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Nutrition Nutrition Struggles and Emotional Attachment (Rant) Advice Needed

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Adam R Mundorf

Adam R Mundorf

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Hello Everybody,

As many know, I'm a big fan of Ori Hofmeklers and the intermittent fasting approach. Recently though I've been yearning for a change. It's difficult to remove this emotional attachment I have to the IF eating style. Maybe it's because the Warrior Diet is what got me exercising back in 2011? Or because the marketing just has me? Is it nostalgia or familiarity?

The IF eating style isn't making me feel particularly good anymore, yet I still continue to follow it day in and day out. The Warrior Diet makes sense to me, resonates with me but it just isn't "working" anymore. Something is just off.

I'm giving renaissance periodization another shot with my 1:1 coach who I have 5 months left with until I need to reup with them. Their tagline is "Science is Stronger" which is a comforting thing but requires consistency and trust on my part. It's a scary departure from the familiarity of IF and the Warrior Diet. I have a fear that through following this science based and frequent eating plan that I'm giving up longevity or autophagy somehow. I have a fear of not living as long and as well as I can. Is this even rational? Am I too caught up in the rhetoric of IF or overemphasizing it?

I look forward to everyone's advice and feedback.

Thank You, Adam Mundorf
 
Adam R Mundorf said:
Hello Everybody,

As many know, I'm a big fan of Ori Hofmeklers and the intermittent fasting approach. Recently though I've been yearning for a change. It's difficult to remove this emotional attachment I have to the IF eating style. Maybe it's because the Warrior Diet is what got me exercising back in 2011? Or because the marketing just has me? Is it nostalgia or familiarity?

The IF eating style isn't making me feel particularly good anymore, yet I still continue to follow it day in and day out. The Warrior Diet makes sense to me, resonates with me but it just isn't "working" anymore. Something is just off.

I'm giving renaissance periodization another shot with my 1:1 coach who I have 5 months left with until I need to reup with them. Their tagline is "Science is Stronger" which is a comforting thing but requires consistency and trust on my part. It's a scary departure from the familiarity of IF and the Warrior Diet. I have a fear that through following this science based and frequent eating plan that I'm giving up longevity or autophagy somehow. I have a fear of not living as long and as well as I can. Is this even rational? Am I too caught up in the rhetoric of IF or overemphasizing it?

I look forward to everyone's advice and feedback.

Thank You, Adam Mundorf
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My opinion, you are too caught up in the rhetoric. Every feeding philosophy out there relies heavily on speculation, assumption, small sample sizes etc to make the case that their approach is superior. If you don't feel well following it, it is not superior for you.

There are solid examples of extremely healthy people following all manner of dietary strategies. It is understandable that it happens, but identifying with a particular eating plan and personalizing it makes no sense unless you are making $ as coach or paid endorser. This is true with many things in life, but diet and exercise strategies seem to be particularly susceptible.

IMHO, diet is one of the most overthought subjects of late and has bred a large industry that thrives on the difficulties inherent in conducting "scientific nutrition research" and how to tell fact from bull.

The only really solid advice that holds up to scrutiny is to eat as much whole foods as possible in your diet and maintain reasonable macro levels based on what your body is telling you. What is left of all the other trendy feeding philosophies combined, maybe 10% is worth considering, and that mostly concerning mineral and vitamin levels. A varied whole foods diet will cover that pretty well anyway.
 
You have been on a diet for 8 years consistently.... that's no joke. You'll do fine, no matter what you do.

Why dont you dont diet for a while and see how it feels and what happens? Giving your head a rest might be good. You already know by now what work and what doesn't.

Good luck!
 
Gettting caught up in the minute details of nutrition is exhausting and frankly not worth it. @North Coast Miller covered this sufficiently.
Rather than worrying about if you're going to live long and healthy, focus on doing that right now. You are by all outsider accounts a very health conscious person. Keep it up, don't stress, enjoy life. And yes, I know this is "simple, not easy".
 
