Why it's so important to understand how you function

Many times in the fitness and nutrition world we see friends or family making changes to their fitness and nutrition. They tried some new diet or workout and got spectacular results. You mention something to them about wanting to make a change yourself, so they break down what it is that they are doing. You start, but you are seeing no results, or even worse you go backwards. You get frustrated and quit, thinking you are broken. "Something must be wrong with me. It worked for them how come it didn't work for me?" You ask yourself.

Here's the thing, we are all individuals. What works for one is most certainly NOT going to worker all. This is why there is no one best diet, no one best workout, no one best anything in the fitness and nutrition world. 

Let's say your best friend utilized intermittent fasting and lost 70lbs over an 8 month period. He/she felt better than ever, had energy all day long, and increased muscle mass. You hear this and get super, super excited. You jump on board and start immediately, and you to see some weight loss, but you feel absolutely awful. You have no energy, you hurt after every workout and not for just a little while, but for days. You simply feel rundown and broken, and results quickly stop coming. "what's going on?", you wonder. 

The problem likely lies in the fact that intermittent fasting just is not for you. You made the generalized assumption that because it worked for your friend, it therefore should work for you also. More often than not this is the case, someone sees something working for a friend or family member, neighbor or acquaintance, and automatically assumes that it will work for them. 

Let's take my wife and I for example. We do things very similarly but we are not the same. She has an iron deficiency, which is very common among the female population as once a month for a week their bodies lose huge amounts of nutrients via the menstrual cycle. Due to this deficiency she needs to eat large amounts of red meat which is rich in iron. Me on the other hand, I have Gout, which is inflamed by large amounts of red meat. So I have to get my protein from sources like chicken, which is not so high in iron. So in our household we have to play this balancing game of getting her enough red meat to keep her iron deficiency in check but not so much that we inflame my Gout, which SUCKS! I don't know how many of you out there are familiar with Gout, but when it flares up it is basically disabling and I can't even walk.

There are many other examples out there of how what works for one may not work for another. We need to understand how our bodies work as individuals if we are going to achieve the best results possible. Take the time to learn the ins and outs of how your body works, how you work, of who you are as an individual. Stop assuming that because i work for them it will work for you. You are an individual with individual needs and requirements.

I used the example of intermittent fasting because it was something I have experienced. Me as an individual, I respond great to an intermittent fasting protocol, the wife on the other hand does NOT! She gets dizzy spells, has no energy, feels abnormally weak, And just feels generally crappy. While me, I have plenty of energy, feel abnormally strong for not having eaten anything, and feel generally good. 

The point of all of this is..... Please, please, please take the time to learn you, take the time to learn how you operate as an individual person, take the time to figure out what diet is going to work best for you individually, what workout is going to be best for you individually. You are unique, there is no-one else out there exactly like you.