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During a recent seminar that I conduct, participants explored the concept of just how powerful the mind is and how this relates to losing fat. After a serious of powerful exercises, they were asked to create an action plan based on what they learned in order to successfully lose fat and keep it off. The result of this workshop was seven keys that addressed what most diet programs or weight loss systems do not: the fact that fitness starts inside.
Weight Loss Success Key #4: Make it a lifestyle
You’ve heard this one so much you probably don’t even pay attention to it
anymore. The idea of a lifestyle change has become a cliché. Sure, we all
want to avoid the yo-yo diet plan and make something permanent, but few people
really take the effort to learn how.
Are you one of those people dead-set in making a difference, so you strap
on your shoes, load your refrigerator with nothing but chicken and broccoli,
then put on your blinders and focus 110% for twelve weeks until you reach
your goal?
What happens after that?
Most people celebrate. They eat a lot. They take a break from training.
A few weeks later, they are back to square one. Instead of feeling great,
they talk about how great it felt. Instead of looking terrific, they tell
old stories like grandfathers in rocking chairs, “I remember when I could
see my shoes and not my belly when I’d look down at my feet.”
It’s great to have focus and to take on the challenge and really pursue it.
But have you stopped to think about what happens after?
Are you training and dieting for a few weeks, or for life?
Let me ask you this … if it’s for life, can you imagine yourself eating the
way you are eating from now until you are six feet under with a bouquet of
flowers above your head? If not, it’s time to change.
You see, living healthy doesn’t have to be about diets and horrendous workouts.
It can be about fun. I still recall the first time I set down the barbell
and put on a pair of running shoes. Several people wrote me, horrified at
the thought of how my muscles would wilt and wither from the rigors of training
for a half marathon. How could I give up the admirable iron game for some
lousy 13-mile run through the woods? What was I thinking?
The truth is, I’m beyond the need to compare my self-worth to the depth of
my abdominal cuts or the girth of my biceps. I’m in this for life, and that
means having fun. While I enjoy grabbing rusty dumbbells and slinging them
around as I grunt, groan, and sweat like I’m taking an indoor shower, there’s
more to life than weight-lifting. That’s why I like to ski, jog, and do other
activities as well. I make it fun. And you know what? I can do fun. I don’t
have to always have a workout sheet and a pen to stay in shape. Sometimes
all I need is a good pair of shoes, two hours of free time, and the good green
earth to make my rounds.
The same is true for nutrition. Live a little. Experiment with healthy recipes.
Understand what “better bad choices” and “portion control” means. If I want
some cheesecake, I might order a slice and split it with my wife and daughter.
You’ll catch me eating a slice of pizza on occasion, and even sipping on a
glass of red wine. The key is moderation. I don’t have to count the days until
my diet is over because I’m focused on the process, not the end result. Learn
to get out of the finish line and into the race. You’ll enjoy it more.
Weight Loss Success Key #5: Listen to your body
Jeremy, I can’t finish my cardio workouts because I get dizzy and nauseous
when I do them first thing in the morning, but I can’t eat food because they
said I have to have an empty stomach to burn fat.
Jeremy, I know I need a ton of protein, but I just can’t seem to get it down.
I get ill eating so much protein. How will I ever build muscle?
These questions are common, because instead of listening to their body, many
people are giving up their power by following the current trend or diet program.
Your body has built-in mechanisms that can teach you a lot about what you
are doing and if it is working. A healthy person knows when it is time to
eat, because they get hungry. A healthy person also knows whether or not they
require protein. These instincts are built in, but the S.A.D. diet (Standard
American Diet) is so loaded with processed food that has no counterpart in
nature, it’s no wonder the signal is getting lost.
What happens when you are next to a busy intersection with a constant buzz
of cars going by? Eventually, you will tune out the noise. It becomes part
of the background. If you are standing next to a deserted road, however, the
occasional car whizzing by will attract your attention. You’ll be “in tune.”
The typical diet is so loaded with salt that it completely nullifies your
sense of taste. When you try to eat something that is low salt or salt-free,
it tastes bland and disgusting. You reach immediately for the salt shaker
or at least grab a bottle of Mrs. Dash and cover it with herbs and spices.
Try going without added salt for just four weeks. This is an experiment I
experienced first hand, as did my wife, and so do many of my clients. The
first few weeks are not fun, because everything is so dull. Then, just like
a smoker who has stopped sucking on smoke for a few weeks, something amazing
happens. Slowly but surely, your taste will return. Suddenly, you become aware
of the subtle flavors in vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, and other foods
that just tasted like salt and seasoning before. It’s an amazing experience,
if you let it happen.
By removing the additives, preservatives, refined sugars, processed grains,
and other artificial components of your diet, you can start to sense your
needs for protein and carbohydrates as well. I don’t follow the traditional
“slab of meat at every meal” bodybuilder diet. I know it’s popular, but I
choose to listen to my body.
I’ve force fed pounds of protein and the end result might be a little more
muscle mass, but it also leaves me staring at a block of steak wishing I was
somewhere else and hoping I never have to taste a bite of meat ever again.
That’s not living … it’s dieting, and I’d rather live healthy than diet miserably.
So, I stay in tune. If I crave protein, I eat it. If not, I might just have
a vegetarian dish. I listen to my body.
If you have the most energy on an empty stomach first thing in the morning,
go for it. If you’re one of those who feels dizzy and weak, then listen to
your body. Stop worrying about what “they” say about an empty stomach. Instead,
get some food, let it digest, and then get to work. Whatever fat-burning benefit
you might have from training on empty will be negated by your lack of energy.
Add some fuel and then push down on the accelerator and go full throttle.
In the end, it’s calories that are king, not whether or not you time the meal
before or after your workout.
If you thrive on high protein and lower carbohydrates, that’s great. Personally,
I get extremely irritable when I reduce my carbohydrates and get sick of eating
protein when I raise my protein intake. So instead of giving up my power to
the almighty diet, I listen to my body. I figure it knows what it wants. Of
course, the trend is that you have to cut carbohydrates to lean down, so I
made certain I lost 35 pounds and cut down to 7% body fat while eating 300
grams of carbohydrates and 90 grams of protein per day to prove that, first,
you can lose fat even with carbohydrates in your system, and second, it doesn’t
take pounds of meat and tubs of protein powder to maintain a muscular physique.
The proof is in the pudding – you can see my menus and my progress here:
Bottom line, get comfortable with you. Stop ignoring your body. Listen to
it. If you find that your “splurge meals” are making you sick, think about
the message your body is giving you and decide if you are going to continue
it week after week, or if it’s time to take off the training wheels and grow
up. You don’t have to have pizza every week to enjoy life.
RESOURCE BOX: Jeremy Likness is an author, motivational speaker, international
health coach, Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition.
He wrote the internationally selling book, Lose Fat, Not Faith www.LoseFatNotFaith.com.