Healthy Huddle: Your Nutritional Playbook

We lay out a simple, personal nutrition playbook built for real life, not someone else’s schedule. Anchors, default meals, rescue plans, trigger strategies, and recovery rules turn chaos into steady, confident choices.

• why one-size diets fail and systems win
• defining anchor habits as non-negotiable basics
• creating default meals for fast, autopilot nutrition
• building a rescue plan for stress, fatigue, and busy days
• mapping triggers like late nights and gatherings
• setting single-step strategies for each trigger
• using recovery rules to bounce back after off meals
• keeping the whole playbook on one easy page

“Check the Healthy Huddle app later this week for the notes—fast forward to the end and write it all down”

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

Football Analogy: Why Plans Matter

One-Size Diets Fail: Personalize It

What A Nutrition Playbook Includes

Anchor Habits: Your Non-Negotiables

Default Meals For Autopilot Days

Rescue Plans For Stress And Fatigue

Trigger Awareness And Strategies

Recovery Rules After Off Meals

Keep It Simple: One-Page Playbook

Implementing, Audibles, And Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Healthy Huddle. Thank you so much for taking a little time to join us. If this is your first time, um, each time each week we just get together um in our live call um to discuss different um nutritional topics that we share on how to live a balanced, healthy lifestyle, and that's what we try to cover each week in the healthy huddle. So let's join this week's live call for our healthy huddle. Yes, yes, no, no, no, it if not even a little bit, not even a little bit. Well, the good thing is, I was just gonna use it as an example so you don't even have to it. Has anybody ever watched high school football? Yes, okay. If you've watched any college football, any high school football, any professional football, they all go into the game with a playbook. So, in other words, they have some plays. I mean, if if you ever watch the quarterback, he flips open his little thing, and who knows what he's reading, but I think there's plays there, and so it's kind of their playbook. So when the coach calls no quarterbacks could read. Well, I mean they must be doing something right because they're making way more money than us. So if they can't, if they can't read, congrats to them for uh figuring it out better than we have. That's right. That means they're still smarter than we are. Maybe we're the ones that are fooled reading. But maybe it's maybe it's little pictures, little X's and O's. Who knows? Um, because you can't really see that what's underneath that little flippy thing. But when the coach calls something or somebody calls something, they might look at it, they know what what the play is going to be. So they have to have a playbook. What the what the depending on what the scenario is, if they're winning, if they're losing, how the other team is setting up. You know, and sometimes what do they do? When the teams, the opposite team sits up one way, what do they do? They might call an audible, and so they switch, so you see guys moving around. And so and the same thing is true with our own personal nutrition playbook. When things change, we have to have a playbook that we can go to. What can we use? You know, it it's really a playbook, it is a plan of action, it's um options depending on what is the other team is doing. Because does the team that do they always know what the other team is doing? They don't necessarily know their playbook, so they have to react or respond to the other team. What are they doing? How do we need to set up? What do we need to plan? So it's a playbook. So we're going to talk about how do we design a playbook that is our personal nutrition playbook? So when we say personal, what does that mean? Our own. Your own. How many times have you seen somebody else or heard of somebody else on a diet and wanted to borrow that plant? Probably, maybe maybe you haven't done that in a while, but chances are you've done that at some point. It worked really well. So let me give that a chance. Let me see because if it worked for that person, let me see. And so we're gonna talk about how do we design our own so we don't do that. Hopefully, none of you have done that recently, but I'm sure a lot of us have done it in the past. So, really, a lot of times we don't have a lot of success with those. Why is it? Because it was designed for a lot of times another team's playbook was designed for that team. Now, that team, as we all know, has different talents. Some are really good at some positions, some are not as strong. So they have different talents. So the playbook is really developed for the team that they have. So this season's playbook may be different than next season's because they might get new players and they might have players that are injured. So they have to change up that playbook to fit their current team, to personalize it to their team. So we have to do the same. When we borrow somebody else's plan, it was built for someone else's schedule. You know, it might have worked for that person, but they forgot to tell you that they had to eat at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. And then get up in the middle of the night and drink a bottle of water. They forgot to tell you that part because it was built for their schedule. Maybe it's built for somebody else's stress level. Maybe they have a high stress job and you have low stress. Or maybe they have not much stress and they can they can do all those times, but you have a more narrow window of