How Men Can Eat Less to Live Longer
Calorie restriction has been well studied and shown to have positive impacts on our health, with the greatest being increased lifespan.[1] Longevity allows every man to live life to the fullest by giving him more time to enjoy its pleasures and do great things.
Any man who doesn’t want these thing has fallen victim to First World problems, and needs to re-discover what is important to him so he can get back to having a raging hard-on for life.
For the rest of us, calorie restriction is a useful tool in helping us stay young longer and age gracefully.
To get the most out of it it’s best if what we eat is healthy, which shouldn’t be surprise. Eating healthy food is good for you wherever you are in life –whether young or old. As we get older the quality of the food matters more than it does in the 30’s and 40’s. In our earlier years healthy food contributes to our development, focus, energy levels, and overall health.[2]
Eating healthy food is just one part calorie restriction. Actually doing it requires a lifestyle change. In another post we’ve learned that our brains seek arousal and that we prefer to do things that arouse us. Eating less is not the most arousing thing, especially when delicious food is all around us, so it can be a challenge.
But, there’s no reason we can’t make it exciting.
Go on an Adventure
Most of modern mans adventures take place in the virtual world, and so he has forgotten the life changing power of real adventure.
If you want to get excited about change, go on a real adventure.
Removing yourself from your current surrounding is the cheat-code to forming habits that create change. A new environment is a sandbox void of the distractions our normal surrounding has, so we have less resistance in forming habits.
An adventure in nature is ideal because nature improves manhood and teaches us important concepts like self-control. In nature you aren’t distracted by First-World Problems and have the opportunity to connect to yourself.
You can hike or fish, play outdoor games like cornhole or bocce ball, or read to keep your mind off food. You want to be doing new things that awaken your mind and body. Things outside your normal routine.
You will have to go home at some point, but you will take the experience with you and continue the habit.
To maintain the habit, keep your mood in check. Walking improves your mood and the better your mood the better your outlook is and the easier it will be to continue your habit. Go on walks in nature to remind yourself of the experience and why you are doing this. If you can’t walk in nature then walk wherever you can as it still improves your mood.[3]
Just try not to stop. Make it apart of your lifestyle. You will have days you eat more than others due to special circumstances, but it should feel effortless and natural to go back to your meal a day.
Eat One Meal a Day
You can eat smaller quantities throughout the day, or you can eat one meal –it’s up to you. It can be better to eat one meal a day because it’s easy to get carried away with snacks and overeat. Ultimately your health and metabolism will determine which way you go.
Our ancestors often ate one meal a day. In fact, breakfast is still a fairly new concept for us humans as we’ve spent more time not eating it than eating it.[4]
A lot of what we eat actually makes us hungrier. Foods like pastas, breads, crackers, and sweets should be avoided as they increase our blood sugar and increase cravings as the level drops.[4] Avoiding these foods makes a meal-a-day lifestyle easier.
It Gets Easier
In the first week you may want to eat whatever you want for your meal until your stomach shrinks. This may be a good idea if you’ve never done something like this before. As long as you stick to one meal a day your stomach will eventually shrink and you will eat less and be less hungry. From then on you can switch to healthier foods.
The benefits of eating less are clear, and every man that is able should be using it as a strategy to improve his life. Going on an adventure in nature is an opportunity for modern man to reset his life. We leave behind our squishy self and emerge hardened by self-control, to live happier and healthier lives.
Resources
[2] Eat Well, Live Well: Research Shows Healthy Aging Is Fuelled By Good Nutrition – YouAreUNLTD
[3] Walking Can Lift Your Mood, Even When You Don’t Expect It To | Psychology Today
[4] 1 Meal a Day – A History of How Eating Evolved (omaddiet.com)
[5] The Causes of Hunger and 10 Foods that Cause You to Feel Hungrier – BistroMD