Now that the ‘holiday’ season is over it’s business as usual…or is it?

January is usually a time when many people start to crack down on diet and exercise as a new years resolution. For most people this is short lived. They start the year off with every intention of making a change and even sign up for the gym and start working out…they might even make some progress with their diet and lose some weight. Then about 4-6 weeks later ‘life catches up’ with them and they fall off the wagon.

Badlands Booker is a competitive eater, for him eating this 6lbs burger could be 'normal'.

This scenario seems to repeat itself year after year. In fact you could say that for these people this is their ‘normal’ January.

Then this got me thinking…there is no such thing as ‘normal’ eating. At least not in a way that can describe the entire year.

It’s more accurate to say there is the ‘normal’ way you eat throughout December and the holiday season…there is the ‘normal’ way you eat in January…and there is the ‘normal’ way you eat when summer rolls around etc.

If all of these ‘normal’ ways you tend to eat don’t produce the body you want, then obviously something has to change.

you cannot simply go back to eat the ‘normal’ way you always during each season or time of year.

This same situation goes for people who have successfully changed their bodies and now want to maintain that new body.

If your old ‘normal’ pattern caused you to gain weight, it will not help you maintain your new weight.

The point is there is no such thing as the ‘normal’ way you eat all of the time.

Instead there is the way you eat at certain times of year, and given certain events (weddings, birthdays, holidays, stressful situations etc)

I have found that having a goal and a date to hit that goal by is one of the only ways to force yourself to create a change on your body and make it happen.

You could even say that you’ve created a new ‘normal’ way of eating by setting a goal for being in a transformation contest like the Adonis Index or Venus Index transformation contests, or simply setting a date for a photoshoot to see how far you can go in a given amount of time.

In this case you’ve created the ‘normal’ way you eat during a transformation, or the ‘normal’ way you eat when you’re getting ready for a photoshoot.

When you look at it this way, you can more easily decide which ‘normal’ pattern you want to follow.

The big difference is that eating the way you ‘normally’ do to prepare for a photoshoot will set you on a course to get into and stay in a shape that you really want…none of the other ‘normal’ ways you eat can do this.

The point is that nobody gets in shape by accident. It always happens because of a conscious effort to do so. But it can also be a normal part of your yearly routine to work towards a better shape and then maintain that shape.

John

Every bit counts no Matter how Small.

So how do you  lose weight?

Simple, you need to create an energy deficit. In other words, consume less energy than you spend and you’re body has no choice but to burn some bodyfat (after all that’s what it’s there for in the first place).

So how do you create an energy deficit?

1) The easiest is to eat less calories than you burn. This means less calories than your BMR or your daily energy expenditure. Sadly for most people their BMR accounts for all the daily calories burned. (the other things that can burn calories are purposeful exercise and lifestyle activity)

2) Increase your lifestyle activity level. But this only works if you don’t compensate by eating more calories. This is actually tougher than it seems. Most people who have a busier or more active day just end up eating more and erase any weight loss benefit from being more active.

3) Do more exercise (or start exercising). This is different from lifestyle activity because exercise is usually for shorter periods of time and at higher intensity. Again this only works if you don’t compensate by eating more calories.

4) Take a supplement, or coffee, or green tea, or anything that you think will help you stick to your weight loss program. This is likely more of a placebo effect than anything, but going through the ritual of taking a vitamin supplement or a workout supplement might just make it all seem more real and keep you focused.

I have a friend who is successfully losing weight and he takes a different mix of supplements and vitamins every day.

The Ritual of Taking Supplements Might Be More Important than what's in Them.

He doesn’t really care what they’re supposed to do, but the ritual of taking them reminds him to stay on track with his eating and so far he’s doing great dropping 3-5 pounds per week for the past 9 weeks. (can’t say anything he’s doing isn’t working!)

The point is anything that can help you stay on track and focused on your weight loss goal is worth doing. If it means having a special coffee or tea twice a day then go for it. If you think you’d rather have a post workout shake and it helps you avoid overeating in the evening then the post workout shake might be critical to your success.

You’re the only person who knows your weaknesses and barriers when it comes to exercise, weight loss and eating. So once you find a system and ritual that works for you stick with it.

Real weight loss success comes from consistency, and consistency is usually rooted in rituals that make you feel good about the process and that remind you to stay on course.

John

Your Best Size and Shape has a Specific Weight

When someone says they want to lose weight what they’re really saying is that they want to change the look and shape of their body.

