As we come into 2018, you are going to see a blitzkrieg of information,sales,guarantees, the best workouts and the best diets. Now the truth is most of it will work, but what does “work” mean? let’s dive into what progress is and isn’t , why you as in individual may need a different approach and why its important to measure actions over outcomes.
The fat loss hierarchy.
1-Nutrition
2-Mindset
3-sleep
4-stress management
5-movment
6-training
I’m sure you aren’t too surprised by number 1, because it honestly what it all comes down to.
2-mindset, this may seem a little out there and one might give an exaggerate eye roll emoji response but zoom out and look at how the wrong mindset could sabotage us.mindset encompasses many things to include ; a positive body image, hyper/hypo focus, affirmations, perception of process, environment, tribal/society identity, motivation, discipline, self doubt and on and on.
3- Sleep, your body recovers at sleep , your body burns fat at sleep, lack of sleep in duration or quality can set of a daisy chain of irritably, low energy, food cravings, lack of performance, scattered focus and discipline (see how 2 and 3 relate)
4- stress management- I have seen students with near perfect diet and exercise gain fat as a result of miss managed stress. our hormones play such an integral part of body composition. Cortisol (stress hormone) will completely void everything else on the list, especially when its chronic. ( again see how 2,3,and 4 are relating to one another)
5- Movement- I separated movement away form exercise as their is an important distinction. Daily movement is easy to accomplish but yet we normally bypass it and value exercise more. Movement or NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis) accounts for meat fat loss then exercise. NEAT is basically all the time outside the gym and sleep, That’s a huge percentage of your day. This is walking,playing,standing,stretching,wrestling,climbing.
6- Exercise- My favorite and probably most abused piece of the puzzle. so much information out there about ” Do this not that, work harder, hiit is the best, cardio everyday, lift weights, crush yourself blah blah blah. The industry markets what you want to hear. Most people think if you aren’t dying then its not working ( oh shit another reference to #2) or you have to do cardio to lose weight before starting weights ( good grief). It’s hard i get it, how do you know who or what to trust? I want to lay this out for you. The goal of exercise is to make you better, Stronger, resilient,faster, more or better functioning muscles, slow down aging, improve bone density, fix injury, increase endurance. Find the process that you enjoy the most and hits one or more of that list. Will exercise increase the ability to lose fat? 100% but almost any exercise will do that.
Before we move on I want to point out that this list is not absolute in it’s order. For most it’s pretty accurate but I think that’s part of the problem with information. We (the consumer) want the fix ,we want the answer. The truth is “it depends”, I know I know that’s not what you want to hear. In every problem/solution based industry, The mechanic, the dentist, the doctor, the therapist, the engineer, the financial planner there is an assessment. If we don’t know what is the problem(s) we can’t find the best solution. Here’s the scary part- You have to give an honest assessment of yourself. however ugly that truth is it is important to look at it from a distance and objectively. My job is to guide you through that assessment. Take our list above, Rank each one in your order of difficulty. BE HONEST.
GOOD, Now to the work. Assess,measure, design, execute,measure, assess
Start on YOUR number 1 pick a habit(s) that will get you better at that skill. Work down YOUR list and list an actionable and realistic habit for each of the 6. Own YOUR list. put the most energy to the top habit.
Measure but value the habit change more than the physical measurement. Take monthly pictures,tape measurements, body fat, scale and the fit of your clothes.
DO NOT VALUE YOURSELF IN THOSE NUMBERS
Measure how well you execute the habits, Did you get better sleep? Did you eat more vegetables? Did you have a better body image? Did you meditate? Did you walk everyday? Did you consistently exercise? Did you improve your relationship with food?
This is the gold, This is progress
The lifetime value of habit change far outweighs (pun intended) the number on the scale. create the forecast of where you want to be in 6 months to 6 years. Take the list and know at some point you may fail but you will learn. the process is a spiral staircase with no real end and you will circle back to moment that seem very familiar but with a different perspective.
ENJOY THE CLIMB
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Interested in starting? We have a 5 week foundations course where you can learn and grow with us – Comment below and we will reach out to you. The climb starts January 8th
Stay Strong Friends, Sean
