Let’s talk about diets

Why you should invest in your nutrition

Since I’ve started this account and blog, I’ve had a few people asking me to send them my diet OR if I can give them a meal plan. I also frequently hear of people saying that they are following a popular diet based on something they saw on the Internet. Today I want to adress 2 things:

Firstly: the magic-bullet MYTH

It’s very easy to scroll through Instagram and think that you need to eat a certain way or think, “If I can just have THEIR diet, I will look like that”. The thing is, there is no magic-bullet meal plan that will work for everyone. And anyone who tries to tell you that, is selling you a LIE. Your body is incredibly unique. Your training is unique. Your fitness goals are unique. And your body DESERVES a dietary strategy tailored to YOUR individual needs and training. What works for ME won’t necessarily work for YOU.

There are nutrition basics and habits all athletes and people need to have, like:

• Eating a diet of high quality with a lot of fruit, vegetables, and fibre
• Limiting processed foods and sugar sweetened beverages
• Incorporating healthy fats
• Making sure you are eating enough energy, macro- and micronutrients…

BUT achieving health and performance is SO much more individual than a cookie-cutter mealplan you find on the Internet or in a fitness magazine.

Another common mistake people make is looking at the highest performer in a training group or in a sport and trying to eat “like them”. I can’t stress this enough: just because that dietary strategy was successful for that athlete, it does NOT automatically mean it will work for you.

Secondly: Don’t try to do it alone

If you are sick, you invest in medical care. If you are injured, you invest in a physio.

If you have problems with your teeth, you invest in a dentist.

If you are REALLY serious about improving your nutrition – especially if you have performance goals in sport – you should be INVESTING in a qualified expert in nutrition to help you tailor a program that suits YOUR body and goals. And if you are going to invest in that, invest in a registered dietitian or nutritionist who has a DEGREE in the field from a tertiary institution.

In fact, until I have the letters “RD” (Registered Dietitian) next to my name, I am NOT going to give personalised advice to anyone. I can share what I am learning. But I believe that you as an individual athlete deserve the best – a qualified professional in the field.

Trust me, studying to become a dietitian is INCREDIBLY hard work. And I can’t WAIT to be a practitioner. But I still have about 2 years of blood, sweat and studying before I’ll do that.

In the meantime, do YOU. Make a dietitian part of your team as athlete. Don’t try to be like the girl or guy or Instagram. Become the best and healthiest version of yourself. Invest in your performance by investing in your nutrition. Yes, it will take time. Yes, it might cost you money (although a lot of dietitians work with medical funds, so it might be worth looking into that).

But your body and your goals are worth it.