Ask Jujimufu #4 - Alcohol and Instinctive eating

You ask Jujimufu, and Jujimufu responds. Here are some questions I get through the contact form on this website and directly through e-mail, and here are my responses for everybody to see!

Question from Oclafino about Alcohol and instinctive eating:

"Juji, we're outta booze! Booze was nothing, prepare to drink water..."

Anyway, awesome new site, you inspired me throughout the years! Was wondering what you as health-conscious guy think of alcohol. Do you drink it?

Second question: how do you bodybuild but have a healthy relation with food and nutrition? When i start counting calories i check all contents and macros like a freak but lose sight of the bigger picture, it really makes me go too much into detail. I then immediately start focusing on the things I cannot eat anymore. Would instinctive/intuitive eating be better? If you have any tips please share them because I'm really failing...

My answer:

Hello Oclafino, thank you for the kind words!

If you like alcohol drink some! Just don't drink so much that it becomes disruptive. As for myself, I drink a little wine a few times a month because sometimes I'm in the mood for the taste. I don't drink much at a time because I'm not a fan of the effects of Alcohol. (I prefer uppers over downers) Oh, I do have a cool wine glass though, look at this crazy thing:



Now for your second question: I want you to forget about instinctive eating.  It's a terrible idea. Focus ALL of your attention on your habits instead. How does a bodybuilder have a healthy relationship to food?  Habit. Counting calories and doing research is something you only do when you're trying to design a new eating pattern.  You only have to do that a few times, and then you know what you should be eating and how much from then on.  And then you just do it, with minor adjustments here and there after.

You do it once, twice, three times, and then before you know it you've done it 300 times. You become a machine that eats perfectly almost all of the time without thinking, feeling or willing. You rarely crave foods that are outside your box. So just design a set of eating patterns based on your research and then adopt them. Keep doing them until they become habit. It becomes effortless I promise.

So my biggest tip: DO NOT GIVE UP!!!

- Juji