It’s a cool, rainy day here on Long Island, and I write this to you from my parents’ home. Every Tuesday and Friday, I visit my hometown of Port Washington, and work with my grandmother on rehab from hip replacement surgery last summer, and my dad on improving his strength, tone and overall cardiovascular health.
I harked on this a little bit yesterday, but I really want to drill today’s point home…
You see, we’re always looking for the ‘best’ way to do something, or the ‘fastest’ way to reach a goal. And SOMETIMES, there’s a definitive method for these common aspirations. However, in the case of both nutrition and fitness, there is no DEFINITIVE answer!
When it comes to nutrition, conventional wisdom says to count calories and to watch portions. If you burn more than you take in, you’ll be in good shape! This, ladies and gentlemen, is an unsustainable QUICK FIX, and is thus not an adequate long-term solution.
You mean to tell me that you’re really going to take a journal or your phone out at every meal, snack and dessert, and log your food to insure you have adequate calories or macros sufficient to cover what you’d like to take in? I call bull! I know plenty of people who have and who continue to go about their nutrition this way, and then stuff their faces with Pepperidge Farm on weekends!!
If you’re sitting down for a meal, you want to enjoy both the food and the company you’re with… You don’t want to have a panic attack about how different choices will fit into your daily caloric allotment! This is why I have my clients memorize two sentences, and then apply these sentences to every dietary situation they come across:
“Eat meats, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no (added) sugar. Eat ONLY when hungry, and just to satisfy — NOT to stuff your face.”
So, out of that sentence, what meats do you like? Vegetables? Nuts and seeds? It’s EASY! There’s little-to-no thinking involved. And, if you want a treat, there are healthy recipes that fall within these parameters all over the internet, or in my Healthy Recipe Book. You can have your cake and eat it, too, provided it’s not loaded with added sugars, grains or processed junk!
From a fitness perspective, what would motivate you to exercise? What active things do you like to do? Is it hiking? Then do more of that! Running? Great! Yoga? Excellent! Playing sports? Join a local rec league!
Personally, I play in 2–3 softball leagues each week. That’s 2–3 days where my physical activity is done in a forum I actually look forward to. The rest I squeeze in with yoga (which I also enjoy), HIIT (because it’s quick) and running. I decide which ‘other’ activity outside of softball I’ll be doing based upon my mood and the amount of free time I have on that particular day.
So many people starve themselves with calorie counting and drag themselves to a globo gym because that’s what they think they need to do. You DON’T need to do any of those things to see long-term, PERMANENT success on your weight loss journey!
Take it from me, who used to go to bed hungry every night when I calorie counted, and HATED going to the gym, having to wait for different pieces of equipment while trying to beat the clock when I only had 1.5–2 hours allotted for each gym visit. Once I found the methods that both felt good and worked FOR ME, that’s when things really began to take off on my 100 lb journey.
Do me a favor, and stop starving yourself! Stop paying for a gym that you absolutely dread going to!! Do some soul searching, and think about what will work best for you to establish CONSISTENCY and to keep you MOTIVATED. Got that? Then go out there and DO IT!
Enjoy your weekend :-)
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
P.S. If you’re READY to take that first step on your health and weight loss journey, then let’s chat!
With 10 years of experience, SEVEN different fitness and nutrition certifications, and a sustained weight loss of 100 lbs., I think I know a thing or two about this Permanent Weight Loss thing ;-)
To set up a FREE strategy call with me, please go to www.weightlossbypete.com/strategy, and select a date and time that works for you. Stay tuned for the confirmation email, as it will send you a link to my Health Questionnaire, which will give me the best background possible regarding you, your goals and your injury/medical history.
That link again is www.weightlossbypete.com/strategy. I look forward to speaking with you soon!