What is more important — diet or exercise? Should you prioritize diet at the expense of exercise, or eat whatever you want and move as much as you can?

If you want to be healthy, lean, strong, live a long time, and continue to do the things you love throughout your life, then a foundational focus on nutrition is the best choice. We’ve all heard that you can’t out exercise a poor diet, and it’s true. Everything we shove into our mouth eventually becomes part of us. The macronutrients — protein, fat, carbs — and micronutrients — vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals — are the building blocks for our muscles, bones, tissues, and organs. Poor choices in nutrition, lead to poor structures in our body, ultimately giving way to degeneration.

But wait… I thought exercise is supposed to fight against the aging and degeneration process!? Yes, you would be right by thinking that, but again our bodies are made of what we put into our mouth. While you can eat like shit and exercise those extra calories off to give the outward impression of healthy body, your internal processes are not able to keep up with the demand as they don’t have the necessary nutrients to elicit proper repair and recover of all the exercising you’re doing. By trying to out exercise your poor dietary choices, you are effectively burning the candle at both ends. And because I’m fancy, I’ll quote Lao Tzu by saying “the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.” In other words, you’re not doing yourself any favors by going off the rails with your diet and trying to make it up with exercising more. 

So what should you eat? 

Nutrition should be individualized to the person and unique to their goals. If you want to know more reach out. To get you started here are a few tips everyone can agree with and incorporate:

• Eat whole foods (you don’t have to shop there, just stop buying processed foods)

• Eliminate all vegetable oils from your diet (Soybean, Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, Rapeseed, Sunflower, Sesame, Grapeseed oil)

• Shop on the perimeter of the grocery store (the center is full of deception disguised as food)

• If it comes in a box and you can’t pronounce ALL the ingredients don’t buy it (this is the deceptive fuckery)