What’s wrong with extreme dieting and hard-core fitness plans is that they don’t take into account the rest of your life. 95% of diets fail, so diets don’t work.
… Or do they? If you take a look at the scientific literature, there’s actually plenty of evidence to the contrary. For example, we know that diets inducing a caloric deficit are effective for fat loss regardless of whether they’re high in fats, carbohydrates, or protein. In other words, any diet can work as long as it involves a caloric deficit. The real problem is maintaining the resulting weight loss. For instance, a review of nearly 30 long-term studies on weight loss and maintenance in the American population showed that more than half of the weight lost was regained within two years, and 80% was regained within five. For this reason, experts consider maintenance of 5 to 10% of your weight loss “a great achievement”. But why is it so hard not to put weight back on? When a new client signs up for online coaching to lose fat, what often stands out to me is their mindset: In their experience, a diet is a short-term, excruciating “eat chicken breast and a green leaf for every meal” endeavour, not an attempt to change their lifestyle for the better in the long run. After a few weeks or months of this torture, they go back to the same way they were eating before, regain weight, start another diet, and so on. This vicious cycle is unfortunately common because most diets give you rules to stick to, whether you like them or not, instead of habits that you can incorporate into your long-term lifestyle. This article is perfect if you haven’t had much luck maintaining fat loss after your previous diets, because it does exactly what those diets didn’t do: It teaches you five habits you need to have in place not only to lose fat, but to keep it off, too. If you’ve been spinning your wheels with countless diets for as long as you can remember, you don’t want to miss this one.
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Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. Spoiler alert: Yes, it’s possible! (Gasp.)
Humans were changing their body size long before calories and calorie-tracking apps existed. Tracking calories and macros can be a very successful approach to losing fat, gaining muscle, or maintaining your weight. In fact, it’s the method I’ve had the greatest success with in my own bodybuilding journey, and I employ it with many clients. However, it isn’t for everyone. You can never track calories or macros, and still get great results. So, if you’ve tried it and it just isn’t for you, why not have a crack at one of the three fat loss methods in this article? Fair warning: Not a single one of them involves cutting out entire food groups, your favourite treats, or any joy from your life! Healthy eating is a way of life, so it’s important to establish routines that are simple, realistically, and ultimately liveable. What does healthy eating mean to you?
Since the first time I can remember having thoughts about food until after I became a training and nutrition coach, healthy eating to me meant losing weight. In my head, if someone had weight to lose, they’d do that by eating healthier. If someone was already slim, it was because they already ate healthy. However, you can be at a relatively low weight without eating healthy, and you can also be at a relatively higher weight whilst having a very healthy diet. What’s more – and most importantly – health isn’t limited to weight, and healthy eating influences far more aspects of wellness than just your body size. So, how can you improve your diet if you don’t want to change your weight? I’ve got you! Each of the nine tips in this article poses a challenge to help you form a new eating habit. These aren’t meant to be hard and fast rules, but rather starting points to give you a specific target to shoot for. Goal specificity is key to tracking your progress, and progress is key to success. Without further ado, let’s dig in (pun obviously intended). Know thyself. When you’re trying to diet, your period can be a bitch. Am I right?
You start the diet, you do really well for a couple of weeks and lose a pound or two, then that time of the month comes… and, all of a sudden, you find yourself half-way through your cookie jar in ten minutes. Maybe you’ve even read my tips on how to control your food cravings, but the allure of that chocolate box is simply irresistible during your period. Are you doomed to never get into shape? Hell no. In fact, you can literally have your cake and eat it: By understanding more about your menstrual cycle, you can lose fat and have chocolate, too. Want to learn how? Keep reading. Tackling plateaus is what clueless people on the internet do instead of tracking, reviewing, and deciding. Wrestling with plateaus is what people do instead of waiting. You know that you need a caloric deficit to lose fat and you have done the math to work out your starting calories.
Great stuff. Fast forward a few weeks: You’ve been dieting hardcore and you’ve seen some losses… but now it looks like you’ve hit a plateau. Well then, time to lower calories. Wait a second! Is this really your best option? It’s true: When fat loss plateaus, increasing the calories you burn or reducing the calories you eat will help you kickstart the process again. However, opting to lower calories as soon as the weight on the scale stops moving might be overkill. So, in this article, I’m going to cover:
More often than not, these tweaks will help my clients see a change without touching their food. So strap in and let’s get into it. |
Nikias TomasielloWelcome to my blog. I’m an online fitness coach with a passion for bodybuilding, fantasy, and bread. Want to work with me? Check out my services!Archives
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