Imagine this, you’re not a much of a jogger, yet you get inspired to start doing 5km runs.
Would you wake up the next morning and go run 5km’s for your first ever run? Probably not, because going from zero to running 5km straight-up would give you…
Sore knees, sore back, sore muscles, sore everything, and there’s a good chance of a possible heart attack for a lot of people. And maybe before any of the soreness or heart attack kicked-in, you’d probably quit on the side of the road gasping for air because it’s too much, too soon.
Here’s the thing…
This exactly what it’s like when people start a diet. Paleo, fasting, low carb, carb cycling whatever the latest and greatest diet is. Most go from chaotic unhealthy eating habits to trying to follow a diet that’s so far removed from anything they’ve ever see or done before.
Starting one of these diets is the equivalent of heading out to run 5km in your first session when you’ve never run 20 meters in your life. Do Paleo, fasting, low carb, carb cycling, and all the other diets work? Yes, they have their place, however, forget about them when first starting out to lose weight.
So, what’s the answer to losing weight and keeping if off?
Why?
Because it’s super-hard to go from loose and free with your food intake to super-strict, cutting out entire food groups, starving yourself, and counting carbs. Even for a disciplined person, they too struggle to stick with many of these diets long term.
Don’t diet.
Once upon a time, there was a thing called healthy eating, you ate natural healthy foods from all the food groups. Then things changed. Health industries, health professionals, and the fitness industry all started to demonize certain foods, or push certain diets.
Why?
Because new and exciting get’s noticed, the more extreme the more people notice you, and they need to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
And you’re at fault here too. You want a thing or a reason to blame for your weight gain. If I tell you carbs are to blame for your weight gain and this new diet I have is the answer, you’re happy. I’ve let you off the hook, you’re not responsible carbs are. You want the magic pill, we all do, and that’s exactly how these diets are marketed to you.
And another thing…
Understand you can find science to support or discredit any diet out there. What you’ve got to do is work out what you think is best for you, now, long term, and what’s easy to make part of your lifestyle.
About this thing called healthy eating, here’s how you use it to lose weight and keep it off
Eat a source of protein at every meal, eat more vegetables, eat more fruit, and eat dairy if it agrees with you. If you eat processed food, stop eating processed foods. If you don’t cook, start cooking your own meals.
Lunch and dinner could look like this…
Protein source with 3–4 veggies, and some sweet potato or rice. Flavour your food with chilli or natural spices that have no sugar in them.
What about counting and measuring your food?
Don’t worry about it when you’re first starting out. For most adults eating two good servings of veggies a day and including more protein in their diet rapidly changes their health and weight in as little as 30 days.
If all this sounds too hard, then go super-simple and focus on just one of your meals to start with, say dinner. You make a healthy dinner for yourself. You do that for a week, then you focus on your lunch, now you’ve got two meals a day under control. See how easy that is?
There’s great power in keeping things simple and uncomplicated for yourself when first starting out
I don’t diet or count calories yet I live around 10% body fat all year round and have done for over 5 years now.
Have I tried different diets? Yes, to test and experiment with. Some were easy, others a little harder to manage and stick to, some made a small difference, and others did nothing. I didn’t need a diet to get to 10% body fat and below. Just simple, healthy eating.
If you’re struggling to lose weight try getting back to basics, keep it simple and easy for yourself. Protein source, with 3–4 veggies, and some sweet potato or rice. Flavour your food with chilli or natural spices that have no sugar in them.
It’s not fancy, however, it works, and its how many elite athletes, sports models, and men and women in great shape eat.
Once you get the basics right, you understand the food groups a little better, then if you feel it’s necessary to demonise and cut out entire food groups, go for it.
At the end of the day it’s finding what works for you, now and in the long term, and importantly gets you results without damaging your health.
