Why I Ate Like A Monk For 5 Years

I have a confession to make: I eat like a monk. I have been doing this since half a decade. So here’s what eating like a monk means and here’s why you should consider eating like a monk as well. So let’s just jump right into it.

How To Eat Like A Monk

Eating like a monk, to me, does not mean eating in the morning only. It also does not mean to learn to live with a lot of hunger as a lot of monks do.

What eating like a monk means to me is seeing food as nourishment, instead of entertainment or comfort as a lot of people do.

See there’s a scope to the benefits of the foods that we put into our bodies. Oatmeal for example is nourishment. A package of Oreos on the other hand is pure entertainment.

I decided 5 years ago, that I will see food as nourishment, and not as entertainment. Prior to those 5 years I was the exact opposite.

I was eating donuts for breakfast and drinking multiple energy drinks a day.

So here’s what changed since I made the decision to eat like a monk:

1. Simplicity

My life is simple because there’s less variety in my meals. I do not have to evaluate foods based on their taste because my main criteria is:

“Is this food nourishing my body?” If yes, it goes into it. If not, it gets discarded.

And that leads to me buying literally the same stuff in supermarkets over and over again. I order the same exact meals over and over again at the same restaurant.

In fact, the ladder point makes life even more easier. I’m here in Brazil. I go to a Japanese restaurant almost every lunch time. I walk in, take a seat and they just ask me: “Mesmo?” – Meaning: “The same as usual?”

And I reply with: “Sim, por favor.” – Meaning: “Yes please.” So talk about simplicity.

But why is this important?

2. Focus

Jim Rohn and Tony Robbins once said that ‘most people major in minor things.’ And that is absolutely true.

If my goal in life would be to be the person that knows all the most tasty food in the supermarket. Or the leading expert on food p*rn, then yes, I would focus on eating all the tasty meals.

A Practice In Essentialism

But that’s not my goal. So in this life, you must focus on the essentials and disregard the rest.

Let me explain:

In the last 5 years of eating like a monk:

  1. I got in the best shape of my life.
  2. I travelled to 15 countries.
  3. I read about 200 books.
  4. I worked as a manager of 5 fitness centers.
  5. I build a successful coaching business changing peoples lives.

These are all the things that I actually value.

In other words I sacrificed.

The Value Of Sacrifice

If you do not sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.

There’s a reason Steve Jobs was living in an unfurnished apartment. Or wearing turtle necks all the time.

Because for you to get what you want, some things need to be dropped.

See here’s the thing. I like Oreos. I like vegan donuts. I like energy drinks. There’s no one who does not like these things because they’re engineered for us humans to like them.

But there are certain trade offs that you need to make when you have goals. There are certain taxes that must be paid. There are certain things that must be dropped.

3. Performance

With the things that I have going on – on a daily basis I could not operate on that same level of performance if I:

  1. Spend 2-3 hours a day just thinking about which food I put into my body.
  2. Spend 2-3 hours a day just preparing the food that I put into my body to make it the most tastiest.
  3. I certainly could not operate on that same level of performance if I would feed my body crap fuel. That’s just basic logic. Your outputs derive from your inputs.

So by eating like a monk, I can burn a clean, consistent, blazing flame of performance running on jet fuel.

I can get done in 1 hour what others get done in 3.

And the reason for that is that I eat like a monk.

I keep things simple. I embrace a routine.

I focus on the essentials and THIS entails sacrificing the nonessentials.

So while I do get less out of my life based on the things that I do not value.

I get more out of my life based on the things that I do value.

So lesson for you: Eat more like a monk next week. Make a quick challenge. Eat more foods that are bland (sweet potatoes, oats, less processed foods) and implement LESS varity.

So stop doing things that make your life unnecessary complex and focus on the essentials.