My Approach to Nutrition
In an industry where information is abundant, I want to make nutrition as complicated as it needs to be, not as complicated as it can be.
I'm Dan Suedbeck
I started my nutritonal coaching journey 10 years ago after I saw the power of what eat properly did for me. I saw an incredible transformation and wanted to teach others how to have similar results.
I went on to get a nutritional coaching certification through Precision Nutrition. I would say that I've gained most of my knowledge around nutrition through self-experimentation, my own studies, and working with thousands of people.
After years of trying to help people eat "cleaner" and regulate their own appetite, I found success with macro tracking. I my first real attempt with tracking macros was in 2018 when I was prepping for a fitness competition. I put myself through a 6 month bulking phase, followed up with 3 month cut to get ready to step on stage.
That is when I started my Facebook Community to help a few friends learn what macro tracking involved. What started as a just me helping a hundred or so friends, has morphed in a Facebook group with approximately 60,000 people in it, the ability to help almost 10,000 people with nutritional plans, and coaching over a thousand people.
The 3 Tennets of My Coaching
Health
Health is not just about being disease free but also living with vitality. It means stacking the cards in your favor to live a long fruitful life. This means eating foods that will benefit our health and limiting foods that have been shown to cause disease. I believe the food we eat is the biggest driver for our long term health outcomes.
Body Composition
Body Composition is making physical changes so you get the look you desire. Improving your body composition can drive better health markers and how you feel. Far too often people prioritize the "look" over other factors which will often times be short lived. I want to help get the look they are looking for but not at the expense of their health or performance.
Peformance
Performance does include running faster and lifting more, but it also means having enough energy to keep up with your kids. It means being able to move your body freely without pain or risk of injury. I believe this happens by fueling your body with whole foods and not propping yourself up with energy drinks and coffee.
Of all of these, I believe health to be the most important and should be the driving force behind your food decisions.
While strictly counting macros and the idea that a gram carbohydrate from sugar is the same as a gram of carbohydrate from broccoli both equal 4 calories is true. This approach can possibly help you get an ideal body composition but may not give you optimal health and performance. I believe that a majority of calories consumed should come from whole foods.
However I do believe that treats can and should be a part of your lifestyle while counting macros. The beauty of counting macros is you can pretty much fit most foods into your daily macro needs. Nothing is off limits! Filling a bulk of your day with Doritos and ice cream may work to some degree but the remaining meals will need to be on point. Even then, you will likely feel hungry and being hungry sucks!
If you want to fill your days with processed foods, artificial sweeteners, and nutrient poor food I'm not going to stop you but you likely won't see any benefit from my approach either. So I would advise you look elsewhere. If you put an emphasis on your health and giving your body foods that it can easily recognize and process and maximizing nutrients then stick around I think we will get along really well!
Why I Do It
I see the trajectory of our society and health to be spiraling out of control. I'm not just talking about the raising rates of obesity across all ages but also the chronic health conditions that can be directly tied to nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle.
I want to disrupt the diet world that exists today. I see so many people that have been led astray with fancy marketing and unreasonable promises.
I've noticed that there are a number of people that are coming around to the low calorie, extreme diets that focus on restriction and are wanting a more sustainable approach. I believe tracking macros can be the solution for a lot of people. It does add some complexity in the short term but can lead to an amazing amount of freedom once you have learned what a day of food choices should look, feel, and taste like!
