If you’ve been reading my previous posts; such as THIS or THIS; you’ve probably noticed how I am a big believer in mindset and habit changing when it comes to getting results. We as a fitness industry have the tendency to make simple way too complicated in order to make ourselves look smart, not only with nutrition but also with exercise. And when I say “we”, I include myself in it as well.
The truth is that focusing on habit changes will have a bigger impact on long term results than what giving out diet rules would ever have. At least for someone who’s a beginner. And yes, you are a beginner unless you have fully automated healthy planning, prepping, cooking and training and can easily adjust it on the fly.
So without a further due here’s my what-not-to-do-list when trying to lose weight:
1. Gather all the health and fitness information from magazines and listen to the health advice they’ll give you on the morning tv.
It is quite likely that you already know what is generally good for you and what is bad for you (if you are not sure sign up for my email list HERE to receive FREE tips and tricks on how to improve your health). Focusing on the good stuff and doing less of the bad stuff will get you where you want to go 99% of the time.
By reading all the latest health and fitness magazines will only confuse you and make you second guess your choices. You won’t miss out, there is nothing revolutionary that has happened recently in the industry.
Don’t even get me started on the morning television, there seems to be a new and “better” weight loss advice every single week. Every time I see these “spectacular new diets” popping up I feel like running to a wall head first. It is very frustrating as all media is doing is adding more fire to the confusion. It won’t stop anytime soon so you are better of ignoring it altogether.
It is worth mentioning that even when the information is of a good quality there is no reason to absorb it unless it is relevant to you RIGHT NOW. This makes sense once you get to #8.
2. Look for a quick and easy fix.
It doesn’t exist. There, you can stop looking.
3. Do it on your own.
We are stronger in packs than on our own. Surround yourself with like minded people who are either going through the same as you are or have been through it successfully in the past. This is something that I ignored for the longest time by only focusing on rules and habits. Community is what makes the difference and I am doing all in my power to optimize mine in 2015. Stay tuned!
4. Only focus on training.
Instead, treat your food planning, shopping and prepping as a training session. When you are trying to lose weight this will have a monster of an impact on your results!
5. Only accept perfection.
Trying to be perfect is a sure way to have your plans backfiring. Just because you ate ice cream for breakfast doesn’t mean that the rest of the day (or a week for some of us) has to be a write-off.
Think of it this way: you just realized that you’ve dropped a $20 note on your way to work, are you going straight to your bank to withdraw all your balance and throw it away? I hope not.
6. Don’t plan your meals. Go shopping hungry.
One of my all time favorite sayings; “Failing to plan is planning to fail” (someone tell me who’s quote that is originally?) Having a structure and routine is more effective than relying on willpower and discipline.
7. Try to make everything exciting.
It won’t be. As a matter of fact it is probably going to be pretty boring at least in the beginning. Boring is what works, you want results don’t you?
8. Change more than one thing at a time. (The most important of them all)
Most of us can’t so don’t try to implement all of the above at once. Rather focus on one for at least two weeks or until it becomes completely automated.
Notice how none of the above says anything about your macro nutrients, post-workout carbohydrate to protein-ratio or how to align your fork optimally when eating boiled eggs to get the best protein synthesis happening at the back of your tongue. All of that can be important (the jury is still out on the aligning the fork-case) but you have to focus on the very basics when starting your journey to a better health.
As some guy called Einstein said, “make it as simple as possible but not any simpler”. That guy was on to something.