Food Makes Staying Healthy Really Hard
I went donut → cake → ice cream → back to donut → éclair → cookie → cake again → ice cream again—then finished where I started: another bite of donut.
Five drinks deep at my cousin’s wedding, facing the most unhinged dessert table I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t remotely hungry—I’d already eaten my bodyweight in scallops and shrimp during cocktail hour. I could barely waddle across the dance floor.
But my lord… it was glorious!
The next morning, somewhere between Advil and terrible hotel coffee, I had a moment of clarity: Eating is BY FAR the hardest part of staying in shape.
And if you feel the same way, you’re definitely not alone.
Eating well is ridiculously hard—for three core reasons:
1. Starvation used to be the main threat.
For millions of years, survival meant one thing: don’t starve.
So our brains evolved to make hunger impossible to ignore. Hunger signals got loud. Cravings got intense. And calorie-dense food—fat, sugar, salt—lit up our brains like fireworks. We didn’t evolve to eat for 12% body fat. We evolved to eat so we didn’t die.
That wiring hasn’t changed, even though food is now everywhere. Which means every Costco run or late-night kitchen wander is a battle between modern goals and ancient instincts.
2. Food habits get wired in early—long before we know what’s “healthy.”
Our relationship with food starts before we can even spell it.
“Clean your plate.”
“Dessert if you’re good.”
“Fast food after practice.”
Those childhood patterns get baked in early. And even when they don’t serve us as adults, they’re stubbornly hard to break.
Why? Because they’re not just habits—they’re scripts.
Emotional, automatic behaviors tied to memories and family norms. Rewriting those as an adult takes effort, intention, and a whole lot of unlearning.
3. Food isn’t just fuel—it’s emotion, connection, and culture.
We don’t just eat when we’re hungry.
We eat when we’re stressed. When we’re celebrating. When we’re grieving. When we’re bored. When it’s Sunday and the game is on—or Tuesday and tacos exist. Food is how we bond, how we mark moments, how we show love.
That makes it beautiful—but also tricky when your goal is to lose 10, 50, or 100 pounds.
Because you’re not just managing calories. You’re navigating decades of emotion, tradition, and identity wrapped up in every bite.
Before I tell you how I actually help my clients, here’s what I don’t do:
1. I don’t give rigid meal plans.
Yes, every client gets a sample plan. Then I tell them not to follow it like gospel.
It’s a tool—not a rulebook. It shows what balanced, high-protein, high-fiber meals look like, but it’s not meant to be your forever blueprint.
Following a plan without learning why it works is like copying homework without understanding the lesson. You might get through the week, but you won’t build lifelong skill or confidence.
2. I don’t cut out the foods you love.
Pizza, cake, beer, wine—it’s all on the table.
We don’t demonize food; we focus on quantity, frequency, and context. The dose makes the poison. One slice of pizza isn’t the issue—six slices every weekend followed by “I blew it” guilt is.
Restriction breeds rebellion. Inclusion with boundaries lets you enjoy life and make progress.
3. I don’t push fasting.
Fasting can work for some people—but for most, it just makes hunger harder to manage and protein harder to hit.
The “health benefits” of fasting mostly come from one thing: losing body fat. You can get the same results without skipping meals for 16+ hours.
It also fuels all-or-nothing thinking: “I skipped breakfast, so now I can go crazy at dinner.” NOT what we want.
If it fits your lifestyle, go for it. But for most, eating regularly and prioritizing protein is a far better long-term play.
4. I don’t do restrictive diets.
Keto. Carnivore. Juice cleanses. Whole30? More like whole bunch of nonsense!
Unless there’s a medical reason, these are unnecessary and unsustainable. They teach you to follow rules, not build habits—and often wreck your relationship with food in the process.
There’s a better way—one built on education, flexibility, and habits you can actually keep.
So What Do We Do?
Here’s where we start—and why it actually works.
1. Focus on 3 key numbers: calories, protein, and fiber.
When these three are dialed in, everything else falls into place—fat loss, recovery, energy, appetite, even cholesterol and blood sugar.
Tracking can help. Some clients love it, others hate it. It’s never required, but it can speed results by 20–30%, especially early on. Think of it like turning the lights on in a dark room—everything gets easier when you can see what’s going on.
That said, you could hit your numbers with candy, protein shakes, and psyllium husk. So we don’t just chase numbers—we focus on quality, too.
2. Add more of the good stuff.
Instead of cutting things out, we focus on adding things in:
More fruits and veggies
More water
More whole, minimally processed foods
More nutrient-dense meals that actually fill you up
Most people try to subtract their way to progress—cutting carbs, snacks, or fun. But addition is more sustainable. Once you’re nourished and satisfied, cravings and overeating usually take care of themselves.
3. Set an intention before every meal.
Before you eat, ask one simple question: “Is this for health or for fun?”
There’s no wrong answer. Ideally, 80–90% of your meals are for health—supporting your goals, energy, and long-term well-being. The rest? That’s life: birthdays, date nights, game days, celebrations, 6 leg wedding dessert parlays.
The key is building healthy meals you actually enjoy. If you hate your food, you won’t stick with it. So we design a system around real food, real preferences, and real life.
4. Practice patience.
This part isn’t flashy—but, trust me here - it’s everything.
We’re not chasing 30 pounds in 30 days. We’re building the foundation for the next 10 years—showing up, staying consistent, and letting small wins compound over time.
I can’t stress this enough: if you can be okay with slow, you’ll win. Because one pound a week for two years beats seven pounds in two weeks… followed by starting over every few months.
The people who win aren’t the fastest—they’re the ones who stop quitting.
To Sum It Up
Eating well is really hard!
And it’s not because you’re lazy or because you lack discipline. But because food is wired into your biology, your upbringing, and every social event you care about. Most diets fail because they fight against that reality—with rules, restrictions, and rigidity.
We do the opposite.
No cutting out foods you love
No keto, Whole30, or 17-step meal prep
No starving, tracking forever, or hating your life
Instead, we focus on:
A few key numbers (calories, protein, fiber)
Adding more of the good stuff
Intentional eating without obsession
Real habits with room to breathe
And above all—we stay patient. Because that’s how lasting change actually happens.
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to get serious about your health—this is it.
The Black Friday Coaching Sale is officially live.
The lowest prices I’ll offer all year.
Spots are limited. Apply now, and we’ll build the plan around your life—not the other way around.
Best,
John
P.S. I freakin’ love dessert, man. And the best part? I got right back to my healthy routine the next day—no guilt, no restriction, no punishment wind sprints. I want you to have that same freedom with food. Apply today, save some money with the Black Friday sale, and let’s get to work.
3 Steps You Can Take
Apply for coaching - If you’re ready to start, you can fill out a coaching application here (it takes 90 seconds or less). Best case, you change your life. Worst case, I’ll help you draw up a road map to get closer to your goals.
Sign up for my newsletter - If you’d like to hear more, sign up for my mailing list here.
Keep learning - You can check out my other articles here. Nobody asked me to, but I’ve spent a ton of time researching everything from artificial sweeteners to saturated fat to testosterone and more, so you don’t have to.
