Fat loss is about rhythm.
The most perfectly planned diet or system won’t accomplish much if you don’t or can’t stick to it for an extended period.
Most assume that it’s knowledge or willpower that separates the successful from the rest. While those things help, a less inspiring factor is just plain ol’ familiarity, that is, getting used to the diet to the point it becomes, simply, “how you eat.” It becomes “easy” insofar as you just don’t think about it.
You won’t get to this autonomous zone (or monotonous zone) if you’re constantly thinking about your damn diet. Yes, more attentive dieters tend to make better choices and they tend to snack a lot less. But too much extra engagement can eventually grind you down, and people who start out the hottest are often the first to flame out and fade away. Folks who try too hard to “have it all” (i.e., weekends at the club and the food and alcohol that tends to come with them) face similar problems.
Look, fat loss doesn’t require never leaving your house again. It’s a diet, not a massive wave of Covid. (Though, I think “two weeks to flatten your ass” might be good for some people).
But if you’re spending a lot of time and effort making meal choices on the fly or trying to fit margaritas into your macros you’ll never find your rhythm, and so you’re just making the game way more difficult. You’re adding tiny amounts of stress in order to make things work. It adds up and it prevents a diet that’s sustainable.
Getting into rhythm requires a consistent lifestyle: meals, meal times, training times, and especially sleep and wake times.
And the best way to solidify sleep and wake times is by treating weekends like an extension of the workweek.
Which brings this ramble to something very relevant this weekend: if there ever was a weekend to be vigilant with sleep, it’s the “spring forward” daylight savings switch.
Don’t be like the millions who dread the spring time change and then complain about feeling like a zombie until Memorial Day.
Skip the night at the club or bingeing Netflix ‘til 2 a.m. Schedule Saturday and Sunday morning workouts instead (also a great cure for weekend binge drinking) and get ahead of the problem. You’ll feel good knowing you’re being pro-active. You’ll also feel good because won’t be a sleep-deprived zombie.
When it comes to fat loss, people says it’s all about the diet. That’s true, but even with the diet in mind, it’s the things that don’t even involve food that make “the diet” successful. In a sense, it’s the stuff not even involving food that ultimately moves the needle.
– Bryan