I’m not perfect with my nutrition.

I never have been, and I don’t try to be.

What I focus on instead is doing the right thing more often than I do the wrong thing. Over time, that matters far more than trying to be perfect ever did.

For a long time, I thought nutrition had to be all or nothing. You were either strict and “good,” or you were off track and failing. That way of thinking creates short bursts of control, followed by frustration, cravings, and eventually giving up.

What Changed Everything

What changed everything for me was awareness.

Not obsession.
Not tracking every gram.
Just actually knowing what was going on.

I didn’t need to be perfect with food. I just needed a rough idea of how much I was eating and a rough idea of how much my body was actually burning in a day. Once that penny dropped, food stopped feeling random.

I also realised pretty quickly that under eating while training hard was a terrible idea.

Every time I tried to “be good” and eat less while still pushing training, everything got harder. Stress went up. Recovery went backwards. Hunger ramped up. And that’s when snacking and picking started creeping in.

Not because I was weak, but because my body was asking for fuel.

I’ve seen this exact pattern over and over again with clients as well.

Eating Enough Comes First

What worked far better long term was eating enough first, then focusing on food quality most of the time.

Not because foods are good or bad, but because whole foods keep you fuller for longer, support training better, and make it easier not to snack all day.

Once that was in place, flexibility stopped being a problem.

Activity Changes The Context

Another thing that matters here is how active you actually are.

Because I train regularly, move a lot, and have done so for years, my body simply has more room for error. I burn more energy day to day, so being a little off here and there doesn’t derail everything.

That doesn’t mean nutrition doesn’t matter. It just means the context is different.

If someone is very sedentary, doesn’t move much, and eats poorly, there’s far less margin. Small mistakes add up faster because there’s nothing offsetting them.

Activity creates buffer.
Inactivity removes it.

That’s another reason I don’t chase perfection. I focus on staying active, training consistently, and supporting that with food that mostly does the right job.

If your body burns roughly 2,500 calories in a day, consistently eating around that is far more sustainable than forcing 2,000 calories of “perfect” food and feeling cooked all the time.

One approach feels manageable.
The other feels like a constant fight.

Why I’m Relaxed With Nutrition

I’m not relaxed with nutrition because I don’t understand it.
I’m relaxed because I’ve learned what actually works long term.

Doing the right thing more often than the wrong thing adds up. It keeps stress lower, supports training, and makes eating feel normal again.

Nutrition doesn’t need to be perfect to work.
It needs to be something you can live with.

This is the thinking behind how all MHR training systems are built.