Hi Reader

Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked about how restarting is normal. How taking a break from your workout is part of life, and how coming back looks different depending on whether it was a one-day break, a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months.

The immediate next question is always: what about nutrition?

Here’s the thing. If you’re trying to eat better to lose weight, improve your health, boost performance, or recover well, then nutrition is obviously a critical part of your plan. You probably have certain targets: how much protein you need, how many vegetables, what kind of food you want to eat.

And just like your workout, when you’re going through transitions in life, your nutrition will get impacted. That’s okay. It’s completely normal.

But here are three things I want you to understand about nutrition during these phases.

1. Stop thinking in zeros and ones.

Most people believe that if they’re not following their plan perfectly, they’re completely off track and might as well eat anything and everything. Either perfect or completely disoriented. Neither of these is actually helpful, and here’s the reality: perfect days are very rare. Completely disoriented days are also very rare. You will almost always be somewhere in between.

So instead of chasing perfection, just look at each meal and ask yourself, “How much protein can I get from this meal?” Maybe it’s 10 g, maybe 20 g, maybe 30 g. Whatever you get, have it and move forward. Do your best with the best available resources. That’s the most important part.

2. Know your bare minimum.

Over a period of time, especially if you’ve been at this long enough, your food choices naturally start to shift. You develop what I call your bare minimum standards.

Let me give you my example. My breakfast is mostly curd and whey protein. That alone covers about 25 to 40 g of protein. This breakfast is easy for me to have even on my worst days. So my bare minimum protein intake is already around 40 g. I’m never at zero.

This is what real transformation looks like. It’s not about your best day. It’s about what your normal day looks like. If your normal mode is 40 g of protein instead of zero, that changes the game. You’ll always be having some protein, some vegetables, making better choices, even when life isn’t going according to plan.

When things settle down and you get more time and opportunity, you can push that 40 to 50, 60, 80, or 100 g. But your floor has already moved up, and that’s what keeps you afloat.

3. Set up systems, structures, and schedules.

Planning and preparing in advance makes a massive difference. Here’s what this looks like for me in practice:

If I’m traveling for more than 4 or 5 days, I carry whey protein with me. That guarantees my 30 to 40 g of protein every day, no matter what. If I go out to eat, I’ll order a paneer starter followed by a paneer curry, or some chole or rajma. That pushes my protein intake to 50, 60, 70, even 80 g, even on days when I’m eating out, traveling, or don’t have time to prepare my meals.

Because I carry certain essentials, plan ahead, and my default choices have already improved, my nutrition is never completely all over the place. It’s always much better than it would be without these systems.

So here’s the bottom line: eating healthy during transitions is not about following a perfect plan or having a perfect meal. It’s about three things: doing your best with what’s available, knowing your bare minimum standards so your floor is never zero, and setting up systems that keep you on track even when life gets messy.

I’d love to hear how you approach nutrition during your own restarts. Hit reply and let me know.

To your health, Dhaval

—
​Dhaval Bhadeshiya​
Sleep, Stress & Recovery Coach