The Lifestyle Approach To Fat Loss Is A Bunch Of Crap!
July 20th, 2008
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by Scott Tousignant · Filed Under: Fat Loss Exercise · Fat Loss Motivation · Fat Loss Nutrition · Podcasts
I’m going to be blunt and honest with you here. If you want to burn fat, discard several pounds, and get into better shape and health, I’ve got some news for you. Looking for a nutrition and workout program that you can follow for life will not do you any good at all. In fact, I believe that the traditional lifestyle approach to fat loss is a bunch of crap. I’ll share my Non-Traditional Lifestyle Approach to fat loss in a moment, but first, here’s why I believe lifestyle plans suck…
I recently let loose in a conversation that I had with my friend Jim Katsoulis of The Elite Body, and revealed the weaknesses with the traditional lifestyle approach. We recorded that 12 minute conversation so you can listen to it by clicking on the audio player above.
I told Jim that the most frequently asked question I received after I achieved my goal of 6 pack abs was, “Can you maintain that way of eating and exercise for life?” My answer is absolutely not!
If I was to continue to train that way, I would eventually burn out. If I was to continue to eat that way chances are my body would adapt, but not until I eventually wilted away. I burned a lot of body fat during that journey and when I reached my goal and didn’t want to burn any more fat, why would I continue with a program that was designed to melt the fat off my body rapidly? Not to mention, following a fat loss program for a long period of time is mentally draining as well.
But here’s the thing…
It was absolutely necessary for me to crank up the intensity of my workouts and push my limits. It was necessary for me to buckle down on my nutrition and eat a lot more natural foods. It was absolutely crucial to boost my mental game and stir up some serious internal and external motivation.
The Traditional Lifestyle Approach Is A Cop Out!
When someone tells me, “I’m looking for a program that I can follow for life”, I immediately think that this person is copping out. In my humble opinion this is an excuse not to put forth your very best effort.
The lifestyle approach gives you an ‘out’. If you aren’t experiencing success you can always say, “I don’t like strict programs. I prefer to enjoy life”. But are you really enjoying life in an overweight and unhealthy body? Are you able to do every thing that you want in life? Are you full of energy and living to your fullest potential?
The traditional lifestyle approach allows you to stay in your protective little bubble. You never have to test your limits. It’s safe. There’s no chance of failure. How can you possibly expect to achieve great results with this approach?
If you want to burn fat and improve your body you absolutely must step outside of your comfort zone. You must be willing to test your limits and go beyond them. You must be willing to push yourself and do the extraordinary, not the usual.
If You Want To Stay Where You Are At Keep Doing What You’re Doing
If you want to stay in the current level of health keep your physique in the shape that it currently is at, then by all means follow a lifestyle approach. That’s what it’s designed for. But if you have fat to burn or muscle to put on, a lifestyle approach will not get you where you want to go.
I’ve mentioned a great quote by Hall Of Fame Quarterback Jim Kelly in my books and they are words that I live by. “The day that you are satisfied with where you are at is the day that you take a step backwards.”
I personally allow myself to temporarily be satisfied with where I’m at. I admire the success that I just experienced and give myself a nice pat on the back. But shortly after that celebration I begin looking for my next challenge. I begin to look for new ways to improve my physique and my health.
To me, this is the TRUE lifestyle approach. It’s an approach of constant and continuous improvement. You grow as an individual each and every day. You live to your potential. You become the best YOU that you could possibly be. That’s what makes life worth living!
I provide the TRUE lifestyle approach in my Fit Chic and Fit Bastard workout programs. Every month I provide a new challenging workout. Every 3 months we completely switch modes and shift from fat burning to muscle building. There’s a full year of workouts to go through in my programs. But…
I love to incorporate other workout programs designed by my colleagues in addition to my programs. This makes it so much more fun and adds an element of challenge to the picture.
Here’s What Changing My Workout Program Monthly Does For Me
I give my absolute best to every program that I follow. I want to see just how effective it really is. I like to see if a program can live up to it’s claims. The only way to know that for sure is if I put forth 100% of my effort.
So my question to you is… Are you putting your very best effort into your fat loss program? Or are you just coasting in a traditional lifestyle approach hoping that you will succeed somehow?
