One of my favourite ‘explanations’ of the compelling dynamic between Federer and Nadal was Federer was an offensive whiz. And Nadal would be exceptional at defence.
I love the idea of offence and defence. There things you proactively do. And there are things you react to and hope to shape the outcome by working with what you have.
In nutrition, you can play offence by:
1a Measuring the food either volume or weight.
1b Stocking your fridge thoughtfully.
1c Planning the restaurants you visit carefully
1d Meal planning. Know what you will eat in every meal before hand.
1e Have a good sense of the ingredients that went into prepping your meal.
1f Knowing how much food you are eating.
1g Your indulgences are thoughtful and measured.
1h Prepping your food with a fixed quota of oil a day.
1i Snacks that are measured and boxed in advance.
1j You energy intake level is within a tight band and you know have a fixed expectation of what will happen to your bodyweight when eating that much food.
And then there’s playing defence
2a A sudden meal outside? You can restrict portions. You can read labels. You can beg the waiter or chef to dial down the salt, oil etc.
2b Your usually favourite ingredients not in stock? Read labels and ingredient lists to figure out what can be a substitute.
2c You eat what is served, you log your food and you track your weight, measurements and/or body composition. Based on how those metrics shape up, you tweak your food choices.
2d You shop impulsively or react to every new bit of marketing or shiny packaging and figure out later what to do with you’ve purchased. Hopefully 2c.
2e You eat by perception and feeling. You say things like ‘I am eating so little’ or ‘I am not eating much’. And you cross your fingers and hope the weighing scale lines reflects your effort.
2f Every new blog, podcast or marketing brochure makes you feel a bout of FOMO or wonder ‘maybe this was the missing piece of the puzzle’. And then you plug it in and see what happens.
Takeaway
Embrace offence. Adopt as much offence as you can. And when it comes to defence, hopefully you only need to use 2a and 2b occasionally.