time, a little more stress, a little bit more. Can I get this done? So it's maybe built for somebody else's family, somebody else's preferences, all the different things. So they it was built for their life, not your life, your real life. So then what happens a lot of times when we bounce from plan to plan, because let me try this, let me try that, that didn't work, let me go back to this. So, and as we talk about and as we would we try to try to convey at each time we get together, is what really works is a personal system. What system works for you? And that's what we talk about balance. What system is best for you, and that's really how we figure balance. So, what is our nutritional playbook? What does that look like? It might be something that is your to-go foods, your go-to foods. I'm like, if all else fails, I can go to this, these foods. It's your default meals, as we've talked about default meals before. I mean it's really talking about a lot of the things we've put together, what we've talked about, and putting it together. It's your recovery strategies. What happens after a holiday? What happens after some birthdays, some celebrations? You know, your playbook might also include your busy day backups. So you have a busy day. What do I go to? I'm gonna be out and about a lot. What's my backup plans? What about rules of engagement when I engage in certain activities or I engage certain people or certain situations? What am I gonna do? So basically, it answers all the questions of what do I do when life happens? When, because a lot of times we say, Well, I was, you know, I didn't plan for this or that. And so that isn't that where we usually get in trouble when it comes to eating, is I didn't plan for that. At the last minute, I was about to eat my prepared meal that I brought to work, and a friend called me and wanted to go out to lunch. Didn't plan for that. So what is my what's my go-to there at that restaurant? Or how can I fall back on something else? As we talked about creating the perfect plate off of a menu, no problem. I can go back to that. That is my it's a backup, it's a rules of engagement. When this thing happens, I already know what to look on look for on a menu. So really it's taking everything we've really talked about and compiling it. And and so the nice thing is that all of the stuff we've talked about is on the app under Healthy Huddle. Uh so you can go look at all that, and you can start to create a playbook for a nutrition playbook on how to be successful, how to create your system. And then so we're gonna talk about some different examples, different parts of that playbook. So, what you know, one of the one of the parts of that is gonna be your anchor habits. So, what's an anchor habit? We've talked about anchor habits in a lot of different areas. What's what's an anchor habit? One that you do and then you follow it with others. Yes, an anchor habit is something you do and you follow with others. So it is kind of what grounds you. It holds the ship, just like an anchor does, it holds the ship in crazy waters. So an anchor might mean that you have a protein at breakfast, it might mean water before coffee, it might mean you have always have a veggie at dinner, that's always an anchor. Maybe it's you always sit down to eat, maybe it's no scrolling, maybe it's no watching TV while you eat. It's your non-negotiable basics. What are some of your anchor habits? And that's for you to decide because I could tell you some of mine, but they might not work for you. I mean, you could tell me some of yours, and I go, those don't work. Somebody else could say, This is one of mine, and they go, that doesn't work for me. So, because you might say protein at breakfast, and you go, well, I don't eat breakfast. Well, so that wouldn't work for me. So it has to be something that's a non-negotiable basic for you. And so what is that? What do you do? Maybe it's my anchor habit is I always have breakfast. And that's an anchor habit because I know it sets me up for the rest of the day. Or some people eat breakfast and go, I am starving the rest of the day. So they go, an anchor habit is I don't eat breakfast because I know it's supposed to be good for you, but for me, it makes me starving the rest of the day because it's what what works for you, not everybody else. So, what's what's some anchor habits that you have that are non-negotiable, you're not going to mess with? So, even if you're out traveling, if you know you're on vacation, you get caught off card, what are some anchor habits? And then the second part of your playbook would be your default meals. Meals you can eat on autopilot, doesn't take much thought. What's something you could eat for breakfast, for lunch, for dinner, snacks, as we've talked about before, having those go-to meals at those times. So maybe for breakfast, maybe it looks like some eggs and fruit. That's a go-to. It's kind of like you can just do it. Maybe it is a salad and chicken. Maybe you know you don't get tired of chicken. You love chicken. Maybe it's a snack is always yogurt and nuts. Again, it's something that is default and we remove decisions. So we're taking everything we've talked about and putting it in a playbook. So it's like learning all the separate plays, and now all of a sudden we have a big playbook, everything we can do. So, what can you eat on autopilot without even thinking about it? You know the macros, you know the calories. I mean, you know it. You don't have to try to figure anything out, you just know it. So for me, it'd definitely be my breakfast. It's autopilot. I know exactly what to do. So sometimes a couple weeks