If you want results it’s time that you pick up your game and kick it into high gear. Why wait for the end of your life to achieve results. Get them now and get them quick, then move onto the next goal.
How bad do you really want a lean & desirable physique? Are you willing to do what it takes to get it?
Come on now! I’m demanding more from you and you should be doing the same for yourself. Show me what you are really made of!
Take 12 minutes to listen to the conversation that I had with Jim Katsoulis and share your thoughts on what we discussed.
When you are done listening to what I have to say, hop on the chance to learn from other experts who know what it takes to achieve an ‘elite body’ by visiting www.UnstoppableFatLoss.com/elitebody.php
Every week Jim interviews a new fat loss expert and has us share our best advice to achieve and ‘elite body’. I’ve listened in on the first 3 interviews and they’ve been outstanding. Jim will be interviewing me in September for our full length interview where I really dish out a boatload of fat burning content.
But for now you can enjoy our short conversation where I talk about the traditional lifestyle approach.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this issue. Are you still going to look for one single program to follow for life?
Have a 6 Pack Abs-solutely awesome day!
Scott Tousignant
Right own with what you’re saying Scott. As one lady posted on a forum I read about a year ago, “success is the sweetest revenge.” I know plenty of people who want all sorts of changes in their lives. Yet they usually do nothing to achieve any positive changes in anything. It is good to keep the body guessing by changing exercise and eating routines.
I was on a bulking phase for at least six months. I was physically and mentally tired of forcing down 5,000 plus calories a day. I’ve taken about a 6 month break from that routine already. Currently I’m just focusing on fat burning and weight maintenance. After I lose a little more fat, I’ll go back to the bulking routine for a while. I continue to switch up the exercises regardless of what phase I’m currently on (bulking or fat burning). It makes things a lot more simpler for me.
I’m not entirely sure I agree. For one thing, when you have 100+ pounds to lose and are 51 years of age AND fighting injuries, you are looking at several YEARS of effort. And it’s blasted tough to go 100% when doing so just keeps aggravating injuries. It’s tough on the body as well.
I push when I can but as often as not, pushing leads to me having to back off because of re-aggravating existing physical problems.
For me, approaching it as a way of eating that I can follow for life is getting me to the good habits I can keep for life. Habits that make me feel healthier. Yes, sometimes, like recently, I backslide and drop my good habits for the old bad ones. But then, I look at my goals and get back on it. Now that’s not ideal, you know, the backsliding, but seems like each time I do falter, it’s for a shorter period.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t challenge myself… because I do. Right now I’m challenging myself by learning to ride a bike again for the first time in 30+ years. I’m challenging myself to keep calories strictly in line. I’m challenging myself to get some fasted cardio done at least 3 times a week in the mornings whether my ankles/feet hurt or not.
I will make my goals.
Thanks for sharing your concerns Cynthia. You are making for a great discussion.
First of all I want to point out some limiting beliefs that you’ve just instilled on yourself. I’m trying to set you free, and you insist on holding yourself back.
You said, “when you have 100+ pounds to lose and are 51 years of age AND fighting injuries, you are looking at several YEARS of effort. And it’s blasted tough to go 100% when doing so just keeps aggravating injuries. It’s tough on the body as well.
I recommend that you find some positive role models who have lost over 100 pounds, are over the age of 50, and have battled through injuries. I can recommend countless role models for you if you wish. None of those things should be limiting factors that prevent you from living in the body that you deserve and experiencing the life that you deserve.
Everyone needs to understand something here. Burning fat is tough. It’s a lot of work. If you can’t accept that I’m afraid that you are going to make this journey a lot more difficult and frustrating on yourself.
Improving your health and physique is not just about working out and eating right. To continue to grow and improve includes those things that help you fix the nagging problems that seem to hold you back and become re-aggravated.
Going 100% does not mean to push yourself to an extreme where you jeopardize your health and form. Injuries are often a result of poor form and lack of focus, not from 100% effort.
The times when you have to ease off of the workouts to give your body a break, you can focus on improving your eating, mindset, and perform simple exercises that will help those sore areas.
Here’s the thing when it comes to nutrition and I’m really glad to see that you’ve nailed the fundamentals Cynthia.