Weight loss itself isn’t much of a goal without a specific look that you think it’s going to produce.

In reality everyone that wants to lose weight is really after a specific look.

This simple thought experiment will prove my point.

Imagine an alternate world where weight didn’t add up to size…

In this world imagine someone who is 100lbs overweight, pretty big gut, big butt and big legs, flabby arms and just big all over.

Now imagine they lost 100lbs but their body stayed the same size but simply weighed less. In this imaginary world somehow dieting made you lighter without making you smaller. So your body could weigh 100lbs less but stay the same shape and size?

In this world do you think anyone would be concerned with weight loss? Ever? Not likely.

What they would really want is a way to change the size and shape of their body.

This thought experiment is to show you that ‘weight loss’ isn’t the goal, but rather changing the shape and size of the body is.

It just so happens that in the real world weight and size and shape are all connected, and we all have a specific weight range where we will look our best.

John

The only way to gain weight is to EAT BIG!

If you go to the diet book section of your local book store you’ll find dozens of books with their specific theory on how to lose weight. You’ll find explanation about blood type, parasites, ‘toxins’ (this one drives me nuts…well they all do, but especially this one), glycemic index, hormones, broken metabolism, and all kinds of genetic issues and bad food choices.

So here is an experiment you can do to prove to yourself that weight gain and weight loss is simply calories in vs calories out, and all of this other stuff is meaningless.

If I want you to gain 5 pounds over the next 10 days how would you do it?

Would you?

1) Carefully read through the blood type diet book and eat any of the three blood type diets that weren’t outlined for your type?

2) Read through the book about toxins and parasites and try to get as many parasite infections as possible and fill your body with ‘toxins’ (which by they way they never explain what the eff a toxin is)

3) Try to eat in a specific pattern that wasn’t ‘favorable’ for your fat burning hormones?

4) Try to actually ‘damage’ your metabolism so you were stuck in a mode of storing fat (I can’t even imagine what this would be or how it would be possible)

ORRRRR

5) Would you just eat as much food as possible every day until you gained the requisite 5lbs?

If you answered anything besides 5 please leave this blog and never return, because it’s clear you’ve lost your mind and long since lost your grip on reality.

John

Do you feel like someone is purposely putting barriers between you and weight loss success?!

Losing weight isn’t exactly a walk in the park, if it were that simple nobody would have a weight problem and we wouldn’t be talking about it right now (and I wouldn’t be writing an entire program on how to do it)

Through my experiences working with bodybuilders, fitness competitors, varsity athletes and regular personal training clients I’ve developed what I think is the simplest system for losing weight.

Most of us fall into rather predictable categories when it comes to our barriers and hurdles to overcome to achieve weight loss success.

But I don’t want to assume that I’ve seen and heard them all…so I’m asking you to let me know what your personal hurdles and barriers are for weight loss.

This could be anything from negative self talk (the battle that seems to be going on in your mind)

Hot button foods you can’t control yourself around.

People in your life who are negative influences that seem to pull you down instead of supporting you.

Situations and events you find yourself at that seem to promote overeating instead of sensible eating (this could be holidays, at work, with friends, with your kids, socially…wherever)

And anything else that I haven’t brought up here.

In general I think we all have something in each of the categories I’ve listed above but I’m sure there are other things I’ve left out here that you’re dealing with.

Whatever it is I’d really like to know about it, so if you don’t mind sharing can you put your personal hurdles and barriers to weight loss in the comments section so we can all feel a bit more normal with the challenge of weight loss (because we’re all likely feeling the same as each other and just haven’t really told anyone yet)

I’ll start.

I got caught up thinking I needed to be big (bulky muscular big). I actually got scared of losing muscle mass if I tried to lose weight (fat) so I got caught in a perpetual ‘bulking’ phase. I spent years just being fat/overweight simply due to my fear or being too skinny if I lost to much weight.

I also have hot button foods like chicken wings that I can’t stop eating if I’m in front of them (so I have to make sure I’ve budgeted them into my weekly calorie count if I go out to eat them…cuz man I’ll put back 30 of them no problem)

I also have buddies who are big eaters and when I’m around them it’s really hard not to overeat, so I have to pick and choose when I go out with them so that I can still eat and enjoy their company without it getting awkward while I eat a salad and they’re chowing pizza wings and burgers.

So those are my weight loss issues and I’ve managed to overcome them all but I had to become aware of them before I knew how to get over them.

What are yours?

John