That's why people stop eating sensibly because it seems so overwhelming when they do a full 180 degree diet makeover.

Just make small changes and stick to them. The rest will follow!

Yours in Health,
:)
Shane