Making the change with your nutrition must have required great effort in the beginning to break those bad habits. That’s effort that I’m talking about.
Now if your new approach means that you are eating more clean and natural foods and allowing some sort of treat occasionally you have definitely nailed the fundamentals and that’s something that most people bypass and look for the more advanced techniques.
When you take the approach of eliminating a lot of the man made crap, you will experience significant fat loss from this alone. And lets face it. It’s a challenge for most people to eat ‘clean’ like this. So if you are doing that, then you are pushing yourself.
But even still. If you are eating clean, you will need to manipulate your caloric intake in order to lose weight. And if you are following a nutrition plan that has restricted calories, there’s no way that you can follow that for life.
If you are following a nutrition plan where you are losing weight, it’s not one that you will maintain for life and that’s what I see as the major flaw in the ‘traditional lifestyle approach’.
If you want to lose weight you’ve got to clean up your eating.
If you want to take 10 years to lose the 100 pounds, then you can take a much more subtle approach. It all depends on your goals and when you want to accomplish them.
You certainly are challenging yourself. My question to you is… When you reach your goal of discarding 100+ pounds, will you still keep your calories strictly in line with where they are right now? The answer would be no, unless you wanted to lose more weight. So really, you aren’t following a nutrition plan for life right now.
What you are doing is following a way of eating, which is cleaner and healthier, but the caloric restriction is not something that you would follow for life.
I probably should have clarified the traditional lifestyle diet plan in the original post. For me, a way of eating is avoiding the man made crap nearly all the time and choosing foods that fuel my body with energy.
That is a lifestyle, but it’s not my lifestyle nutrition plan. I manipulate that way of eating to either burn fat or gain muscle.
So I believe I understand where you are coming from when you say that your ‘approach’ is a way of eating that you can follow for life.
Please don’t feel bad about your ‘backsliding’ Cynthia. We’ve all been there and we’ll all be there again. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I’m heading to Disney World with my family this week and taking the entire week off of training. We all need a break once in a while.
You’ll make your goals Cynthia, I’m confident in that. Don’t allow any limitations to hold you back.
Scott Tousignant
Hey Scott,
As you may have suspected, it was inevitable that you were going to prompt a debate from me on this one
I think this lifestyle / fat loss program debate is one of THE most important subjects when it comes to developing an elite body… fat loss and fitness, health and success
Glad you got the conversation started here. As a Fit Bastard reader, I wanted to share my thoughts and in the end, what being “unstoppable” means to me.
“The Lifestyle approach to “fat loss” is a bunch a crap!”
I agree BIG time, and disagree BIG time with that statement, but I think I know where you are going with it…
The truth we share; if you are going to take charge of an out-of-shape body, you have to take things to the next level. You have to challenge yourself to create a new “set point” and go into a period where you raise the bar on the quality of the food you are eating, your activity and training levels. This promotes personal growth and development, fitness and… fat loss.
Scott, you are one of the best in the business of helping people with fat loss.
I am the best in the business when it comes developing a health and success promoting lifestyle… getting your lifestyle working for you, not against you by making the lifestyle shifts that make the difference.
In a Performance Lifestyle, we refer to “Challenge Periods”; if you want to loss weight and significant amounts of it, YOU WILL during a challenge period, not to mention develop new levels of personally powerful, confidence building fitness. It only happens when you challenge yourself.
To that end, that’s why I promote the Fit Bastard, and other select fat loss and fitness programs. I agree with you; as you said we have to mix it up to “challenge our bodies in new and unique ways.”
But you know, overweight is the most obvious symptom of a poor lifestyle so we have to be careful not to discount or cloud the subject of lifestyle one iota.
A poor “Lifestyle” is the reason why someone has to lose significant amounts of weight to begin with.
It depends on what kind of lifestyle you have.
A “traditional lifestyle” causes the overweight condition. If, for example, you are living a life of moderation in everything (which is a failing proposition), you ARE coping out.
The traditional “moderation in everything” lifestyle is an impotent approach to life… when you are all caught up consuming stuff that’s really consuming you and your energy, like junk food and junk TV and so much “convenience” that you don’t have to move your deconditioned body… you look around and you think it’s normal to be that way; it’s not. Don’t get me started!
