Why did I write the book?

I wrote it because I’ve been there. Oh, have I been there.

I get a lot of surprised looks when I tell people that I didn’t grow up eating like I do now.

I’ve also struggled with food choices. I tried almost all the diets—gluten-free, meat-free, dairy-free, food combining. None of them ever got me the results I wanted and needed. (Yes, as you might have already figured out, none of these diets are new and they all come around again.)

I took my struggle through the early years of my career.

I went into senior level management quite quickly after college. I was in the right place at the right time, and I had the right work ethic. I held several senior management positions in health club/spas with high demands, long hours and not much time off. I struggled with energy dips, afternoon slumps, and not being able to sleep.

I watched others struggle, too.

I also watched as the fads, extreme diets, and quick fixes caused even more confusion, and made many people’s food issues even worse.

I wanted to help others, and I wanted to help myself.

So I went back to school for nutrition and dietetics. I learned a lot. But I didn’t get everything I needed to know by year one—or four, for that matter. The dietetics program has an impressive requirement of science courses. You start at the molecular biological level and work up from there.

I didn’t even have all the answers once I finished the program. Because it takes time to process the information and work out how the science fits into real life. Not to mention, after you’ve spent time studying the formal sciences, you know one person can never have all the answers. 

What I can say is that by the time I became an entrepreneur,

the nutrition knowledge I gained helped me to do what it takes to excel at my work, maintain my physical fitness, and keep my health and high energy through physically and mentally challenging weeks, months, and even years.

Throughout my career I was able to educate and coach hundreds of people.

Most of them also leaders—entrepreneurs and executives, even military officers, and royalty.

As my clients changed their habits for the better

I watched many of them start to look, feel, and perform as if they were ten to twenty years younger. In that time period, we found that our food choices can change our DNA.1

Now we’re finding that our food choices can change the shape of our brains.2

But WHAT food? WHAT diet?

What should we be eating to get all of those great benefits? I’ve gotten the same questions over and over throughout my career.

The thing is, everyone has different food preferences, lifestyles, bodies, and microbiomes (the bacteria in our gut that helps us absorb our food). For those reasons and more, there’s no one diet that works for everyone.

However, there are always better food choices that we all can make. And every small little change that you make for the better has compounding effects over time.


Throughout the years, people have suggested I write a diet book.

But, diets aren’t the answer. We’ve known for decades that diets don’t create lasting change. Knowing what I know, I couldn’t write a diet with integrity.

Not to mention, most diet books give mandatory lists of foods to eat and not eat. They give specific meals to eat and specific times to eat them. In my mind, they put people in a prison when it comes to eating, when food is meant to be enjoyed.

 

I knew what people were really asking for

was some structure around the choices they make about food. On top of that, they want to understand how food works in their own, personal, bodies and lifestyles. They want to be grounded in the facts, not pushed and pulled around by the latest fads, extreme diets, and quick fixes.

I heard that need and wanted to fulfill it.

This book is not a diet

or a list of mandatory foods to eat or stay away from. It’s meant to be a transformational experience. Starting with foods you already like and eat, you’re coached through six weeks of small steps toward better nutrition.

You’re guided in making your own, personal, food decisions that lead to higher energy levels, more brainpower, better sleep, weight loss, disease prevention, and more. The pace is designed to fit into the life of a busy professional.

 

To keep things interesting

I share about my life experiences with food. I share some of my clients’ stories as well (of course, without sharing their names).

It’s all put together so that by the time you’re finished, you’ll have a better understanding of how your body works with food and a unique and personalized food plan. You’ll be able to choose food that gives you more energy to perform in your highly demanding lifestyle, helps you to look and feel your best while doing it, and at the same time, you can enjoy— whether at work, at home, out with friends, even during travel.

Eat to Lead (c) 2018 Luci Gabel, All Rights Reserved

References

  1. Corbyn, Z. (2017, January 29). Elizabeth Blackburn on the telomere effect: ‘It’s about keeping healthier for longer’. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jan/29/telomere-effect-elizabeth-blackburn-nobel-prize-medicine-chromosomes
  2. Croll, P. H., Voortman, T., Ikram, M. A., Franco, O. H., Schoufour, J. D., Bos, D., & Vernooij, M. W. (2018, May 16). Better diet quality relates to larger brain tissue volumes. Retrieved from http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2018/05/16/WNL.0000000000005691