I had a great conversation with a friend of mine about the lost art of hard work when it comes to losing body fat. For some reason the social media era has made it seem like losing body fat is easy.
Most people understand the necessity of sacrifice for gain in other arenas of life. We understand that you have to make sacrifices and work hard to move up in your career of choice. To earn your college degree will take lots of money and a ton of late nights studying in the library. If you want to improve the way you play an instrument or perfect a craft you will have to put in countless hours of what could seem like boring practice. But that is what it takes.
There is information floating around that makes it seem like losing weight should be a comfortable experience. If you take away anything from this post let it be this: your diet is temporary you are trying to lose body fat. Cutting your calories back to lose weight is not sustainable and it is not supposed to be. It is a state of deprivation. Expect it to be uncomfortable. Expect it to be hard work. In order for you to reach your goal it must be done. Your nutrition becomes comfortable and sustainable after you reach your goal. When you reach your goal of weight loss then you make a shift into maintenance. That is when your nutrition becomes a lifestyle and should be comfortable.
When weight loss is your goal you have to be on top of your day to day. If you plan on being away for the weekend then you have to plan out how you will stay on plan. For example, maybe you plan on having a few drinks with friends, or a date night with your significant other. How will you make the necessary accommodations to not lose track of the goal at hand?
These things can be a part of your lifestyle during the periods you are trying to lose weight but you need to have a plan of attack prior to them coming up. You can't go overboard and lose control because when Monday rolls around you will be practically starting over. And that is not a very healthy cycle to be in. Sometimes you will have to tell your friends you are only going to have one drink. And it might not be your favorite drink because your favorite might be too many calories for you. But staying the course and not throwing your results down the drain for temporary satisfaction is important during a calorie cutting phase.
The people who are most successful at losing weight and sustaining those losses are those that maintain control in different situations. They strictly stay the course of the plan, lose the intended weight and begin a maintenance phase, at which point they develop a healthy lifestyle and can relax some.
Those that try to include little cheats over there allotted calories here and there throughout the calorie cutting phase tend to lose much less. You can have your cake and eat it too. But that slice of cake has to be factored into your day. And that one slice can't turn into two, three and four slices.
Win one day at a time. A temporary state of hunger is necessary and some sacrifices will have to be made. But when you get to your goal and enter a maintenance phase you will be able to relax some and enjoy some of the treats or experiences you have been putting off.