Following those points, forging an identity is something important for us but food identity is a new phenomenon.
Food beliefs, however the science or lack of is applied, become a part of identity and group thinking. No harm is done (although that's very much debatable ) until you question those beliefs or come to the realisation that you no longer subscribe to them and it brings on an existential crisis, of a sort.
Why that should be so with something essential to health and well being I've no idea but you can see parallels to religion. Not the faith per se but the ritualistic use of food in religion with dogma and rules. That can be a positive thing too, no doubt but....a very big But...the amount of attachment and sense of self you gain from holding onto them can be a problem for some. And clearly it is.
So, it no longer works for you for whatever reason, just move on....3 meals a day. Back in the day, you'd be hung for heresy but no one has any right to judge you for eating breakfast at 8 am.
The cult of food identities. Like cults and religious identity, there are extremists, preachers and zealots.
It's very interesting how and why it's become so.....social media? Lack of religion? Who knows.
Got to get to the point where you enjoy food in moderation without guilt, rules and dogma. That's the beginning, middle and end.
It's very open of you to raise this....it actually is a problem, I think. There shouldn't be so much judgement of others on the choices they make.
Good for you....what you having for tea?
 
Just keep in mind that there was an adaptation period to get established on IF, and there will be an adaptation period to get established on the new regime. Probably, it will feel weird to feel full more often.

Be gracious to yourself. @North Coast Miller and the others above have it correct.

If you really crave being faster there’s still plenty of opportunity. Once a month or quarter a small 24hrs fast, something like that. Even in The Longevity Diet a healthy person is only recommended to fast twice per year.....you won’t miss out on the benefits as much as you feel like you will I think.
 
The body never stops learning. It will be good for it to receive a new lesson. If it only retains one golden nugget of information prior to going back to IF, it will be worth it.
 
A cheat day on the WD is a fine thing if that's what it takes to make it work for you. It's not intended to be rigid but rather intended to help you embrace what feeling hunger is and to use that to work for you.

JMO.

-S-
 
Steve Freides said:
A cheat day on the WD is a fine thing if that's what it takes to make it work for you. It's not intended to be rigid but rather intended to help you embrace what feeling hunger is and to use that to work for you.

JMO.

-S-
Click to expand...
I agree. The issue is that I am such an all or nothing kind of guy. It's a big reason why I abstain from any drugs, gambling or alcohol. I can tell that I would take it to extremes. I show the same traits as an alcoholic(not to belittle alcoholism), just with junk food and sweets. I'm good for a day or two and then I "relapse". I'll have a snack in the morning and think well I fell off the wagon, might as well fall off the bridge too. I'm either fasting or not at all.

None of this is the Warrior Diet or Ori's fault, the fault is my own. I get carried away sometimes.
 
I used to be pretty into the refined sweets - Skittles and such anytime they were available. At some point it just clicked - eating this stuff makes me feel crappy. Having that one too many cups of coffee makes me feel crappy, having three cookies instead of one makes me feel crappy, having that extra beer, stuffing that extra sausage and egg, that extra handful of chips etc etc.

I don't know if its getting older or just paying attention, but a lot of items that used to really appeal to me don't anymore, and eating to moderation is the default no matter what it is.

I think it all began when I delved into breath meditation and some of the underlying Buddhist principles - the one that regards food not as something to be eaten for pleasure but as medicine to stave off weakness and illness really resonated with me. Not that I don't still indulge, but most times I'm feeling restraint before I even try a pleasure food, and regard them with suspicion from the get-go - as a result I rarely wind up overeating on garbage - though I still do sometimes...
 
The older I get the more I realize that listening is the answer. Whether it be leadership, people, your body, your surroundings, etc... The answer is there if you know to ask the question. Few things in the wild world are linear, its stocastic at best. Why do we think our diet should be? I am starting to think of diet in a "wave the volume" sense, at least philosophically. I am a creature of habbit, one of the many reasons I love s&s, but so is my diet. Still I somehow know that s change to my diet is needed. If you listen your body will tell you. Something is telling you a change is needed, so listen and find the change.

More philosophy than diet, but my 2 cents.
 
This might sound like a crazy idea, but maybe you should go on a water fast for a while. Once you get through the initial 'panic' of not eating, you might be able to really reflect on why you have such an attachment to it.

On a separate note, think about all those news stories about people who live past 100. They usually drink, smoke, and eat whatever makes them happy. Not much of a lesson here, but stress can be just as detrimental as not eating an optimal diet.
 
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