Adam Bornstein: Ditching Diet Culture, Mindset Changes, and Expanding Your Comfort Zone
Nov 2, 2023
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Adam Bornstein, a New York Times bestselling author, discusses ditching diet culture and mindset changes in the health and fitness industry. He shares his experience writing and producing Arnold Schwarzenegger's daily newsletter. The podcast also covers the importance of electrolytes, convenience fitness tips, and strategies for maintaining muscle mass, as well as reframing perceptions around dieting and finding the sweet spot for change and performance.
Reframing the perception of what it takes to be healthy and focusing on behavioral change can help individuals overcome anxiety, guilt, and the cycle of yo-yo dieting.
Promoting a more balanced and flexible approach to nutrition, the book encourages a healthier relationship with food by allowing individuals to eat the foods they enjoy, in moderation and without guilt.
The book emphasizes the importance of building sustainable habits, starting with small changes and allowing room for flexibility and enjoyment, to break free from the yo-yo dieting cycle.
Deep dives
The Importance of Mindset in Nutrition and Fitness
The book aims to address the mindset and emotional side of nutrition and fitness, highlighting the three barriers of costs, convenience, and complexity. It challenges the traditional extreme and restrictive approaches to dieting and emphasizes the principles of consistency and sustainability. By reframing the perception of what it takes to be healthy and focusing on behavioral change, individuals can overcome anxiety, guilt, and the cycle of yo-yo dieting. The book promotes the idea that small, manageable changes can lead to long-term success and improve overall well-being.
The Impact of Emotional Relationship with Food
The book explores the emotional relationship many people have with food and how restriction and deprivation can lead to negative emotional experiences. It addresses the anxiety and guilt associated with eating, and encourages a more balanced and flexible approach to nutrition. By allowing individuals to eat the foods they enjoy, in moderation and without guilt, it aims to shift the focus from labeling foods as 'good' or 'bad' and instead promote a healthier relationship with food.
Avoiding the Yo-Yo Effect and Building Sustainable Habits
The book focuses on helping individuals break free from the yo-yo dieting cycle. It emphasizes the importance of building sustainable habits by starting with small changes and allowing room for flexibility and enjoyment. By reframing 'screw-ups' and teaching individuals that occasional indulgences are part of the plan, the book aims to prevent catastrophic thinking and guilt associated with deviating from a strict diet. It offers a more realistic approach to nutrition, highlighting the significance of consistency, self-compassion, and long-term behavior change.
Challenging Traditional Nutrition Approaches and Realigning Perspectives
The book challenges traditional nutrition approaches that often focus on extreme restriction and complicated rules. It questions the effectiveness of these approaches and the long-term sustainability for individuals. Instead, it promotes a more simplified and practical perspective on nutrition, aiming to make it accessible and achievable for all. By addressing the mindset, emotional aspects, and behaviors surrounding food, the book encourages individuals to adopt healthier habits and improve overall well-being.
Expanding the Comfort Zone
Expanding one's comfort zone is crucial for personal growth, both in physical fitness and in life. The speaker shares an example of a trainee who is given the option to either do bodyweight movements or lift an extremely heavy weight. Recognizing that comfort should be relative to an individual's current abilities, the speaker emphasizes the importance of gradually pushing boundaries to foster growth and avoid overwhelming discomfort.
Navigating Eating Out and Traveling
When it comes to eating out and traveling, the speaker suggests using the 'plus one' principle, which involves starting each meal with a protein and a carbohydrate and then deciding whether to add a fat or another carbohydrate. This approach helps maintain a balance and avoid overeating. Additionally, setting specific eating timeframes, such as having an open kitchen and a closed kitchen, can prevent late-night overindulgence and promote better sleep. Slowing down meal consumption, limiting ultra-processed foods, and ensuring meals contain protein and fiber are also key strategies for healthy eating while traveling.
Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author who is rewriting the rules of nutrition and fitness. He is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Born Fitness. The former Men's Health fitness and nutrition editor and editorial director of Livestrong.com has seen a lot of trends come and go, and then something became clear: diet plans are designed to make you screw up. He wants to change that with his latest book, You Can’t Screw this Up, released in May 2023.
Adam is an old school legend in the health and fitness industry. We love that he is working to simplify complex behavior and his new book helps people ditch diet culture and build better habits with actionable advice. Adam also writes and produces Arnold Schwarzenegger's daily newsletter and we get to hear about what goes into that enormous undertaking.
SPONSORS
This episode of The Ready State Podcast is brought to you by LMNT, a tasty electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don’t. That means lots of salt — with no sugar. You’ve got to add in salts to make sure you are absorbing all of that water you are drinking. If not, you might be just flushing electrolytes out of your system. Order through our link and receive a free sample pack with all of LMNT’s flavors. Go toDrinkLMNT.com/TRS and check it out!
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This episode of The Ready State Podcast is brought to you by Vitruvian, a technology that revolutionizes strength training. Kelly keeps his Vitruvian set up in the garage to get that last minute seesaw pressing in. Literally, Juliet will be standing with her suitcase waiting to head to the airport, and Kelly gets in some pressing on the way out the door. To learn more about Vitruvian, go to thereadystate.com/vitruvian.
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This episode of The Ready State Podcast is brought to you by Momentous, a leading high performance lifestyle company making the best supplements and sports nutrition products for individuals looking to optimize all parts of their lives. Having muscle mass on your body is like having a longevity 401K, but you’ve got to have plenty of protein to build and maintain that muscle. Juliet has a scoop of Momentous protein with a scoop of Momentous Creatine and can hit her daily target easily. If you want to try Juliet’s muscle and longevity stack, go tolivemomentous.com/TRS and use code TRS for 20% OFF your first purchase.
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