Self-Experimentation to Get Great Results With Your Nutrition Program

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It is not a lack of information in nutrition that keeps people from getting results but too much information.  Because of the overabundance of information, fitness enthusiasts often run into “Paralysis by Analysis” and either don’t get started on a nutrition program in the first place or bounce from different diets more rapidly than a pinball.  To prevent this problem this article lists ways you can use yourself as an experiment and figure out what works for you.  Here are ten steps to get you started.  Nine of the steps are from an e-book by John Berardi on his Precision Nutrition site found here.  Step four is one I added in because it is important.
 
Step 1:  Define Your Goal.  What is the specific goal you want to achieve?  Is it weight loss, fat loss, strength gain, muscle gain, etc.?  The key rule here is to focus on only ONE goal.
 
Step 2:  Decide How You’ll Measure and When You’ll Measure It.  What are you going to measure to make sure the experiment is working?  For example if your goal is weight loss select a scale to use and then select a consistent day/time of the week to measure your progress
 
Step 3:  Collect a Baseline.  What is your true starting point?  For example, for the weight loss goal from Step #2 stick to the current exercise and nutrition plan you were previously using and get two weigh-ins on the day/time that you decided on.
 
Step 4:  Make Sure Your Path is Clear.  Something many people forget is to consider if their lifestyle or schedule allows them to consistently do the first two steps.  When choosing a goal ask yourself on a scale of 1-10, “How confident am I that I can do this every day for thirty days and get the appropriate measurements?”  If it is a “9” or better proceed to the next steps.
 
Step 5:  Test Your Ideas.  Start with small tests and test one thing at a time.  For the weight loss example if you have not been journaling food, that might be a good goal to start with.
 
Step 6:  Follow Your New Plan for at Least 14 Days.  Give your test at least a two week change and collect the data.
 
Step 7:  If It’s Working, Keep Going.  This is pretty self-explanatory but people often get in trouble because they get impatient.  Remember, we want to find what specifically works for you.  Learning one variable that works is better than getting a result with five new changes and not knowing which one worked the best.
 
Step 8:  If It Isn’t Working, Make Small Changes.  Don’t ditch the whole program if you don’t see the changes you want, just change one thing.  In the case of journaling, if it isn’t working, maybe choose another idea.  For example, ideas could be eating a protein based breakfast, drinking three liters of water or finishing your last meal 2-3 hours prior to bed.  The key here is to pick just one of those three ideas.
 
Step 9:  Work With a Coach.  This is where I can come in.  A coach can give you direction, implement new or different ideas for your program, assess your progress and hold you accountable to reaching your goal.
 
Step 10:  Repeat Until You Reach Your Goal.  Keep trying new ideas based on the above nine rules.  Start with your goal, take consistent progress measurements, and add or adjust the ideas as you go along
 
I hope these steps help you.  They may take time (Two weeks each) but in a twelve week time period you will choose six ideas that can help you and test them accordingly to see if they work for you.  Most people, talk about ideas to improve their fitness but never implement them and go nowhere as a result.  However, you will be taking action and learning what works for you.  In addition you will probably get some nice results without frustration (As you only do one simple idea at a time).