Training this way has served me well. I discovered this on my own but, since there is nothing new under the sun, I know this training principle has been around way before I figured it out. I just didn’t know about it because I’m not well read.
Tony Horton’s popular P90X Workout program uses this same training principle referred to as “muscle confusion”. New moves and routines are introduced often during the 90-day training period so that every stage of training is as effective as the first. The results of muscle confusion speak for themselves as every P90X graduate can attest.
But while I have used muscle confusion to create an element of surprise and keep my muscles guessing, I haven’t done the same with my nutrition and I wonder if I’m missing an opportunity. Should I be using “dietary confusion” to create an element of surprise for my digestive system and metabolism?
A quick internet search of dietary confusion tells me that it is a term associated with lack of consumer knowledge about good nutrition according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC).
Research conducted by the IFIC in 2006 found that nine out of ten American consumers are unable to accurately estimate the number of calories they should eat in an average day. This is not what I have in mind when I use the term dietary confusion.
So rather than going about eating in the so predictable way that I do – ham and eggs or oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, meat and potatoes for dinner, pizza on the weekends, and so forth - maybe I should mix things up a little. If guessing and confusion are good for my training then they must be good for my nutrition.
How about a hamburger and french fries for breakfast, or maybe a sandwich? What about meat and potatoes for lunch? How does ham and eggs or oatmeal and fruit for dinner sound? It all sounds good to me, and if I only eat when I am hungry, I’m sure my taste buds could care less.
I will need to think about this for a while and check with the Boss, I mean my wife. She might not think it is a good idea even if there is merit to my thinking. She is out of town until Saturday but when she comes back I’ll ask her if she would like a hamburger for breakfast.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum
4 comments:
LOL, I practice dietary confusion all the time - omelets for dinner, roasts/steak for breakfast. And cereal is dessert.
That's great! So we are both on to something.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
This is an interesting article and it got me thinking.
Perhaps the dietary version of muscle confusion would be eating a wider variety of foods than normal. Most people eat the same few foods all the time. For example, if you normally have a salad made with romaine lettuce with your dinner have one made with fresh spinach instead for a change.
Other examples are fasting, which I have done, and carb cycling, which I haven't done.
Dietary variety is smart and I agree. We are, or at least I am, creatures of habit.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
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