Our next step in the Transforming Your Lifestyle series is about achieving nutritional consistency over time. We should all know now at this stage that results, and results that will last in the long term will take time and patience. Anything that promises you quick results, is a scheme aimed at selling you something capitalising on your need for change. It doesn’t matter if the bottle, pill, supplement or magic shake formula says it will get you lean in 4 weeks or make your drop 20lbs in 5 weeks – it will end in disaster. Any weight you lose on a scale will be from water, and glycogen depletion from starving yourself from proper nutrients and the minute you eat normally again you will put it back on ten fold.
So yes its true, you will lose 20lbs in 5 weeks, but it will be 20 pounds from your wallet not your waistline.
From my experience when starting out with nutrition and like many other things, keeping it SIMPLE works best and mastering the foundations gets the best results. The foundations being:
-Staying within a calorie goal
-No food being off limits, just be aware of the higher calorie content in some foods
-Eat more protein and vegetables
-Move as much as you can during the day and keep it STRESS FREE
Once you start hitting these steps, and give it time the results will gradually start as the weeks go by. It will seem like small changes on a weekly basis because mentally you “want everything off in the first week” so you need to stay positive and realistic. When you are 6,7,8 weeks in and you add up all the smaller improvements made week by week you now have a BIG difference from your start point. Where people go wrong is they expect to much too soon because all of those marketing ploys have falsely promised you big changes in short time frames, however they didn’t work did they? Well this approach when nailed right nearly always does. Body fat unfortunately doesn’t go on over a short time such as 6 weeks, it is chronically added on slowly over months and years and builds up. It isn’t going to all come off in 6 weeks either, think of that.
Yes it is slower, however this is where you end up when you are patient, put your head down and work hard:
- You have a nice drop in body fat, after the first initial weeks pass
- You are not starved and are avoiding rebound weight gain
- You are not nutrient deficient – which is essential for health unless you want to break yourself
- You will end up with a better relationship with food and will avoid the binge eating pattern
- These habits will last – meaning so will your body fat loss
Then there are things that you will inevitably need to face and manage. Things such as:
– Nights out with friends
– Weddings/Birthdays/Family Events
– Holidays & Trips away
- The envious digs about “just having one” or “you are so boring” from close ones
- The feeling of frustration because it is an “up and down” process and its not always easy
To make all of these very simple to manage – calorie intake coming in and energy out DICTATES FAT LOSS. So just aim to control that at these events. Events like this pop up and only last 24-48 hours usually. So just make smart choices and do things such as:
– Keep activity high through step counts, cardio, weights if possible
– Don’t eat a lot of calories in the morning and have none left for the event
- Only eat when hungry and stop when full – this is a great approach for every day life too
- Look at possibly fasting in the morning and eating your first meal after lunch
- Always be on the look out for nutrient dense options such as lean meat, white fish, fruit and vegetables
- Avoid foods covered in oils, nuts, seeds, butters and sauces – these HIDDEN calories catch people the most
- Remember that “healthy” foods have calories too. Sometimes very high calories, so be very aware of that
- Eat slowly. This will keep your from over eating, you will digest it better, have a better sense of feeling full, enjoy the food more and most likely wont over eat
Lastly, don’t STRESS over it. Most people get so wound up about it they make themselves anxious and and up hitting the self destruct button, going way off track making irrational decisions and often end up not enjoying themselves because they feel so guilty and beat up about their poor decisions.
Simply put, stay relaxed and make good decisions.
It doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to be better.
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