But if you live like athletes do, this a very different deal; not to mention a better quality of life.
YOU, already have a great “athletic” lifestyle so when you challenge yourself, you’re going from great to even better. That you don’t have to strip off mounds of pounds is because you have a “Lifestyle plan”; a lifestyle approach to fitness… I would think that’s why you are successful at challenging yourself!
So let’s clarify… I think your point is, if you think your going to push to new heights living on a never-ending fat loss or fitness program “for life”, that idea IS a bunch of crap. Amen brother!
That is NOT a successful lifestyle.
But to say that a lifestyle plan or lifestyle approach to fat loss is a bunch of crap, is where I take debate; it depends on what kind of lifestyle you’re living.
BTW, the “purpose” of our lifestyle is not to lose weight. When we change our lifestyle, fat loss is usually a benefit because we’re living better, and this symptom lessens. The point of changing our lifestyle is to achieve our goals more successfully, in a healthier way.
I for one, do the same thing that you do, which is to challenge myself with a new fitness routine or “program” that raises the bar every couple of months; but “for me” those challenge periods are not back to back, they take place when I’m ready to go to the next level.
Like you, I have a lot more going on in my life than fitness and I don’t need to be ready for the beach all year round or the Olympics for that matter.
My lifestyle is optimized, it is athletic, health and fitness promoting so I can sustain success. It also enables me to maximize the results I can achieve in any challenge period.
I think the reason most people are unsuccessful with fat loss or fitness programs, of any kind, is because they have poor lifestyles underlying their attempt. Suffering from overwhelm and exhaustion, for some fatigue, will STOP you in your tracks despite your good intentions and desire to succeed.
No lifestyle plan, means you are STOPPABLE!
Living non stop on weight loss or fitness program’s and without a successful lifestyle to fall back on, is very challenging.
I know you are not saying don’t have a healthy or successful lifestyle, but I have to debate the “Lifestyle approach” “Lifestyle Plan” semantics in your article, because a lifestyle fitness plan is required if you are going to be successful with fat loss and fitness.
When we don’t have a lifestyle plan or strategy, we ARE relegated to weight loss programs for the rest of our life, which I know is not something you do or advise anyone else does; but that IS what most people are doing.
Our lifestyles, over time, enable us to live at or near our ideal weight… all the time, but the “challenge period” is required to take things to the next level, and we need this from time to time. If getting closer to elite fitness, and a beach body is your objective, bottom line, you have to challenge yourself.
I think that is what you are saying. Is that right?
I’m saying that if you don’t have a lifestyle reinforcing your health (energy and fitness) and your success, you will hop from program to program and this is a chaise-your-tail way to live and not a true lifestyle, maybe not even an enjoyable one for many.
Depending on your lifestyle it can be down right crappy.
What I know to be true about you is different. Let’s clarify… let’s discuss this openly.
I for one, even though I live a Performance Lifestyle, don’t want to be challenged non stop. I sometimes need extended periods of the status quo, but because my lifestyle is naturally athletic and based on sound fundamentals, the status quo doesn’t promote significant weight gain.
Sure I’ll gain a few, when I’m not challenging myself, but that’s normal. Weight fluctuates, especially if you factor in time periods of great stress. Stress of the wrong kind, has that affect. I am going through one of those periods right now and I’ve gained some weight, even though I live incredibly well.
The funny thing is, we are saying something similar. Maybe even the same thing, and this my friend opens up the debate… it’s not one or the other, I think it’s both!
We need a lifestyle plan and fitness / fat loss programs to take things to the next level, that’s what being truly “unstoppable” means to me.
I would love to debate this publicly Scott, as I think everyone would benefit from the lifestyle plan / fat loss – fitness program debate, if you are up for it and think it would benefit others as much as I do. By the sound of your article and interview, it sounds like you are.
PS, I could lose a few pounds, so as soon as I’m ready, I think I’m going to challenge myself.
PPS, I’m going to put myself through 8 weeks of your Fit Bastard workouts. Yeah.
[...] The title of this post, is a post that he made recently on the Unstoppable fat loss blog. [...]
JAM, I would love to discus this in a webcast with you as soon as I get back from Disney.
