How to stay healthy by saying no

Here’s how I stay healthy by what I do.

The two things in my control that determine my weight and body composition are:

1. What I eat (quality + amount)
2. How I move (intensity + frequency)

I love exercise, but disciplined eating is an easier way to stay healthy. Exercise requires time, energy, and action. But with eating, I gain huge benefits from what I decide not to do. The most important discipline for my weight and health is not what I eat, but what I don’t eat.

• I skip unhealthy, empty food.
• I don’t eat too much or too often.

Why? Practically speaking, because low quality food causes more damage than benefit and my body only requires a certain amount of food to function properly. The older I get, the less food my body needs for fuel. Everything beyond that is for emotional satisfaction.

Saying no to certain foods or amounts is the easiest way to stay healthy. Choosing what to eat takes more effort than simply not eating bad stuff. When deciding what to eat, the possibilities are endless. When deciding what not to eat, my answers are already there. If I can’t eat well, I eat nothing. It’s fine and rare.

I don’t obsess. I set standards and stick to them with strong discipline. My discipline focuses on what I don’t eat more than what I do. When I do exercise, the benefits have greater impact. I exercise to get strong and athletic, not to fix poor eating.

The more disciplined I am about what I don’t do, the more freedom I have with what I can do.

Every time you make an eating decision this week, ask yourself: is this necessary for my body or is it for my emotional satisfaction? Aim for 80-90% of what you eat to be necessary.

Event + Response = Outcome. Do the work.