Diet Versus no Diet Which One is Easier?

In this article/video I'm not going to touch upon whether being on a diet or eating whatever you want to is more healthy for you , I’m pretty sure we all know that eating healthy is going to be better for just about everyone!

Food Selection:

Being on a diet will limit your food options which means you will have to plan out your meals more in terms of what you are going to eat, where you are going to eat it and when you are going to eat. Diet food can often be more pricey since much of it is higher quality and less processed.

Eating whatever you want means you can eat what, where, and whenever you want so I guess in this situation Whatever may be better :)

Hunger versus Overindulging:

When on a diet there are times when you may feel hungry or have the urge to walk to the fridge and grab something to eat that may not be on your diet list or regulated time to eat it. This could simply be a habit that you have formed from not having previous restraint when it comes to eating. I find if you plan out your meals and snacks with the times you are most hungry then you can usually limit the amount of hunger you feel during the day.

On a non-diet, we often eat for the sake of eating, sometime out of boredom or habit, we may not even feel hungry, this can lead to being overfull and bloated which is a very uncomfortable feeling that effects our mood and energy level negatively.

I actually think that a diet versus a non-diet will give you a better overall feeling or contentment when it comes to the balance between feeling hungry or overfull.

Enjoyment of Food:

You may think when not on a diet that because you can eat anything you want, including that donut, the bag of chips or that steak dinner, that your enjoyment of food is going to be that much better! But in reality being on a diet keeps you in more of an open state of mind to truly enjoy your foods since every meal feels like you won the lottery! Over time your body learns to really like the taste of the more nutritious and healthy foods you are giving it. Fatty, salty, starchy foods start to taste way to rich and over processed. I like to incorporate a cheat day into my diet plan where I can eat some of the foods within reason that I have been craving. Boy do cheat day meals taste good!

I am sure you have heard the saying, “too much of a good thing”? This totally applies to food, after a while the easy access to any food you want decreases the enjoyment of that food so whether you are having a simple meal at home or a grand night out fine dinning, your desensitization to food will suppress the enjoyment of it to some degree.

In this department I feel that when I am on a diet I truly enjoy my food much more.

Overall Mood or Mindset:

How you feel as a result from the foods you are eating is a big reason to make better food choices and will also determine how hard or easy being on a diet really is.

Yes being on a diet takes work and determination and there are times when a little bit of hunger between meals can get you on edge, but you will feel better overall for so many reasons:

Your body will have the proper nutrients and vitamins to sustain good overall health so your immune system will be improved meaning less time being sick and feeling down and out of commission.

As you lose weight on your diet your energy level will increase and your bodies hormones will return to a more youthful and healthier state. Many diabetics and people with other illnesses actually find they can either reduce or eliminate some of their medications when they get back down to a healthy body weight.

The simple fact that you made a decision to improve your health through proper diet and you are now seeing positive results will make you feel much better about yourself.

Compare the positive benefits of being on a healthy diet to non-dieting where poor eating can lead to even more added body weight, stomach problems, feeling of lethargy and your bodies natural hormones and systems not functioning as they should. You will not feel good about yourself and your body will not allow you to do many of the things you want to do.

So it may seem that being on a restrictive diet is going to limit your life and yes there are times especially in social situations where it can be challenging. But the truth of the matter is that being on a healthy diet will free your life! Your mood will improve, you will feel more energetic, your body will transform into a better version of yourself, food will become more enjoyable, you will spend less time being sick and if you are on medication for your health you may be able to reduce or even eliminate them. Heck throw some fitness into the equation and it only gets better!

2 Week Reverse Transformation Video 5% to 8% Body Fat

When most people make a transformation video their after photo is usually better than their before video, showing improved fat lose and muscle gains... Well this video shows it from the other direction, going from super fit to fat, OK, not exactly fat but at least fatter :)

Two weeks ago I competed in the CBBF Canadian Nationals in Men's Masters Physique and placed fist in my tall division. I would have to say I was in the best shape of my life for that show coming in at 6 feet tall, 190 pounds and I would even go so far as to say under 5% body fat. The heaviest and most muscular I have ever been at that low body fat percentage. My lean body mass was around 181 pounds.