I believe you just confirmed my points. I said the ‘traditional lifestyle approach’ is what is a bunch of crap. That’s the approach that most diet programs market with out there. You can follow my diet for life… that’s a bunch of BS.
You’re Performance Lifestyle approach is much like the “TRUE lifestyle approach that I recommended in my post. My lifestyle approach is to go through many different phases and challenges. It also includes times of rest and reflection.
I didn’t say, “Don’t follow a lifestyle approach.” I’m just saying that the traditional lifestyle approach and the one that is being taught by most experts is all a big lie.
You can have the lifestyle foundation set, but the true health and fitness lifestyle is forever changing. Keep doing the same thing, expect the same results.
And what kind of lifestyle is it to want to lose weight for the rest of your life? That’s not a health and fitness lifestyle. I just packed on 6 1/2 pounds of muscle in 28 days. Can you even begin to image what that’s done for me?
We can challenge ourselves in so many different ways. I’m challenging myself to take longer deeper breaths rather the the shallow breathing that most of us do.
It’s basically limitless. As humans, we are no where near living to our potential. We are capable of so much. But our society accepts norms and encourages the ‘play it safe’ approach. Where would be be without risk takers and the people who decided to push the envelope?
My lifestyle is one of constant and continuous growth. I want to be better today than I was yesterday and better tomorrow than today. That’s not possible if I sit back and give the same effort that I’ve been giving all along.
It’s time that we demand more from ourselves. Take a good look around you. Is this really what we want to settle for? We all deserve better, but we have to earn it.
By the way, to all my readers, I’m sure that many of you have heard me talk about my friend JAM and heard me interview him in the past. He’s a very passionate man with your best interests at heart. I encourage you to learn more about him by visiting his sites…
http://www.PerformanceLifestyle.com
and
http://www.MyTrainer.com
Thanks JAM for adding such great content to this discussion. Our lifestyle ‘debate’ or conversation is sure to be incredibly passionate and one not to be missed. I look forward to it.
Scott Tousignant
Scott, have a great time in Disney, let’s blow this wide open when you get back…
Your open minded approach to things is why I am a reader of your blog.
Lets take up the discussion.
It’s about time!
A “fit bastard”
JAM
The title of this email was a bit jolting, but the truth is in the explanation. Excellent points, Scott! As a 49-yr-old who has been fighting the good fitness fight since his early 20’s, with plenty of lapses, injuries, successes and failures along the way, I feel exactly the same way about the need to set distinct, difficult goals, that you can fulfill within a given time-frame. It’s like a business, but you have to make it personal, and you are the one who profits from your success.
I’m currently trying to lose about 15 lbs, while keeping the muscle I have and staying relatively injury-free. If I had 100 lbs to lose, I think I would break it up, like setting a goal of 25 lbs by Thanksgiving. The most weight I’ve ever lost during a dieting period was about 35 lbs, in my early 30’s after I’d allowed myself to bloat up along with my pregnant wife. That took me almost a year to accomplish, and I was really trying hard, though I didn’t know much about nutrition and diet back then…I mostly ran it off, and lost a lot of muscle, and still had a little roll around my middle.
Well, enough about me. Have a great time in Disney World, Scott! Watch out for the money-vacuums, they stick into your pockets while you aren’t looking.
Thanks for your feedback Dan and for sharing your journey with us.
Yes the title is a bit jolting, but I believe our society needs a big jolt in order to wake up from this trance that we’re in.
We can’t settle for a rising obesity rate. Something has to be done and the traditional lifestyle approach is simply not what’s going to work.
We’re all still learning. I learn new things about nutrition, exercise, and mindset pretty much daily. I learn the most from the trials that I put myself through that’s for sure.
Keep progressing Dan. We can absolutely improve our physiques as we age so keep pushing forward man!
Scott Tousignant
Cynthia, I just checked out your blog “Garbage That Goo” Great job on documenting your journey and holding yourself accountable!
An example that bridges your response with my message would be Jon Benson’s Every Other Day Diet Plan…
http://www.EveryOtherDayDietPlan.com
In the program Jon teaches a way of eating, but there are 3 different plans to follow. For a beginner or someone who wants to ease into the diet and achieve a fair amount of weight loss there is the Primer Plan.
