Need To Lose Weight? Don’t Panic.

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Need to lose weight? Don’t panic.

We have a lot of new people coming in and we are very excited to help you achieve your goals. For some the process seems a bit overwhelming and with it there comes a sense of panic.  Everyone comes from different backgrounds; some have never lifted weights, some have never realized what a calorie deficit is, some have a history of yo-yo dieting, and the list goes on.

If you feel a panic over it coming on, take a deep breath, then another.  The process does not happen quickly.  There is time.  There is never any reason to panic over diet and fitness.  None of it happens overnight.  Health problems or wanting it fixed instantly promote an emotional sense of urgency, but it will not happen instantly no matter how much you want it to. So just relax, let your body adjust to a new lifestyle slowly, and take it one step at a time.

You don’t have to understand everything to get started, sometimes it’s a matter of picking one thing.

Pick one thing

If you are a member of Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat community he emailed this “Pick one thing” message recently and posted it today on his blog:

From Brad Pilon

You see, I think people try to do too much when they want to lose weight. And, when you try to do too much, you end up focusing on the wrong things…

The end result is lots of stress and lots of thinking, but little to no-weight loss.

So you need to find your ONE thing.

When I put this all together I realize my ONE thing is to remember to eat like a grown-up – to realize that I have complete control over when and what I eat, and when and what I don’t eat. So it is my responsibility to eat like a grown-up. No one is going to do it for me.

Sounds simple, probably too simple, but that’s the point. You really need to boil down your ONE thing until you get to your true ONE thing.

If I remember to ‘eat like a grown-up’ on the days I’m not fasting, then I’ve completed my ONE thing. The more days I accomplish this, the closer I will move to my goal.

If I complete my ONE thing, then I’m on track. If I do a dozen other things, but NOT my ONE thing, then even though I did much more work, I probably did not move any closer to my goal.

This sounds simple, but it takes some introspection to really figure out your ONE thing.

And simply saying ‘lose weight’ doesn’t cut it, you have to boil it down to the core. The same goes with saying ‘eat less’ or even ‘exercise more’ it needs to be more meaningful to you.

When you get some free time today give it a try – Pick your goal, then start boiling it down until you come to your ONE thing that you can use to guide your daily activities.

So if you are new to the process you might need to pick one thing and then totally own it before you pick the next thing.  That is always the best way to change your lifestyle and habits.  Gradually.  Never so much that it’s just too much and not sustainable.

Be ready to change and pick daily rituals to help you stay on track.  Sometimes I like to put stickers or use colored pens and pencils on a wall calendar so I can see the long streaks of success. I like bright pens and stickers with sparkles.

It’s normal to not be perfect every day, we are all merely human after all.  What matters is long streaks of consistency day in and day out.  There is nothing really dramatic about the process, it’s just small decisions every day while you live your life.

Your rate of change will be unique

The rate of change for you, both building muscle and losing fat, will be your own rate. Never compare the rate of change for yourself to the rate that occurs for others. There are far too many factors and differences between each of us to make many comparisons.  If someone lost a lot of body weight in one or two weeks, that has absolutely no bearing on your own success.

The body weight scale is only good for a trend over time. It does not tell you how much water or glycogen is stored or released. Even Brad learned in his recent 7 week experiment that body weight fluctuations can be quite random and mysterious.

About the only thing we all have in common is we need to have a calorie deficit to lose fat, and we need to lift heavy things to build muscle.

Brad lost body weight on daily measurements for no apparent reason and also gained weight for no apparent reason.  Not only is the sudden random increase in body weight due to water retention fairly meaningless, but so are some of the sudden “whooshes” as we like to call them. We jump for joy when we get a whoosh and then beat ourselves up when we have a random gain.  Do not let the body weight scale define your happiness.  Instead find joy in a successful streak of consistency or other non scale victories.  Rejoice in the trend over time, and the successful lifestyle changes.

There is a delay in seeing results.  Always a delay.  There is no instant gratification in this process.  It takes patience and persistence.

I give myself three weeks for change.  Sometimes it happens sooner but I find allowing that delay and focusing on the process keeps me on track.  I don’t use the body weight scale anymore and I find the process still works if you look at the scale or not.

For me a delay seems to happen even if I have a few days of holiday eating (eating a bit more than my maintenance level).  I’ve seen it happen this way several times this year.  A week or two after “eating up” and I feel thicker and my pants feel just a bit tighter, even though I’ve started the process immediately after the holiday.  So then I give myself three more weeks and keep my focus on the process.  If I’m consistent the results come just as I expected.

Your body is the end game

No matter what creates results for someone else remember that your own body is the end game. What matters is what works for you.  What matters is what you eat that makes you feel and perform your best and achieve your own results.  What matters is the amount you eat that causes you to lose fat consistently. Calorie calculators, charts, books, theories, and what others do don’t matter because your own body is the end game.  Take the time to experiment and find what works for you. Try the estimate the calculator gives you, then adjust.  Try method’s and entertain theories, then adjust.

What you eat matters more than you might think. Everyone has different needs and enjoys different foods. We all have some foods that don’t make us feel good.  You have to find what foods are best for you and that sometimes takes some experimenting.

If you are an immersion customer take advantage of listening to the uncensored podcasts and John’s coaching calls.  We have some exciting podcasts coming up. John and Brad are constantly researching new material as it’s released. In next week’s podcast they will talk about how different foods may help some people lose weight and feel better.

When it comes to food, diet, and exercise what works for you changes over time, with the seasons of your life.  I finally realized recently when I was meeting with John, Brad Howard, and a few of the Venus girls in Boise, Idaho (yeah it was freezing there!) that I no longer metabolize wine very well.

Some of you who are in the Venus online community may have read what Carla and Liss wrote about our little meetup in the community blogs.

I was the last one to arrive at the meeting and missed dinner. My experiment with desserts and a glass of wine as a dinner replacement didn’t go so well. Experiments help you learn what works for you.

Two out of the three nights when I drank wine, even one glass, I was awake half the night.  I don’t know about you but when I only get 4 hours of sleep my hunger the next day is through the roof.  For me the stress is so bad that maintaining any sort of calorie deficit is nearly impossible, in fact eating just slightly above maintenance is considered a win.  I used to be able to drink wine.  Now I can’t.  Possibly because my body is not used to it anymore.  Your body changes over time, and long term lifestyle changes might cause changes you hadn’t thought of.

So if you are new around here remember your body is the end game, not the chart, calculator, book, theory, what someone tells you to do, or what works for someone else. Take a deep breath and take time to learn. Ask questions and get support.  Pick one thing.

We have a team of people who want to help you achieve your goals.

-Ro