The Only Diet You Should Follow: The Toddler Diet

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Quick marketing question: did this title grab your attention? A little controversial, a little absolutist, a little strongly opinionated and even arrogant. Tools for good blogging apparently…

Seriously, now. We’re about to be bombarded by fitness training specials, such as my “lock in your current rate right now before 2012”, or whatever gyms and TV ads will have, dealing with weight loss and resolutions and blah blah blah… But you can ignore it all, and as long as you realize the advertisers are targeting your reptilian, emotional brain, and are able to keep cool about it, you will realize that the only diet you should follow is one that works. I’ll reveal what that one is after a quick recap of diet FAQ’s.

ALL DIETS WORK
Yes, all diets work. Until they fail. They fail because you quit them, because you are on a diet, not following a lifestyle of healthy eating. Good habits last. Short term goals are to get you to see that stuff works, but it means you have to keep doing it.
I like the Warrior Diet for the busy professional who has no time to sit down during the day.
I like the Paleo diet because it biologically is closest to what our body needs.
I like the TNT diet because it takes Paleo and removes some of the hard core stuff I hate, like organs designed to filter junk in your system.
I have been a bit more hardcore this season because of needing to get ready for a photo shoot, so my naturally lean and low fat % body needed to get “cover lean”. During the holiday season. Because I’ve done it before, I didn’t have trouble sticking with it while others were feasting on seasonal calorie-packing meals. What made it easier is that it made me feel instantly better. No wheat, no starch, no gluten, no pastas, rice, cookies, breads = no bloat, no gas, no gut. I still feel great and recommend it. I pretty much eat that way year-round, but allow myself more forbidden indulgences when I try to pack on some extra muscle, and carbs are protein-sparing and allow me to grow thicker muscles.

THE TODDLER DIET
Looking at the little guy that runs around in my house, climbing over everything, holding on to my pull-up bar, displacing kettlebells of his own body weight, sprinting from A to Z at the park and at home, rolling around, contorting at various angles, I see what people normally see on Nat Geo watching lion cubs play fight. My toddler son is developing all kinds of motor skills, natural lifting instincts (I show him an Indian Club, he tries to swing it, a weighted bar, he tries to lift it, a pull-up bar, he tries to hang and even pull himself up). He packs an incredible amount of energy into everything he does.

How does he eat? His patterns seems to be: milk a few times a day. Light breakfast of eggs, occasionally a wheat-free gluten-free waffle. Snack: veggie-fruit combo pouch. Lunch is where he tends to eat a big amount of solid protein, with his nutrient dense rich foods like sweet potatoes. Dinner is always, always (his choice, really!) broccoli, green beans, sweet peas in big quantities. Loves fennel, loves everything home cooked and richness of flavors (not afraid of spices).

So: load up on protein early on, same with natural non-processed carbs (fruits and veggies) during the day to promote your activities and eat less at dinner (the opposite of the warrior diet), focusing mostly on veggies, and maybe a light protein shake before bed and you’re set! Energized like a toddler, and those of you who have one, or remember what it’s like to care for one, you know their energy levels can kick your ass!



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