For someone who wants to kick it up a notch there is the Lifestyle plan. And for those people who really want to kick it into high gear there is the Extreme plan.
I followed the Extreme Plan when I wanted to accelerate my results, but then settled back into the lifestyle plan once I achieved my goal.
You can have a way of eating as a lifestyle, but you need to manipulate it depending on your goals. For the every other day diet you would manipulate the amount of food that you are consuming and the carbs,as well as the timing of the carbs.
So yes you can have a way of eating for a lifestyle, but you will not follow the exact same eating pattern for life. You manipulate it based on your goals.
Man I’m loving this discussion
Scott Tousignant
[...] If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Yesterday I wrote a post about the 15 or so lifestyle changes that you need to make to lose 20 pounds in 1 month and coincidentally I believe Scott the Fit Bastard has written a post about how the lifestyle approach to fat loss is a bunch of crap. [...]
Well Scott, I had to retort your post here. You have made a fabulous case for what you do nad how important it is to push yourself instead of using the whimpy excuse of
“I will lose a pound a week, I changed my lifestyle”
You are right, I really do agree with you but there is also a vast majority of the population in North America that has not even gotten off the couch during the TV Writers strike, these guys need to make some basic lifestyle changes BEFORE they could have the confidence in themselves to push their body and mind to the limit.
Thanks for the ass kickin post!
I am so happy to see other fitness professionals and enthusiast really getting involved in the discussing and getting the readers of their own blogs involved in the discussion.
I plan on discussing the issue in a series of audios with my fellow fitness professionals as well as some of my readers who want to voice their opinion on the topic.
Thank you “Fitness Guy” for adding to the discussion.
The point that I see people missing from my blog post is that I do indeed believe that there has to be a lifestyle change. A TRUE Lifestyle program as I state.
I just believe that the traditional lifestyle approach gives everyone an ‘out’ if they are screwing up. There’s nothing to hold them accountable to.
Lifestyle changes in terms of reducing stress, organizing your time, de-cluttering your life, reducing the man made crap that you put in your body, getting your butt up off the coach, ect, are all very important and I will be going into great discussion with John Allen Mollenhauer in a live webcast debate on this topic.
The problem that I have is when people are looking for one single diet or workout program that they can follow for life.
If it’s going to take your entire life to lose the weight I think you better reconsider your approach. I for one do not want to diet for the rest of my life.
A true lifestyle change allows you to reach your goals quicker, holds you accountable, forces you to step outside of your comfort zone, makes things a whole lot more fun, encourages you to constantly and consistently improve as a person, and promotes change.
Don’t be afraid to set a big goal and go after it. Just go after it with everything that you’ve got. It’s time that we begin to expect success from ourselves.
That’s one thing that I do when I begin a new program each month. I am certain that I will achieve great results from each program whether it’s for fat loss, muscle building, flexibility, mindset, or breathing.
These are my points of view. I may not be 100% on the same page as many others, but I can see at the core of the issue we really are.
Lets keep the discussion rolling!
Scott Tousignant
Scott,
I agree with you %110. All my clients here and read about is how a Lifestyle change is what you need to reach your goals? I teach MY clients that your body adapts to what you are doing, so to really reach your goals you need to change your “Lifestyle Change” at the time that your body adapts to your workouts. I am glad that someone will speak there mind about this issue.
Thanks, Dean Milam NASM,ACSM
Anytime Fitness
For some overweight people, the fact that they get off the couch once in a while (for something other than refilling their stash of TV-snacks and drinks) IS a major lifestyle change.
The trick is to change one thing, make this change a habit and challenge yourself to change one more thing; until you do reach a fitness lifestyle.
Some people are able to go from an all sedentary and crap-food eating lifestyle to a training and clean-food eating one almost over night – it took me a couple of weeks as I read one of the greatest fitness lifestyle books around – others need to make that transition more gradually.
The important thing is to be aware of your actions, aware of their consequences. If you can look at a serving of French fries and think “clogged arteries” while the salad next to them say “health and vibrance” it’s already a victory – to the junk-food addict that is, I can’t remember when I last had one fry to be honest.
Know that by walking 20 minutes to the store for a bottle of water is better than driving the same distance in 5 minutes to get a soda.