ago, we were going to Oklahoma. So I just warmed up a couple of burritos and took them with me in the truck on the way because it was easy. I knew what it was. I didn't have to spend time thinking about something, trying to fix something else. It was just easy. Took it and went. And then the another part, third part of your playbook, would be your rescue plan. When will we need a rescue plan? When there's an emergency. When there's an emergency. And that emergency might be look like I'm really tired. It could look like I'm really stressed. It could look like I'm really behind because what happens? A rescue plan when we're behind, and we need to go home and fix something for dinner. The our rescue plan now, when we're behind, might be to go through the drive-thru. Order pizza, get takeout. That might be our current rescue plan. So we need a better, more organized rescue plan. Because if a rescue plan is disorganized, what usually happens? It doesn't get followed. It doesn't get followed, nobody gets rescued. And so a rescue plan is needed for those emotional times when you're behind, when you're stressed, when you're tired. So what does that look like? Maybe it's maybe it's for breakfast just egg and toast. Maybe it's a smoothie. Maybe it is a protein bar and some fruit. Maybe some nuts and fruit. But what are what's a rescue plan? This it's almost it is almost kind of like your go-to, your default, but it's when things are kind of going south. That's usually when we need a rescue plan, is when things are going south. And because we're looking at that rather than doing the drive-through panic or the takeout panic or the I'll just skip panic because sometimes that's easier, and so I'll just skip it. So what is our the your rescue plan? In other words, when you are tired, stressed, behind, emotional, whatever it is, what are you gonna do to save your food day or your meal? And then the the next part is the fourth part is your trigger awareness. What is a trigger? Something that disrupts something. Yeah, it's something that it disrupts something. So and and the hope is that it's trigger awareness. So what are our trigger awarenesses? So we have to know our patterns. So maybe a trigger is late nights. Maybe when you work late or you stay up too late, you start to get snacky, you start to get hungry, you want maybe a glass of wine, maybe a beer, maybe a few shots, whatever it is, that might be a trigger. Maybe it's you you notice when you skip a meal. Maybe, like I said, if you eat breakfast, you notice you're hungry all day. That could be a trigger. Maybe you notice when you skip lunch, you really, I mean, have poor control at night. Maybe it's when you skip an evening meal, you go, I'm not gonna eat supper, but then at nine o'clock you find yourself, I'll just have a little snack of this, a snack of that. And then really you had a whole meal, um, just snacking around. Maybe your trigger is family gatherings. Maybe you realize you eat more when you're in gatherings. Maybe it's finger foods. I know for Kim and I that's a big trigger. Finger foods, we love finger foods. Maybe it's boredom. Maybe, like, kind of like why did everybody eat and come back so feeling like a snowman after being snowed in for a few days? Because we were bored. Bored? Yeah. What else we're gonna do? We're gonna cook, we're gonna make things, we're gonna eat, we're gonna do all the things. So that's what happens. So for each trigger, whatever your trigger is, you want to have a strategy. And maybe it's it's writing it down. I'm saying I know when I'm at family gatherings, I tend to eat more. So maybe it's I'm just gonna have one small plate. Uh, that's a strategy. Maybe it's when I'm bored. I'm gonna have a pre-portioned snack out. I've already portioned some snacks out, so I know when I'm bored, I can go to those. And it's funny how if you let's say you're having nuts, if you've already weighed them out and they're in a baggie and you eat them all, it's different than you go, you go, okay, I'm done, versus when you're just digging them out of the can of nuts. You just keep eating and eating and eating. So maybe it's a skipping meal that's a trigger. What's the strategy? Don't skip a meal. Or you know, if you do skip a meal, you're gonna have a snack somewhere in that afternoon, a pretty decent sized snack to keep you from going hog wild when supper rolls around. So your trigger awareness is what's your trigger and what's your strategy for it? And how can you kind of overcome that? And again, this this playbook is also a system, it's how we talk about balance. How do we manage some of those things that we have going on? And then the fifth one is recovery rules. So, in other words, sometimes it's real easy to spiral after off days. Like, in other words, off days like we weren't really good in eating. And it's kind of like when I mean, yes, you're ready to get back to the gym if you've been off for a couple days, but isn't also hard to get come back. Like if you've been getting up every day and then it's been three or four days, it makes it harder to get up early, or it makes it harder because you find other things to do after work to come to the gym. So it gets more challenging. So the challenge is when you do have off days, how do you recover? So you don't go spiraling into more days and they turn into weeks and they turn into months. Um, so maybe it maybe it's like um, and maybe it's not an off day, maybe it's an off meal. What do we sometimes think when we've had a bad meal? Honestly. Well, we'll get back tomorrow. We'll get back tomorrow. But maybe it was breakfast, and you could still make a better choice