SO YOUR DIET FAILED.
You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. You wanted to lose weight, so you went on a diet. NO chocolate, no ice-cream, no sweets, no bread, no cake, no chips, no fried foods, no fast food, no anything-perceived-to-be-bad. NO “UNHEALTHY” FOODS.
Today I’ll tell you exactly WHY YOU’RE NOT LOSING WEIGHT despite going on a “diet” and “trying so hard”. In fact, the answer’s clear as day but I’ll make it easy for you by summarising them in 5 points. To make it SUPER easy for the laziest of you, I even did a tl;dr at the end of each point. Mmmkay?
“Yes, you CAN eat me and STILL lose weight,” said the rainbow cupcake topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, M&Ms, Kit Kat stick and chocolate rice.
Reason #1: You have “good” and “bad” foods
You judge food. You label them “good” and “bad”.
Chocolate? Bad! McDonald’s? Very bad! Boiled chicken breast? Good. Salad? Even better! Sound familiar?
Instead of eating all foods in moderation and allowing yourself 2 double chocolate fudge cookies, you decided you deserve… NONE. No “bad” foods allowed, remember? Suddenly you’re scarfing down 10 of those bad boys on the couch. Uh oh. What happened?
When you force yourself to stick to only “good” foods, you feel like you’ve broken a rule when you eat “bad” foods. The more you try to stay away from “bad” foods, the MORE you WANT them.
No. No, no, no, no. STOP. Just… stop. STOP LABELLING FOOD. Food is just, well, food. Food is fuel for your body. They simply differ in source, calorie and nutritional content. Sure, some foods are great for your health, and some not so. But that doesn’t mean you should live the rest of your life without EVER experiencing chocolate cake again. I can’t believe I even entertained the thought that you might have entertained that thought! That’s ABSURD, UNTHINKABLE and BLATANT BLASPHEMY.
TL;DR: Yes, you CAN eat cake and STILL lose weight. There are no “good” or “bad” foods. Eat everything in moderation!
Reason #2: You see it as a “diet”
You know, I ABHOR the word “DIET”. It has caused severe misunderstandings, generated various misconceptions, and annoyed me to no end cos of the way I get asked about it by people who misunderstand it. That’s it, I’ll be the bad guy here and break it to you: DIETS DON’T WORK. They just don’t. Diets have start-end dates. Diets aren’t SUSTAINABLE.
(And just in case you don’t already know, diet pills are nothing but slimy gimmicky products designed to rob you of your hard-earned cash. DO NOT BUY THEM. You’re welcome.)
When you think of it as a “diet”, you’re seeing it as something temporary. A quick fix, perhaps, and once you’re done you’ll revert to your old eating habits. Which, lest you forget, were probably the culprit of your weight gain in the first place.
When you make the decision to change your dietary and exercise habits, keep in mind that these changes have to be (1) tailored to fit YOUR lifestyle, (2) things you can keep up with FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, (3) practical and gradual (take it slow and steady!).
Let’s re-evaluate your goal. You want to lose weight. The whole point of weight loss is to become HEALTHIER, yes? Then you need to FORM NEW, GOOD, PERMANENT HABITS. You need to learn to eat better, move more, make wiser choices. With that, you improve your general well-being and weight loss is but a side effect of these changes.
TL;DR: When you make your “diet” a temporary situation, you aren’t LEARNING to choose better. This has to be a PERMANENT LIFESTYLE CHANGE.
Reason #3: You’re trying to copy someone else’s meal plan
If I had a dollar each time someone demanded to know my meal plan, I would be making a decent living off running a “diet” Q&A session by now. Seriously. NO.
I understand if you’re looking for suggestions on what to eat. That’s fine. However, DO NOT attempt to find out what others are eating just so you can copy and OBSESS over them, down to the brand of milk they use. This irks me to no end. You think you have to match them calorie-for-calorie? There is no single meal plan that works perfectly for everybody. I eat what I like. YOU EAT WHAT YOU LIKE. Except not in the quantities you’re used to eating. It’s all about portion control.
When you mimick someone else, you aren’t tailoring these changes to fit your lifestyle. Do you really see yourself doing this for the rest of your life? You’re setting yourself up for failure. Change up that attitude!
TL;DR: Stop obsessing over what others are eating. To lose weight, you can continue eating what you typically eat, except WATCH YOUR PORTION.
Reason #4: You don’t want it bad enough
Let’s face it. If you WANT something BAD ENOUGH, you’ll do WHATEVER it takes to get it. If you don’t, you will have a ton of EXCUSES all lined up.
Blame the rain for keeping you indoors. Blame your sweet tooth for the fourth red velvet cupcake you ate at the party. Blame the bed for being too comfortable. Blame the fact that you have to work. Blame everything and everyone else but yourself.
When you want it so bad, it don’t matter that you woke up late and you have to be at work early. You’ll still go out and run that 8K you planned to run, except you have to run it in a much shorter time cos, well, like I said… you woke up late! You’ll MAKE it work. NOTHING will stop you from doing what your heart truly wants. I DIDN’T LET ANYTHING STOP ME.
The body is yours. It’s yours to use, to move, to live in. In fact, it’s the ONLY PLACE you have to live in. If you don’t take care of it, where are you gonna stay?
TL;DR: Stop procrastinating. Stop playing the blame game. FIND THAT WANT – the desire to push yourself forward. Imagine, you’ll finally be able to say, “I DID IT! I DIDN’T GIVE UP!” and be so proud of yourself.
Reason #5: You don’t understand how weight loss REALLY works
It’s appalling how so many do not understand how weight loss works. Calories IN versus Calories OUT. Calories In versus Calories Out. Calories In versus Calories Out!
You must first understand the mechanics of weight loss in order to succeed. How are you going to work a machine when you don’t know which button performs what function?
Note I said “weight loss”. I’ve spent countless hours answering queries and explaining how weight loss DOES NOT MEAN fat loss and vice versa. Your body is made up of MORE than just fat. You have muscle. You retain water. When you lose weight, it’s a combination of these things. Your weight fluctuates.
Also, you didn’t put on 10 pounds overnight, so why do you expect the same 10 pounds to disappear instantaneously? Weight loss is not linear. And if this is supposed to be a lifelong change, you’ll get there.
TL;DR: There is no secret. Calories. In. Versus. Calories. Out. READ THE MANUAL.
There, I’ve said my piece. I’m going through a really rough time at work. I’ve been reaching the office earlier than usual, knocking off later than usual, working through the weekends, and guess what? I still managed to stick to my workout plan. I wake up at 4:30AM and get my morning 8-12K done before sunrise. I still choose to eat right.
Now, what were you saying about having a job and other assorted adult responsibilities? Are those stopping you from committing yourself to a life of good choices? Show me your excuses. Until you prove that you’re stronger than your excuses, I’m chucking them right out the window. Don’t make me kick your ass (or perhaps that’s what you’re asking for).
xx J