I came across a Reddit thread that really caught my attention.
Someone asked, “What is the “one thing” that finally made weight loss work for you? »
And this question received 5,400 answers (and counting).
Some of the answers involved environmental changes or a change in how they prepared their food:
“Pour snacks into small ramekins to eat. Suddenly I was eating a normal amount of snacks.
“I prepare my usual amount of food and instead of putting it in 2 containers, I divide it evenly into 4 containers. I forced myself to only eat one container per meal and tricked my brain into thinking that was my normal amount.
Others changed what they ate:
“I found a salad that I really like. It sounds stupid, but I'd never craved a salad before, and having one that I really liked meant I followed up with a few weeks of eating a lot of lettuce – it snowballed from there , because I felt really good and then I started to want to feel good.”
Some had a more holistic approach that involved re-evaluating their relationship with food, hunger and discomfort:
“Realize that this is a lifestyle change and NOT a diet.”
“Accept the suffering. Expect to be breathing hard and uncomfortably when you do cardio, expect to be sore after lifting the weight, and expect to be hungry when you limit your intake.
Others used apps to track their calorie intake, which made them more aware of how much they were eating:
“Using an app to track everything I ate. I realized that a lot of the “healthy” things I was eating, in the quantities I was eating them, contained a lot more calories than I thought. Simply cutting down on certain foods did the trick.
And some have succeeded thanks to an initial medicinal boost:
“I saw a doctor about my type 2 diabetes. I weighed over 300 pounds and also had coronary artery disease. I got diabetes medication that also helps control appetite. I started tracking calories and exercising.
“Semaglutide”
Some prioritized physical activity over diet:
“Find a hobby. I ate excessively because I was bored. Coming home from work and sitting on the couch would make it a lot easier to eat like crap…now I'm just going to do something I enjoy so I don't find distraction while eating.
“Walk. Validation that I had lost 45 pounds in 7 months by simply walking every evening in my neighborhood. It was free and low impact, I walked rain or shine, even during snowstorms .Now I have a treadmill and I walk indoors, but the feeling is still as good as it was in the beginning.
As we look through this list, reading thousands of comments from people reflecting on the “one thing” that changed their lives, and how different many of them are, we can draw some fascinating conclusions.
3 short lessons we can learn
LESSON 1: “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill.
The hardest part of being healthy is not lose hope when a strategy you try doesn't work. I bet every person who shared their answer above has tried dozens of different strategies to try to get in shape. Hell, I bet they tried most of the things that worked for other people, until they found the one that worked. for them.
What we can learn from this: “Hope is the warlike emotion that ravages cynicism“, and it's okay to hope that each failed attempt means it's one less strategy to try in the future.
For example, if you've already tried Keto 5 times and can't stick to it, congratulations! You found the diet that doesn't work for you.
If you can keep this “Beta testing” mentality from “I'll see if it works for me”, you might find the first domino you like your journey!
LESSON 2: Beware of the charlatan.
Spend enough time on social media and you'll eventually encounter health and wellness charlatans. These are the people who tell you that only they have the power. a solution to all your problems. They often have a villain for all the world's ills (“It's sugar! It's carbs! It's X ingredient!”).
And of course, once they instill fear and scare you, they give you hope with their expensive unregulated supplement or foolproof system.
As you see in the examples above, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. Every human is a unique weirdo with different baggage, triggers, trauma, and experiences that make some solutions a home run and other solutions fail.
You can read more about how to spot and avoid charlatans in my previous essay here: “How not to go crazy on the Internet.”
Which brings me to my third point!
LESSON THREE: All fitness stories have 3 annoying things in common!
Although all of these “one-size-fits-all” solutions to getting in shape are different, they all have some similarities.
The good news? None of these things are revolutionary, exclusive, or gimmicky.
Getting in shape literally comes down to 3 things:
- Eat the right number of calories for your goal weight
- Get some form of physical movement
- Integrate these two things into a lifelong lifestyle adjustment.
Weight loss isn't magic. It's about math and behavior change.
As I cover it in my weight loss guidescience is decided on this.
Any diet can work if it puts us in a calorie deficit. We have coach clients who are vegan, others who go Keto, some who count calories and others who practice intermittent fasting.
Our ability to turn dietary changes into a lifestyle we can live with is the key to success, and it looks different for everyone.
Speaking of lifestyle changes, most of the answers above also involve finding ways to incorporate exercise into life regularly.
Remember: It's okay if you don't like exercising. We are not designed to love exercise! Especially if it’s an activity we don’t really enjoy! We are designed to survive in times of scarcity, NOT to thrive in times of unlimited abundance.
So how do we incorporate exercise into our lifestyle?
We must find ways to make exercise fun, beneficial, or necessary:
- Amusing: join a walking/running club with friends, try grouping of temptations.
- Advantageous: fall in love with become stronger and more confident and how much better you feel after exercise.
- Necessary: pre-pay a coach, park at the end of the parking lot, cycle to work.
Remember, hope is the warrior's emotion.
We humans are incredibly adaptable creatures capable of change.
Keep trying different strategies, beware of charlatans and don't forget the basics!
And soon, one day, you might also share the first domino that falls and changes things for you.
-Steve
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#finally #worked