Most diets are restrictive in nature. While some may cut calories, others avoid particular food groups, control the time of eating, or enforce specific meals. However, 7-time Olympia Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his recent newsletter, ‘Arnold’s Pump Club’ writes on ‘The Science of Flexible Eating.’
What is flexible eating? Flexible eating, or dieting, is a method of eating that has no restrictions on food groups. In this form of diet, any type of food can be consumed. But what’s important here is that one needs to ensure one is eating within the macro targets.
When individuals work on themselves and follow a proper diet routine, most think every meal should be perfect. But, according to a scientific study, that is not the case for flexible eating.
“If you want to be healthy—and even lose weight—scientists found that you can have dessert and indulgences without needing to stress.”
Arnold cites that, during the study, researchers analyzed people who followed a specific diet by consuming similar things daily along with individuals who followed the same diet but increased the consumption of calories more than twice.
The scientists called this type of diet “planned hedonic deviations.” However, according to Arnold, it means having a good meal, in which you don’t have to be perfect. The study proved that people who consumed the extra meal were able to maintain their self-control and motivation. However, it was different for the ones who never got the break.
“Those who snuck in the bonus meal lost similar weight despite the weekly indulgence.”
Hence, according to Arnold, there are three important lessons that one can follow for flexible eating and a better diet, which are as follows:
- Consumption of protein and fiber is a basic requirement, but at the same time, you can relish carbs and fat to be healthy.
- If you have a fixed and particular structure in place, you can enjoy anything that isn’t nutritious as well.
- If you’re unable to make or find time for the food you enjoy, your plan for restricting it might not work.
Therefore, the Austrian Oak suggests that by following these rules and with some planning, one can achieve the goals or target. This will also help an individual maintain a better and more flexible diet.
Arnold Schwarzenegger shares the best diet tip to shed kilos
In another edition of his newsletter, Arnold discussed with his village members how there isn’t “one best” diet. According to Schwarzenegger, he states that metabolism is different for everyone. Hence, despite maintaining a proper diet, they are unable to shed weight.
Therefore, with the backing of a 10-year diet study, the fitness stalwart has found that some eating habits coupled with changes in diet can help in losing weight. He shared that eating more than 400 grams of fruits, veggies, and a quarter grams of fiber each day is necessary.
For the heart, he recommends reducing saturated fat and sugar to less than 10 percent of the total calorie intake. He suggests keeping total dietary fat below 30 percent of the daily calorie intake and taking potassium regularly. Hence, to maintain blood pressure and to help muscles contract, he urges to add a minimum of 3.5 g of minerals to the diet. Thus, he opines that the best diet is the one that is sustainable.
