Weight Loss

Many Clients: "I eat so well, why am I not losing weight?"

Me: Because you're lying.

I have worked with hundreds of people over the years, and most of them had some mysterious reason they weren't losing weight or in the shape they dreamed of. There were rationalizations like "Well I'm busy and don't have a personal chef..."

There were also those who went on diet after diet, losing weight only to gain it back, switching to a new diet the next year.

My favorite were those who are truly perplexed because they're doing "everything right" LOL

If you go onto Youtube to watch videos about healthy eating there's lots of great content. They will have you count macros, and talk about insulin, serotonin, and the new craze which is dopamine. A lot of this stuff is true (as true as it can be without decades of studies), but in my experience... even my most dedicated clients, the ones who lost 100 lbs and became strong adult athletes, can't maintain it.

Sure, outliers who just love every aspect of health and fitness take on this lifestyle and do it forever but the everyday person, the mom, the career person, the entrepreneur, etc. CANNOT SUSTAIN this hyper-informative fitness crap.

Here at Fitness Discussions, one of my missions is to be blunt and simple. STOP EATING MORE THAN YOU'RE EXPENDING.

Let me ask you: have you hd a day where you aren't active and you miss your workout this week? If so, the answer isn't to recalculate your macros or get a blood test to see what nutrients you're deficient in; just eat less and get your work in. That means no breakfast, salad for lunch, meat and veggies for dinner. Done.

Balance isn't that complicated and you don't need the science-based approach to fitness. Have you ever played an instrument? Learned a sport? When you first learn guitar you need to slowly learn where the notes are, the chords, how scales work, but after a while you just play intuitively. That's kind of how I want you to think about your health. It's actually much less complicated than guitar. I know, just by feeling and seeing myself in the mirror when I eat too much. It only takes a week for me to see and then I know just by trial and error the foods that do it to me. No science there, and to be honest, it's fun. I no longer sweat the 5lbs swing and extra flab after eating fair food or pizzas; I just cut and work harder the next week.

The Average workout with a trainer (a good trainer) will burn maybe 400 calories, 600+ with post-calorie burn for a HIIT workout. If you have pizza you're wiping that away (which is ok if you are intuitive and observant and disciplined enough to take care of it).

THERE IS NO WAY TO OUT-TRAIN BAD EATING

The fat pic is me not training and eating bad after a career of

being in the fitness industry. The next one is me recently. Just

Being intuitive, working every day in the gym with no plan at all.

Here are my 3 rules to guide your day. Easy to understand. No counting calories, but you have to use them. No one can do it for you.

1. Work out every day. It doesn't have to be a periodized program, there isn't leg day; just work every day. I went through a year of depression and gained 50 lbs. In fact, it was this downfall that led me to start this blog. Here's why, when I began to climb out of the pit of despair and self-pity I just worked. I did assault bike workouts, I did HIIT, I did strength training. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason to my methods and it worked. I am more ripped now than I have been in a long time. My entire career I bought into the "science" of health and fitness but it's bullshit; you just need to work.

2. Eat Clean. 80/20. Working out is the number one rule because it motivates you. Moving your body makes you WANT to eat clean and it also helps clear out the thoughts that cause depression or inaction. That's why most successful people work out every day and usually first thing. "How do I eat clean, what are my macro numbers?" If you could see me, I am rolling my eyes and laughing at you. I don't count shit. You know damn well what is healthy and what isn't. If you're eating bagels, muffins, or cereal every day for breakfast and asking me about macros I am going to smack you. Here's a trick: eat protein first. Every one of my meals I make sure protein is guiding me because it's much harder to fuck up protein than fats and carbs. It limits me to healthier options. cottage cheese is a go-to. Fruit goes well with cottage cheese... boom, I have a healthy meal that's sweet. Eggs. THE WHOLE egg. What goes well with eggs? Salsa and spinach. Boom! We have another healthy meal. See where I'm going? What have you been eating and can you maintain that forever? Pick a protein and build from there. A shake is also a great option. protein powder (without sugar in it), then add fruits, spinach, and almond milk. Boom!

3. Drink water as soon as you get up... before coffee. You do NOT have a set amount of water you need. I hear fitness experts all the time, talking about how many ounces you need based on age, size, hormones. Bull....shit. Look, we can get real nerdy with studies and calculations and again, these people aren't wrong perse; they're just overcomplicating it for the average person to be able to maintain. If you think you have to drink 90 ounces of water per day and you have a one liter bottle that you're obsessing about then you are likely to start to feel like it's a job or a chore instead of being excited about the awesome body you're getting. Fuck all that. Just drink a glass of water to start your day, get your workout in which you'll drink more for, drink water with every meal and I guarantee you'll be right at the mark you need to be for your body. If not, guess what? You will feel thirsty so drink more.

BONUS TIP: This is about to get geeky, I'm gonna blow your mind with this tip. Ready? Don't drink alcohol assholes. I would argue that drinking alcohol is worse than soda (don't drink that either). It's the awesome body killer. I COULD talk about the science and how your body will store the food you eat to break down the alcohol into acetate to eliminate it which is why heavy drinkers get fat but I won't.... just don't do it often. It can be a seldom treat. Discipline yourself to see the body you want. you outliers can have fun getting bigger lifting numbers and weighing food but the rest of us just be a little observant and consistent.

Forever fitness is being able to develop of system you can actually do forever, not for one year or two years, or even five years.