Whether I like it or not, most peoples nutritional motivations are to do with fat loss. However there is a minority who acknowledge that what goes in has a significant effect on performance.
Having the discipline to stick to your plan because we are constantly being seduced by tastier less healthy alternatives.
Above nutritional know how this is fundamentally where a diet can make or break – we have to be able to control our urges.
Those of you familiar with the British Cyclist’s team Psycologist Dr Steve Peters may have heard this be refered to as your chimp.
The chimp is basically our emotional brain and can very easily override our logical brain.
For example, you know that eating cake is bad for you and won’t help either with fat loss or performance goals but I bet on occasion you still eat it.
Why?
Well, it all comes down to internal dialogue with ourselves and the conflict between emotional (chimp) and logical.
Dr Steve uses this to ensure that the cycling team don’t cave under the pressure of the big occasion. Times when perhaps the emotional brain of the athlete will start to override the logical by saying such things like “you are not good enough”, “you don’t deserve a gold medal” or whatever it may be.
The chimp is huge in nutrition.
I come across people all the time who feel that because they train hard they deserve to eat rubbish. Their logical brain doesn’t want to eat it but their chimp does.
So how do we control this little mite?
It’s not easy and its nowhere near as simple as saying that “I will get a grip”.
Its something I work on with all my clients because learning to control your chimp is fundamental to your nutritional success and long term performance goals.
It is worth reading “The Chimp Paradox” by Dr Steve Peters to learn more. The book is not specific to nutrition but controlling your chimp in general.
I have developed this further to be specific to your nutritional chimp and believe me he is a hungry, greedy little fellow.