Skip ahead 2 weeks after no holds bar eating and some drinking and I am already up to 200 pounds, yes I am carrying a bit more water weight but not 10 pounds of it, I would say a good 3-4 pounds may be added water from not so clean eating but the rest is fat so at least 6-7 pounds of fat gain in 2 week time, this puts me in the 8% body fat range so 3% more then 2 weeks ago. I may have lost a little bit of muscle but not that much and I will get it back quickly as soon as I start training again which happens next week. I am really looking forward to getting on a training and eating program again since I kind of enjoy the discipline as eating what ever I want makes me feel not so good most of the time.

In this video I also show off some of my new Athletes Collective attire. I have already done a review of some of their earlier shirts and tank tops but now Athletes Collective has added some new V-necks and shorts to their collection. I will have a full in-depth review video shortly on the new Athletes Collective products.

GetFitOver40 - Canmore Alberta Family Vacation

I got some much needed rest while on vacation with my Family in Canmore Alberta near Banff. We spent 10 days in our WorldMark Resort timeshare and did many of the local attractions like: Lake Louise, Troll Falls, Quarry Lake, Barrier Lake, Elevation Place and a nice visit to the town of Banff for some dinner and window shopping... I pretty much ate myself back to a normal body fat percentage and seemed to have topped out at around 200 pounds, time to cut back a bit I think :)

This video shows you some of the highlights of our Family Vacation to Canmore Alberta including some fun Hoverboarding!

Road to the Canadian Nationals - Competition Day

And finally the day we have all been waiting for is here! I started off my Canadian Nationals Men's Physique Competition day with a nice lamb and Sweet Potato breakfast, with a short coffee of course. Lunch would for the most part be candy and rice cakes to get the quick carbs into my system to try and fill out a bit more for pre-judging show time which was around 11am.

Pre-judging went well and I was pretty sure I was going to get a top position in Men's Masters but in Open I only made it in the second call out which meant I was going to be placed between 6-10th. The guys in open where really built and it seemed the judges where looking for beefy guys in the open division, in Master's it did not seem to be as important?

After pre-judging my wife and I went out to Burger Heaven in New Westminster and I had the Hulk burger on lettuce with Yam fries :) I chased it down with a nice cold beer too! On the way home to rest between the pre-judging and evening awards show we stopped in at Dairy Queen to get a dip cone but when I got there I upgraded my order to a banana split. After that there was not going to be a dinner for me since I needed to digest and get the food out of my system so as not to come in looking bloated on stage.

I did not spill over for the Canadian Nationals evening show and came in nice and full and felt I presented myself as good as I could which was good enough to get first place in Men's Masters C (tall) division but not good enough for the overall at least this time around. That elusive IFBB Pro card will have to wait till another contest :(

In Men's Masters Open D (Tall) division I ended up placing 10th in a group of around 20 guys so not bad for an old timer! After the show a bunch of us Masters went to Earls for some eats, I then went over to Boston Pizza for my second evening dinner and pretty much filled myself up till I could not eat any more, it was really way too much!

All in all the Canadian Nationals was a really great show and as usual I met some more awesome people, now it's time to take some time off and get back to a more normal life for a while. I will resume my training shortly...

Road to the Canadian Nationals - Peak Week - 1 Day Out - Registration

One day out from the CBBF Canadian Nationals!, it's basically go time, all the work has been done and now I get to enjoy the process of going through the show. I will confess I did some last minute morning cardio since I was awake early and could not get back to sleep. I am neither a morning or cardio person so this was rather strange for me!

After my cardio session, I showered and then got my wife to spray on my second coating of tan, after a little bit of dry time I had breakfast and then made up my bag lunch for while I was waiting around at registration. My big carb loading meals would come later on in the day. Prior to registration I met with the other BCABBA Team members to get our Team BC jackets followed by a group photo. After that I went into the main registration to wait my turn to get heighted and officially registered for the show.

This CBBF Canadian Nationals registration process took till about 2:30pm, I was tired at this point and ready to get to my hotel so that I could grab a nap. Unfortunately the old vintage 1910 hotel I was staying at did not have AC and I was on the top floor, being one of the hottest days this summer the combination was not so great for me to try and stay cool and not sweat off my tan but I managed...

The evening concluded with dinner, a short walk around the area and seating in for a movie and earlier bed time. I did also fit in my last coating of tan before I headed off to bed and a really great sleep for once.