NEXT, I want to talk about fat loss, and share my own story of some changes I made recently (pics below).
Last Monday, on the #moderation365 webinar, someone asked, “I get that moderation is great for maintenance, but what about if you still want to lose fat?”
In fact, many of you have inquired about that. We tend to think it should all feel a little harder if we want to lose
weight. We feel like we kind of need to suffer a little. Besides, we’ve all heard the phrases, “No pain, no gain,” and “If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
Not to mention, every time we have lost weight in the past, we suffered for it – during, and AFTER when we gained it all back plus some!
Here’s what to know about dieting. All diets work in the short-term. Just literally follow any restrictive plan and you will lose weight. And it will not
be fun or easy. Or … ready? Sustainable! It will not be sustainable, which is why we are never able to maintain our weight loss for more than a few months or maybe a year if we are lucky. And we gain it all back, and more, and now we have a metabolism that is less responsive. Awesome.
It's like Jade says, “A solution that works in the short term, but cannot be followed long-term is not a solution at all.”
So with that said, a sustainable
approach to anything you do needs to be your first-and-foremost concern. The reason I want you practicing moderation is precisely because it’s a satisfying way to eat. It feels easier than dieting. It’s not a meal plan. It’s constantly figuring out ways to like how you eat. And call me crazy, but if you like how you eat then chances are it'll be sustainable.
I’m going to share with you how to go from “maintain” to “attain” in a second, but first I want to give
you this #1 consideration. I want you to remember this in those moments when you are frustrated or get that kneejerk reaction to jump on some random plan that your friend is doing, or buy some crazy cleanse or detox:
You CANNOT lose fat without finding a sustainable approach FIRST.
Why?
Because sustainability is like your foundation. When your foundation is strong, you
are able to achieve more. This is why for example, when you want to get stronger, you don’t do squats on top of a wobble board. You do them on a stable surface under a barbell. That way, you have the best chance of lifting more weight and getting stronger.
Same thing with nutrition. You cannot make changes from an unstable place and expect them to stick. If you do, you are going to be struggling for that much longer.
But when your eating is
moderate and balanced and effortless and enjoyable (remember that doesn’t mean eating everything you want, because that’s none of those things), NOW you have a stable place to start making changes.
So that’s why I always advocate getting to a balanced and automated place with your nutrition first. Yes, that means get comfortable in “maintenance mode” for a bit – a least a couple months – AND THEN … make one single change at a time.
Okay, so how do you lose fat?
Okay, so assuming you have been practicing moderation for a while, and feel like things are fairly effortless, you obsess about food less, you train consistently and you are finally ready to make a change -- what do I recommend?
I said this on the webinar the other night, and I think it’s the best place to begin: start with a change to your
exercise.
Don’t start with a nutritional change because you’ve finally FINALLY got that to where it’s low stress and automatic. Start with your training. For example,
- If you are used to doing heavier bodybuilding or body part splits, move to full-body workouts.
- If you are used to doing longer workouts, move to shorter, more intense ones.
- If you are used to barbell work, move to dumbbells and maybe even sprints.
Change how you move, and you change how your body responds.
I did this exact thing recently. You know that I came up in the bodybuilding culture, doing mostly body part splits, overloading one muscle group per day and sculpting a body to get up on stage. I hardly ever got all that sweaty this way. That was reserved for the hours of cardio I used to do (NOT RECOMMENDED … hello crazy person!) so I always split my
workouts into weights and then cardio. Not both.
But beginning about 4 months ago, I started doing more metabolic conditioning workouts, combining upper and lower body and lifting weights faster. Not to mention, I haven’t stepped on a piece of standard cardio equipment in over a year!
The results with my physique have definitely been noticeable, all the while absolutely no changes with my diet, and if anything I am actually eating less naturally
because I don’t have compensatory hunger and cravings from doing longer workouts!
These pics were taken about 6 weeks apart under the same conditions:
