When It Comes To Weight Loss You Don't Want to be an Outlier

I get a lot of questions about weight loss. Most of the questions don’t make much sense because the people who are asking are making a fundamental error in their thinking and that is:

They all think they’re different from everyone else.

They think weight loss in their specific case is much harder and that they are somehow an outlier thinking they are the one person who can’t lose weight with the traditional means of a caloric deficit.

9 times of out ten (and probably even more than that) these people are simply eating too much to lose weight.

By definition you would have to lose some amount of fat and weight if you were eating in a caloric deficit for more than a day or two. If you’re putting less matter in than is going out how could you possibly be at the same weight all the time?

Dieting for weight loss isn’t easy, and many people aren’t ready to take the necessary steps to make it happen. So instead of facing the fact that they’ve got more work to do they romanticize about being the one and only person who can’t lose weight because of some 1 in a million genetic anomaly that they’ve cooked up in their minds about themselves. This is both arrogant and disrespectful to those unfortunate people who DO have a legitimate genetic problem (as rare as it may be).

I’m sure there are the few unfortunate people who really do have some sort of genetic abnormality that makes them prone to weight gain, but for the vast majority of us it’s not a genetic issue. And if you did have such a problem you likely would already be diagnosed and be under medical supervision or on some sort of pharmaceutical therapy.

In other words, if you’re reading this you’re likely similar to everyone else and you just need to eat less. And that’s a good thing, it means the path to weight loss is simple, predictable and 100% achievable.

John

I’m bumping this post this morning. I’ll be back in a few hours with a new post.

Working off of yesterdays discussion about the emasculation of the modern man it seems appropriate to bring up the concept of meme’s and specifically the meme of the modern man.

Ideas are like viruses. If it gets in you, its almost impossible to get rid of

First we need to define what a meme is:

MEME: A meme ( rhyming with “cream”⁾ is a postulated unit of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. (wikipedia)

The idea of a meme was postulated by Richard Dawkins and he suggests that memes as similar to genes and get passed along from one generation to the next. Obviously this is a simplistic explanation but it will suffice for this blog post.

For our purpose we’ll consider the meme of the modern man to be the bundle of images, ideals, ideas, representations, expectations and attitudes we’re passively expected to see in a modern man.

Over time these memes evolve, but for them to evolve in the direction of true freedom and self actualization they require effort and push back from people who are being suppressed and against those who would rather put us into boxes.

We don’t have to go too far back in history to find that at some point black men wouldn’t be included in the meme of modern man but rather in the meme of slave. Since the emancipation and the 13th amendment to the constitution slavery was abolished and the integration of black men into the meme of modern man began.

In more recent years the acceptance of homosexuality and the idea that sexuality is actually a continuum and not a dichotomy is the next and latest evolution of the meme of modern man.

This meme is constantly evolving…and in these two examples it’s evolving towards more freedom and natural rights that all men have.

No matter how many ways an organized government apparatus or social organized construction tries to contain and strip away natural rights, there will always be a break point where the push back for freedom overwhelms and the natural rights are restored.

It’s not exactly simple and in many cases blood is shed, but the natural law eventually wins out.

The point is that there are immutable truths about freedom and natural law that are inherent in sentient beings like us. And no matter how many societal constructions/laws/rules are put in place, if they do not fall in accordance with this natural law and right to freedom, they will, eventually at some point collapse.

John

P.S. The next discussion on this topic will be the feminist movement and how it’s had the single biggest impact on the lifestyle and meme of modern man…and how this too is not in accordance with natural law and eventually will collapse.

Doing what ‘most’ people do will only get you what ‘most’ people have. This is true for anything in your life.

Most people will never change

If you want to lose weight, you cannot use most people as a model to follow because most people aren’t losing weight. Same goes for financial success, satisfaction with your job or social life etc.

Most people don’t have the body they want, a career that excites them, or a social life that’s worth reading about. If you want any of these things, then you can’t do what most people do…you gotta do something different. And this is where it gets tricky.

Identifying what NOT to do is easy, figuring out what TO do isn’t so obvious. This is why supplements and weight loss products exist, and how to get rich quick products, as well as books about having successful relationships etc.

Simply reading about this stuff is never good enough. Eventually you’ve got to put something into action and test it out.

You have to become and experiment of one. And try things out until you find one that works. But until you give something…anything different a legitimate try you’ll never know if it works.

The first step to making a real change in any part of your life is accepting the fact that you’re probably going to have to do something that ‘most’ people aren’t doing. The second step is accepting some level of persecution for doing something different from everyone else. This will always happen because most people will feel threatened when someone steps out of the norm and tries something different.

This happens alot with Eat Stop Eat because it is so different from what most people are doing.

Even though ESE works, most people cannot accept something so different. They’ll continue doing what most people do and continue living the lives that most people live.

I guess  the ESE’ers like us will just have to talk amongst ourselves because ‘most’ people don’t want to hear it.

It’ll be our little secret.

John

You’re unique, just like a snowflake…you’re one of a kind…just like everybody else! So here is your special bear to make you feel good about being so special.

Just for you, cuz you're special!

Ok so now that we’ve all stroked our ego’s enough and reminded ourselves that we’re ‘special’ lets get down to the business of exercise and diet.

I hate to have to be the one to break this to you (actually no I don’t, I love bringing stuff like this up), but when it comes to diet and exercise, you’re not special…you’re not even unique…in fact you and me and everyone else is very easily measured and categorized into general and predictable groups.

Fitness/nutrition marketers will stroke your ego and tell you that not only are you special, but so is your metabolism and your body, and that you need a special diet and exercise program…they’ll go on to say that the only reason you’re not satisfied with your body (if you’re in fact not satisfied with it right now) is because nobody has come up with a diet or workout that addresses your specific unique needs.

I find it rather ironic that this marketing message of unique one-of-a-kindness is trumpeted to a mass audience…

This marketing strategy plays right into each of our personal stories that we tell ourselves on a daily basis. It allows us to validate all of our shortcomings and fears and it removes the responsibility from us for the way our bodies look…this sets the trap that leaves us highly vulnerable to fall for the next fitness/diet item that is designed ‘just for us’.

There are lots of things that make you truly one of a kind; where you grew up, how you were raised, things you like and don’t like, your specific personality traits and quirks, your finger prints, your voice, even your gait (how you walk).

So don’t worry, you really are unique (just like everybody else! ha…sorry I can’t help but add that part in because it’s just so ironic)

So this is where reality sets in and the uniqueness ends and the commonalities begin.

This is the list of just some of the things that you and everyone else have in common:

1. There is a finite and predictable amount of muscle you can build based on your height and somatotype (assuming you’re not using steroids)

2. Your metabolic rate is determined by your lean body mass and is pretty much fixed within a tight range (see point 1 for explanation)

3. The only way you can lose weight is eating less calories than you burn (for real, this actually applies to everyone)

4.  Your body digests and reacts to food just like everyone else’s (give or take a couple items you might be allergic to or a congenital bowel disease)

So in general, your body isn’t as unique as your personality is.

And that is a good thing. That means you don’t need to search high and low for exercise and diet advice that will work for you. In fact what worked for most other people will work just fine for you too.

So have fun during your special day today, but remember that we’re mostly the same when it comes to exercise and metabolism.

John