If you are lost with Sustain then start here

Sustain is different. And this scares people. Petrifies them. Has them backing out before they’ve even tried. But for those who embrace it has been described by many as the easiest system going (see quotes below). 

(I was given so many quotes in 5 minutes there are 5 more below, all saying the same)

Meal plans, set menus and giving people macros are approaches littered with problems which I will very briefly explain now.

If I tell you what to eat it doesn’t fit in your life (meals out, going away etc). If you don’t know what else to eat you go back into old habits. Set plans have nothing invested from you, no decisions made, so you have no reason to stick to it. They also include foods you don’t like. By using guidelines (our Ten Commandments) you HAVE to think and thus you are in control of the process, this is much more effective at getting you long term results (hence Sustain!) And who doesn’t want that?

First up you need to choose a set of commandments. Don’t worry about the names or descriptions.

Do carbs make you tired? Yes? Eaten low carb before and felt good? Go for the zero carb option – Revolution.

Zero carbs not for you but already eat a lot of them and want to cut down? Like carbs before or after a workout? Go for 1 carb meal a day – Evolve.

Do you train a lot or feel carbs give you energy and couldn’t imagine a meal without them? Would eating fruit and carbs everyday make you feel good? Go for unlimited carbs and fast acting carbs post workout – Propel.

Does no alcohol, no dairy, no wheat, no processed foods or no diet products fill you with fear? Go for zero restrictions – Transition.

Now we know your commandments but what do you eat? Time to do some thinking! Meal plans aren’t written for you or your family specifically so will be full of issues. You have to decide what works for you. Each meal needs a protein, you must eat fats twice a day, and veg twice a day. That’s it. You can have as much of these as you like but beware fats are high calorie and excessive amounts will make you fat. From here your commandments decide how many portions of carbs you can have. You choose the foods you and your family like (use the eat / avoid list for clarification but always refer back to your commandments!

Just get started

From here just get started. Everyone wants the perfect quiet week to prep all their meals but this isn’t what Sustain is about. It’s about real life, helping you avoid obstacles and make the right choices. Log your food with your coach and begin the journey and as the quotes below show soon enough it will get a lot easier and you will be in control of your own decisions and food. A vastly more Sustainable approach to nutrition.