In 2017 I was going through one of my many mindset shifts, and I had to learn about the foods I ate. In 2016, I was at the breaking point where I let my diet fall apart, and I was a wreck! I had brain fog, was lethargic, and was not giving my body what it needed to operate at or at least close to 100%. This period was a great learning lesson because I learned what foods my body loved and what foods my body needed to avoid. Today, we will be talking about diet and nutrition.

I want people to know that my life has not always been perfect. Even today, my life is imperfect, but I know I have a life many people dream of. I do a lot of writing and speaking on my podcast, but at the end of the day, I am still human. When I started this mindset journey, I knew that my issues were due to three main factors: emotions, diet, and mindset. I was one of those people who needed serious trauma and grief to jolt me into action. However, I do not want you to go through the same process.

As I said, I had to let my body fail first to take the necessary actions I should have taken from the start. At the time, it felt like I was out an out-of-control on black ice, and it was only a matter of time before I crashed. During that crash, I experienced nothing major like a heart attack or stroke, but it was caused by neglecting the three areas I mentioned above. The main factors were my lack of sleep and poor nutrition, but ignoring my feelings and trying to escape them didn’t help either.

Though many factors led to my collapse, I mean a literal collapse. My body gave out on me because I wasn’t giving it what it needed. I was trying to escape, and I didn’t care how I did it, but I wanted to ignore one, if not the most important, factor of the body, and that was what I was putting into it. I decided to take the easy road and find some fast food because the food I was getting at home seemed to have no flavor. This was long before Covid, so I know the loss of taste was not a virus but something in my psyche.

My mindset was a total wreck, and I needed to figure out the best way to get it back on track. I needed to get my body right before I could get my mind right. I approached the process as my mindset needed a strong vessel before it could be strong because a strong mindset with a weak vessel is like a cat fighting a lion. Though the cat may have a good fight, the lion would obliterate the cat with one swipe. If my mindset weren’t strong enough, that swipe would have been on my subconscious mind, and I would have lost my focus and drive for change.

The biggest change I made during this time was lean on a friend of mine who was a trainer who helped me with a workout and diet plan. This helped me challenge my body more than I did alone. Even today, I will work harder if someone is watching or training with me than alone. Though I still do great alone, I have so much more potential. This is where the wonders of a coach come into play.

Eventually, I was able to get out of that negative rut. It took years of trial and error and many lonely nights, but I could reclaim what I lost and gain even more. Though working through your emotions and strengthening your physique is important, my diet was critical in how I showed up each day. My diet was the leading factor if I had enough energy to do all I wanted and more or if I burned out halfway through the day.

At this point in my life, I was trying to do more things in my day, but I lacked the energy to get up and do them. I was 28 at this point, and my body decided to do a 180 on me, and I had to adjust. The same foods I was eating were packed with pounds and made me feel tired. There was a point when all I wanted to do was sleep, and it felt like no matter how much sleep I got, it wasn’t enough. With that red flag, I knew I had to make some changes, and that is where I began to learn the foods I ate.

One of the first things I did was to get rid of the sugar. If you know me, I have a huge sweet tooth. When I was younger, I had more cavities than the Grand Canyon, and it was because of bad habits like not brushing every night before bed and overeating candy. Regardless, sugar was my quick fuel, and I wouldn’t gain a pound!

You might think I was blessed with this amazing body, but we all have a say in what we put in our bodies. Today, if I had the same lifestyle many of the kids growing up did, my metabolism would have slowed down, and I would have started to see the pounds pack on sooner than 28. Sugar was something I knew I had to manage, and it wasn’t easy. It felt like my body was shocked just a few days in without sugar. I think that is what addicts feel when they are going through withdrawal.

The second thing I did was change the type of carbs I ate. I stepped away from white flour, pasta, and bread and ate more oats and sweet potatoes instead. (Note: You better have a large food regiment; otherwise, you will get tired of eating chicken breast, veggies, and sweet potatoes)

Though it wasn’t the most glamorous of feasts, it gave my body what it needed to do some amazing things. Yes, I missed some of my favorite old-time foods, but I would eventually learn what foods I could add back in moderation.

The last thing I did, was lower the number of times I ate in a day. Today, we call this intermittent fasting, and I continue to do it. Those unfamiliar with intermittent fasting would only be allowed to eat during a select time window, for example, from 12-7 pm. The time doesn’t matter if you follow a few rules like not eating three hours before bed, eating more nutritious foods, avoiding junk foods, etc.

Staying from bad foods and limiting your eating during the day can change your life. I mean that when I was eating once a day, I would stuff all this food into me, and at first, I got sleepy because it takes a huge amount of energy for the body to digest food. Eventually, my body got used to eating just once a day, and I was a free man for the rest of the day. I don’t think many people realize how much time and energy is consumed when you prepare, think about what you will eat, or partake in eating.

At this point in my life, I was waking up at 4 am and working 10-18-hour days.

As you can see, I needed every minute I could, so I had to learn how to make more time, and yes, I would work 18-hour days. I would only work those long hours 2-3 times a week, so it still left plenty of time for sleep and gym, though I didn’t have much of a social life at the time because I was determined to make some changes in my life.

I prefer to work out in the morning because I would have to fight too many demons in the evening, and after work, I would come home, shower, read, and sleep. That was my life for almost a year. I was on a mission to find a deeper purpose in my life, and it all began with learning how to create more energy in my body so that I could do more.

When people think about getting energy, they will think about sleep being the first form. Yes, sleep is a critical process for allowing your body to heal, but if you do not have the nutrients necessary to heal, that sleep will not be as effective. Think of it as if you are going to build a house. Nutrients would be the lumber and cement necessary to build the foundation and framing so that you can build. If you lack these building blocks, your body will not be able to produce the results you want in your day.

Many people who come to work with me want to do more; they do not have the energy and have a bunch of bad habits mixed. Just learning how to get your diet on track doesn’t mean you will lose all this weight and look like a stick. What I am asking you to do is to learn about the foods you consume. Certain foods will be better for you, and they will be unique to you. So many people have food allergies and intolerances that can cause them to have lower energy and not be at 100%.

The foods you eat might not be the first thing you think about when you think about mindset. However, the food you consume regularly will allow you the resources(fuel) to do more in your day. These things that you do should involve more positive movement and some direction toward a big goal. I understand that not everyone will want this in their life, which is perfectly fine, but for those who want to make some big changes in their life, begin to look at the foods you eat as one of the starting points.

Until then,

Michael Rearden

Founder of Reven Concepts