Do the ends justify the means? Is it worth lowering your standards and giving up your principles in order to find a better outcome? Many times, the means are the ends. How we choose to act changes who we choose to become. The way we choose to get to where we're going defines what it's going to be like when we get there.
Take shortcuts and you're just practicing taking shortcuts.
You can still start where you are and be the beginner. There's no shame in that.
Do it properly.
It's easy to start a new habit. You just do it one day.
It's also easy to give up on your new habit. You just stop the next day.
What if you make your new habit so easy, it was hard not to do it? There's actually no need to make things so difficult for yourself - you can start and build amazing habits by making them easy to do.
Then you build on them by making the next, easy step.
Our bodies are well adapted to eating whole, minimally processed foods. Eating this sort of food helps you to thrive.
In the nutrition space, it's common to say that you should avoid processed foods. It's good advice, but it's worth putting some thought into exactly what "processed" means to you.
Processing foods makes them bad. There's a conversation to be had about what processed means.
Every time you cook at home, you're processing food. How you cook it changes how you'll be able to digest it, making different macro and micro nutrients available to you.
My favourite example of this is that simply slicing or crushing garlic causes it to release a compound called allicin that has generally beneficial properties when consumed. It's not available if you don't crush or slice the garlic and the process stops in the presence of heat.
So cut your garlic first, leave it on the chopping board for 15 minutes before you cook with it.
Maybe the line should be that "processed" is okay if you're the one doing the processing.
But even this is a big line. When was the last time you milled your own grain to make flour? Or made your own yoghurt? Or minced the meat for your own sausages?
The more you can cook at home, the better. But don't get too hung up on avoiding processed foods - just be aware of the line is for you.
You don't have to give up carbs to eat well.
But...
You will need to eat better quality carbs.
What's a better quality carb choice?
Carbs that are:
Choose carbs that add value to your body.
And remember, 1% better is still better.
When you start a new thing it's easier to remember that you're a beginner.
You're meant to be bad at this.
You're a beginner.
Similarly, when you've been doing something a while, you forget that you're still a beginner. You stop taking as much care and paying as much attention.
You "know what you're doing." Maybe you do.
And yet, you're still a beginner.
For the next few minutes in whatever you're doing, simply begin again.
Begin again as if you're doing this for the first time. Take as much care and expect little.
See what happens if you anticipate the result a little less.
Begin again.
Discomfort is part of change. It’s normal and natural to feel it.
You NEED to feel it.
It's okay to feel a little discomfort.