for lunch and dinner. Um, instead of saying, well, I had breakfast at six o'clock this morning. It was just a horrible, so the whole day is ruined. No, it's like you got all data to get back on track, to recover. So, so it's just maybe your recovery rule is going back to your normal eating schedule. It's not going, oh, I already screwed up, or well, I ate such a big meal, I'm gonna skip the next two meals, or I'm gonna skip two snacks, or it's just continue on with your recovery. You get back to what you were doing. And so this helps when we have the next meal, the next food intake. It helps us from saying, I blew it. Because then we don't we find I think sometimes we find reasons to say, well, I blew it. And then we give ourselves an excuse to have that dessert at night or to have a second helping at supper. Well, I already blew it earlier in the day, so I minds well. Well, that's like saying, Well, I might as well go ahead and pack on another thousand calories because I blew it earlier in the day. It doesn't really make sense, but we do it anyhow. And then we then we wake up the next day and what do we do? Why'd I do that? I feel so bad. I feel yucky, and it goes over and over and over. So your playlist, your playlist, your playbook, um, it's your anchor habits. What are you gonna always do every day? Um, it's your default meals. What can you just go to an autopilot? Um, I think everybody has those. Um, but you have to decide what is that for me? Um, and then it is what's the rescue plan? How what am I gonna do when I'm tired, when I'm stressed, when I'm bind, when I'm sad, whatever it is, what am I gonna do? Um and then what triggers me? Number four, what triggers me, and what are some strategies that I can, or just one doesn't have to be a lot for each one, just what is a strategy for that? How do I manage that? And then how do I recover? Recover from a day, a meal, whatever it is, how does that look for you? Again, I could probably ask each of you, and we probably have 10 different, 15 different answers on all of these. What's what's an anchor for you? How do you recover? What's a strategy for when you're triggered in one of these? You could have everybody has some different answers. So, because everybody has a different lifestyle, and that's why we talk about a balanced lifestyle because one size doesn't fit all. Have you ever tried on something that says one size fits all? Yes, and there's some people, does it fit everybody? No, no, I have I personally have never put on anything that says one size fits all and it fit because it must, I must not be that size. And the same thing is true with our our food, is that there's not a one size fits all, and we all have different metabolisms, different lifestyles, different likes, different dislikes, all the gazillion one things that are different. So that's why they had to change it to one size fits most. Yes, yes. Well, I'm so sorry, you're not part of the most. And then that makes you feel real good too. Because you're still not part of that, you're still not part of the most. So, so again, it it doesn't have to this playbook can be one page, literally. I mean, it can be your anchors. What are two anchors? It could be a default meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Boom. It can be what's my rescue meal? It can be what's my top trigger and my strategy for that. And then what's my reset or my um my rescue rule or plan? I mean, it's it's that simple. Um it might even be half a page. It doesn't, it could be on a post note. It doesn't take much um to be um your nutritional playbook. Um, and what it does, it really gives you confidence, it gives you consistency, it gives you ownership. Um and so nothing takes you off guard because you've planned for it all. Um so um so a plan, if I were to give you a plan, it tells you what to eat. The plan tells you what to eat. But a playbook teaches you how to live, how to be reactive to whatever the situation out in the wild is, you can react to it. So you're not tied down to, oh, what am I gonna do? Or somebody asked me to go out to eat, so I'm just gonna have to eat whatever. It doesn't, you don't have to do that. You can be reactive to the situation and still follow your game plan. Your game plan for a healthy lifestyle. And this is just a little portion of it. So the challenge is can you make up your own playbook with some of those things? Your anchor, your default meal, your rescue meal, your your trigger and strategy, and your rescue rule. And then, I mean, you're ready. Uh, you're ready for whatever uh life throws at you. You're ready, but the really big challenge is can you implement the playbook is the challenging part to remember it. And the only way call an audible. And you might have to be like the quarterback and look it up and go, oh, hang on, let me look at my notes on my phone. Or what am I gonna do? Or what's the plan? Um, so you may have to do that. But any thoughts, comments, or questions about um your nutrition playbook. It won't be real thick, it'd be real one pager, it'll be easy. Um, but uh if you do have any questions, comments, or thoughts, just let me know. And then this will be on probably later this week on the app on Healthy Huddle. So you can take notes if you want to. You can just fast forward to the end and write it all down. And then if you haven't been already taking notes. So, but if you have any questions, just let me know. Thank y'all. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good evening. Thank you, and thank you to each of you for joining us on Healthy Huddle. We look forward to seeing you right here next time on Healthy Huddle.