1. A tale of two perspectives.
“I used to love fast food. I ate it every day. Not anymore. Now just the smell of it makes me ill.”
Versus…
“I used to love fast food. Not anymore, but I still enjoy a good burger every now and then.”
One is definitely more hardcore. But which shows a healthier relationship with food?
In my experience, those who boast about their hardcore approach to food often have equally hardcore unresolved food issues like bingeing. So they try to keep to at bay, or at least keep it private, through extreme “discipline” plus a whole lotta self-righteous projection.
I’m not judging. I just see it all the time and I’m sympathetic, because food is powerful.
Because moderation is hard, and has to be earned.
I wish the the industry would stop this bullshit narrative that everyone should just manage all their cravings and triggers like some dietary Yoda and their old destructive ways will just disappear.
Fact is, many need a much simpler approach, like avoiding trigger foods and trigger environments, and above all professional help.
Moderation is definitely a healthier, better place to be. But it’s the finish line, not the starting line.
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2. To change your body, you should never take a day totally off.
But that doesn’t mean working out or even exercising every day. Its means doing SOMETHING every day that pushes you forward.
Grocery shopping, meal prep, planning your week, even getting a massage.
Just get a win. Every day.
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3. There are millions of mainstream fitness tips…
While some are pretty unimpeachable (drink water; wow, thank you!) many others are context dependent.
For example. “If you’re hungry, eat an apple.” That works great for some, but it makes others ravenous. Same with hard boiled eggs. I’ve seen them recommended for curbing appetite AND stimulating appetite — in the same article.
The point is to take everything you read with a massive grain of salt and always experiment before you buy in.
Because, trust me, the majority of fitness writers don’t have clients of their own — they rely on expert sources who have clients. And often subtleties (like individual context) get lost in the back & forth of crafting the finished article.
PS: don’t experiment with dumb shit. The line between, “Hey I’m just experimenting because I’m open minded” and “Hey I’m a moron who will fall for anything” seems increasingly blurred.
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4. Speaking of dumb advice…
I see this doozie tossed around on Twitter by the biohacking dorks:
Tell yourself you’re not tired.
As a one-off tip to help you get thru the occasional rough day, okay.
But as a daily practice? Totally dumb, inefficient, and superficial. Do these people not realize how much restorative, recuperative activity occurs during sleep? Bah, screw that. Mind over matter. Great job bro.
It’s even irresponsible. There’s plenty of evidence showing that even modest sleep deprivation has a similar effect on cognition and performance as several servings of alcohol.
Forget the bullshit mind games. Fix your lifestyle and get your sleep.
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5. Does the scale freak you out? Then strip it of its power.
Often I’ll have clients weigh themselves every day, first thing in the morning. It helps them see how scale weight can swing by several pounds up or down — with no change in diet or calories.
That’s because the “weight” change is (mainly) fluid balance. Poor sleep, stress, sodium, and even air travel will throw it off.
That task usually does the trick. But if they’re still freaked out, we ditch the scale entirely. How your clothes fit is still best measuring tool.
And the worst thing to do: the classic weekly weigh in.
Weigh yourself on the “wrong day” (stressed and holding extra water) and the scale might say you’re gaining weight, whereas weighing yourself every day and using a weekly average could reveal you’re actually losing.