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How They Trick You Into

Going Keto & Vegan

It all started back in the summer of 2012. I was an accounting intern at Mylan Pharmaceuticals before my senior year of college.

Brian "Let me tan outside and do your taxes" DeCosta

This summer, I decided to go vegan.

Yes, vegan. Not vegetarian. Vegan.

Why? Well, I found this homie on YouTube named Joel Fuhrman. He's a doctor. He uses words well. He says things that are... reasonable enough.

A few minutes of watching Dr. Fuhrman spit bars to a group of middle-aged women (plenty of "nodding head yes" clips), I was sold.

Dr. Fuhrman's promising messages of the vegan diet and how it will 100% GUARANTEED, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, improve my life... hooked my impressionable 20-year-old brain like a fish in a bucket.

And off I went. Eating plants and going HAM on Microsoft Excel with VLOOKUP statements all summer. (Quite the party, I know.)

All was well and good. I actually enjoyed the first few weeks.

I kept it going for almost 3 months until a reality smacked me in the face...

I really, really, REALLY want to eat a Turkey Burger.

A Turkey Burger with Pepperjack Cheese. Yum

I lived with this craving for 4 or 5 days until I decided to part ways with the vegan diet. (I ended up giving it another go in the spring of 2017, but that's a story for another time.)

Does this story sound familiar to you?

Perhaps you've subscribed to a specific diet before?

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Currently a plant-based eater and consumes a vegan diet the majority of the time.

Nimai Delgado

An IFBB Professional Natural Bodybuilder who has never eaten meat. He was vegetarian until his early 20s, at which point he went vegan. I believe he's now 30.

Lebron James

He is not a vegetarian or vegan, but limits his intake of red meat and focuses on consuming plenty of plants.

Joe Rogan

After a month of the Carnivore Diet (Consuming only red meat), Joe shared he felt better than he had in a long time.

There are countless other examples, but I share these four well-known gentlemen to make a point:

Most popular diets DO work. Whether you follow one strictly or opt to apply only select principles of the diet.

If that wasn't the case, I don't think we'd see countless figures of influence--humans at the top of their game--subscribing to them.

However, I believe it's flawed logic to dive head first into a dieting methodology simply because someone we admire or respect is following it. Why?

👉 We likely don't have the same goals as they do.

👉 We likely don't have the same purpose for subscribing to the diet as they do. (Perhaps they've been directed to try the diet by their doctor.)

👉 We likely don't have the same nutritional guidance as they do. (We don't know if their dietary intake is being monitored by a dietician.)

👉 We likely don't have our lifestyle designed in a way to make it easy like they do. (We don't know if they have a cook who prepares their meals fresh on a daily basis.)

This is the Theory vs. Application debate.

Sure, selling all of your belongings after watching a minimalist documentary on Netflix sounds like a good idea IN THEORY...

...but sometimes ya just want to wear a different pair of shoes. 🤷‍♂️

"But Brian... I really believe in [Insert Diet Here] and am confident I can stick to it. Are you telling me to not try it? 🤔"

Nooooooo. Nope.

I'm sharing this information to hopefully set realistic expectations for you.

As a person who has coached many individuals who have toyed with the idea of subscribing to a specific diet. As a person who has personally subscribed to a specific diet.

There's an aura of novelty the Vegan diet provides. Aura of novelty the Keto diet--and any other diet--provides.

It's enticing and exciting. You see the vision for the new, healthier you when you think about life following this new diet.

Like anything though, this excitement... this "new and novel"... often wears off.

You're then left with a grumbling stomach at 11:30 AM right before lunch, low-key crying to yourself because you just want some Chipotle, not another tupperware container of bean casserole.

For 99% of people, the right way to shred fat and build muscle is also the less exciting way...

🔹 Set the big goal.

🔹 Break it down into milestone goals.

🔹 Make small--almost unnoticeable--dietary shifts each week.

🔹 Commit to being a learner. Coupled with plenty of faith.

🔹 Be willing to be uncomfortable at times.

🔹 Be willing to be bored at times.

🔹 Be willing to mess up often and get back on the horse.

(I'm always enticed to drop in the "Fall down 7 times, stand up 8" quote, so here it is.)

It feels like summer snuck up on us with everything going on, but the truth is... it's now in full swing.

Whether you maintained your "best self lifestyle" during quarantine or not, the past is the past. It can't be changed.

As it always has been and always will be, we just have this moment right now to influence our current circumstances and set ourselves up for a better tomorrow.

My wish is for you is to CONQUER through summer, catch all the W's, and blaze YOUR trail. Not the trail of a dietary house of cards that leaves you feeling defeated and in urgent need of a burger.

...now I'm off to eat some steak for lunch. (But actually.)