Start with the little things. Ask yourself what your role model would do in a given situation, what he/she would say if they saw you make the wrong decision … that helped me resist a whole bunch of cakes and other junk!
Or our last trick
we were walking past a coffee bar yesterday in the center of a Mall, and my husband said “want a cappuccino and a cookie, they’re small”. I just looked at him and said :”175″. He was a little puzzled at first, then it dawned on him and we walked away. 175 lbs is his next goal and by simply saying that one number, I can remind him of it in any social setting rather than make him feel uncomfortable by reminding him he’s “on a diet” as no one will understand our code. Of course, he’ll throw back a “140″ at me if I fell weak over some dessert too!
It took me a few months of altered lifestyle to add another component: fasted mornig cardio. Even when I get to my goal weight, I’ll still keep that part in, preferring to drop all other cardio instead. The morning routine is simple: walk outside, regardless of weather.
EODD, since you mention that Scott, is great. I’ve used the Lifestyle Plan so far, because it’s “convenient” and “comfortable” – no challenge! OK, so it’s a little tougher with the Extreme Plan, mainly because it doesn’t fit the 7-day week and we end up with “burn” days on weekends when most others overeat, and a “feed” day in the middle of the week, so what? It’s another way of challenging the mind and inner strenght. I’ve switched to the Extreme Plan, and I’m staying on it the time it takes to get to 140lbs, but I’m not doing it forever. I will go back to the Lifestyle Plan, even the basic Primer at times like vacations away (planning to go to France in a couple of years, if we can find a trusted place to board our “zoo” of 2 cats and 2 dogs!).
In as far as nutrition goes, I’d say EODD is a program you CAN follow as a lifestyle, because it has three variations you can adapt to your training/resting schedule. It’s basically the only “diet” book you’ll ever need as far as planning goes. Add some good cook books, and you’re set.
Training is the same thing. Even the top guys, the competitors, don’t do one thing all year, or all their lives. They have leaning-out periods with one type of training/nutrition, bulking fases with another training/nutrition plan, and time off! Even a guy with 8-pack abs has a slice of Christmas cake with loads of cream and jelly – but where he differs from the coach potato is that he hasonly one slice, and he goes to the gym even if it is Christmas!
That’s where the fitness LIFESTYLE idea fits in, in my opinion. It’s not one set plan or program forever, it’s a mindset; a way of balancing your few temptations you succumb to, with the 95% clean and healthy lifestyle choices fitting your plan of the moment.
Great conversation! I hear what Scott is saying in regards to a lifestyle approach to fat loss. A lifestyle change is needed if you want to lose fat…meaning going from pop tarts and pizza and pop to eggs and greens and fruit and veggies. but you have to look at one’s own goal..losing fat or maintaining a healthy lifestyle. they each require different actions but on a lifelong journey. Just as Scott mentioned you eat right but change the details according to your goal. If someone is eating right but not seeing progress in toward their goal, then it’s in the details that need to be tweeked to see those changes.
The LIfestyle approach to fitness sounds like the “Be Diversified” approach to investing. Destined to be part of the masses with nothing special at the end. I love your edge. It isn’t for everyone and it takes learning and work. I see it in the financial world all the time. Truly exciting results are not achieved easily. OMG it’s the four letter word again. WORK. I’m ready to step it up. You have activated my desire to be exceptional. Can’t wait to get started.
Thanks for the great subject topic Scott.
I think education is a big component that gets missed. I always ask my clients to keep a food diary for a few days. I remember one woman who could tell me to the calorie what she ingested each day.
Why?
Because everything she ate came out of a packet!
After some re-education she went on to achieve her fat loss goals, and is now maintaining beautifully.
Another road block that creates frustration is the way our bodies change, including metabolism, as we age.
How many women know that after they go through menopause their estrogen now comes primarily from their body fat, and that their body will hang onto said fat for all it’s worth?
Managing fat loss in these circumstances requires a different approach compared with someone younger.
BTW just love those Twitter posts, keep them coming
Live long. Live well.
Rick Rakauskas
This is a very nice article and it is also informative. I would have to agree with what you said about choosing a program that you will follow for the rest of your life. It’s true that there are many people who would want to slim down fast enough that they forget about having a great lifestyle. They have to think about this in order for their efforts will not be wasted.