*The title of this post was taken from the LL Cool J song of the same name*
There is a frustrating dynamic that has been occurring in the health/fitness industry for decades. Maybe it’s always existed.
There is a side that promotes moderation, consistency, sustainability and realistic outcomes.
There is another side that promotes fear, extremes, shame and short-term outcomes.
I would love to tell you that one side is always right and one side is always wrong so that you can make a more educated decision and have only one path to success.
But that wouldn’t be honest of me, would it?
I will say that I thrive on the side of the former (moderation, consistency, etc.) and less on the latter.
I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I haven’t been persuaded by the latter.
For instance, depending on your social media channels of choice (or even late-night infomercials of choice) it’s easy to find outlets to convince you of things like: carbs are bad for you, that only one style of exercise is superior for fat loss, that the toxins you consume are keeping you from your ideal weight, and so on.
Let me try to clear all of this up now. None of the above is likely true.
What I can say is that using the aforementioned examples: you may be eating more carbs than you should be (and that could be forcing you into a surplus of daily intake), there is no style of exercise that is superior for fat loss (but there is a style of exercise that YOU can stick with consistently over time and progress with) and toxins are likely not your problem (see my line above about caloric surplus.)
I have yet to find a nutritional boogeyman. Meaning, the only foods that I think you should fear are the ones you are allergic to and the ones you can’t control i.e. “trigger” foods.
I have yet to find damning evidence of toxic build-up in the body that keeps you from losing weight. Maybe some internet guru has convinced you that your metabolism is broken and if you *buy now*, their supplement can fix it. They can force you to remove said toxic foods from your body thereby getting you to eat significantly less than you currently do and you’ll lose weight. You can then credit the miracle supplement and the toxic foods you’ve removed for your sensational weight loss efforts.
…Cue eye roll.
For some people, dietary lessons in the extreme can be a launching pad to better and more sustainable efforts. For the majority, they foster a misunderstanding of how our bodies work and keep the perpetual cycle of loss/regain, loss/regain, happening time after time again.
Stay critical of what you see and read.
Stay flexible on the approach that adapts best to your lifestyle.
Stay forgiving of yourself when things don’t go perfectly.
Stay the path and strive for consistency over most everything else.
And if someone tries to convince you there’s a big, bad wolf to be afraid of…maybe it’s your source of information you should be running from.
By the way, say “Hello” to my online client, Michael, who despite living in New York has been seeing some incredible progress with 25lbs down so far by following much of the advice from above.