Before I go into today’s topic, I want to do a quick shameless plug. For those who are interested in strength training in a gym, but is new to it and not sure where to start, I’ve got something for you. I have created a FREE little guide to get you started and It just covers the basics to get you going. You can find it on the main page of this website and if interested, please check it out! It’s called The Beginners Guide to Strength Training In a Gym
Is There a Perfect Diet?
Onto todays topic. So, is there a perfect diet? You hear all over the media about a diet that is better than the rest and has figured out the secrete to losing weight. Well, first of all, you don’t want to lose weight. Why? Because You can lose weight easily by taking out an organ or cutting off a limb. No, but seriously, you can lose weight but losing muscle mass or water, which neither you want to do. You don’t want you to lose weight, you want you to lose fat.
Second of all, there is no perfect diet! Sorry to say, but there is not. There is no magic key that one person found out that makes their product better than everything else out there. Now, there are a dozen ways to lose fat, the one that will work for you will be the one you can adhere to. Yes, it’s that simple. Adherence. I don’t know what else to say here...well, except if you can’t adhere to a diet, then you will not stay on it and you won’t achieve your goal. Keep in mind, a diet is anyway you eat, not just to lose fat. It’s how you will eat to lose fat, it’s how you will eat to gain muscle mass, it’s how you will eat to become healthier and it’s how you eat to maintain your goals.
No Bad Foods
No onto “no bad foods”. Yes, I said it, there are no bad foods out there. What is bad, is the amount of foods you eat. Yes, you can get fat eating a healthy diet. You can get skinny eating a diet full of proceed foods. Now, I’m not saying go out and eat like crap, not at all. What I am saying is you can have what they call “not so healthy foods” once in a while and still achieve your goals.
I love research and learning as much as I can, I believe you can learn so much from research. However, I also question research as I know how people have cherry picked information out of research to sell their products. However, I am not going to go into details on research as that is not my area of expert. Yes, I do have experience with it, but wouldn’t call myself an absolute expertise on it. If you love this area and want to know more, I would suggest you check out Layne Norton @ BioLayne (YouTube Link). I enjoy his approach to research and expertise in the field of health and fitness as he has a PhD in it, and well he is a geeks about it. In fact, he has a podcast with the title, The Beauty and the Geek. Check it out!
Relationship With Foods
Now, my focus for this podcast is to approach this topic from a behavior modification angle as that is my expertise. If your goal is to lose fat, the first thing I would like you to do is take a step back and explore your relationship with foods. Yours truly has had to do this as well, so I know it’s not the easiest thing to do, but it’s one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. If you need help with this, reach out to someone who is qualified to help you with this. Once you gain a better relationship with foods, finding a diet and adhering to it will be so much easier.
Okay, next, I want you to explore if you have any trigger foods and if so, how many. Okay, hold that thought, I’ll come back to it. Now, in my own opinion, one of the best diets out there is what they can IIFYM, If It Fits Your Macros or you may hear it as Flexible Dieting. Here, you will figure out numbers to hit in regards to your macros: protein, carbs and fats, then find foods to fit into those numbers. Thus, if you want an apple or steak or pop tart, you can have it as long as it fits into your macros.
Sounds easy, right? Well, for most people it is, then there are a few, well it won’t be. Let me explain. Here, is where I will have you go back to what I had you do earlier, thinking about your triggers. Having triggers could make this way of dieting harder. Being on a structured diet, like what most other diets are, may be the way for you to go especially if you have a great deal of triggers. But let me stress here, just because you have trigger foods, doesn’t make them bad foods. Got that?
Now, if you are more comfortable with a structured diet and able to adhere to it, go for it. However, during this time, I would still like you to explore your triggers and relationship with foods. Reason, I want you to gain lifelong skills to help you achieve your life long goals. I want you to be able to maintain your goals long after you achieve them. By learning how to manage your trigger foods and seeing food for what it really is, energy, you will be able to maintain those goals lifelong. Again, if you need help with this, I can help or reach out to someone who is qualified to help you change your behaviors and relationship with foods.
There you have it, a quick little blog on diets and not labeling foods as bad. Well, I hope you got something out of it, but if you need to me to explain something I mentioned, more in depth or have any questions, please let me know! Please feel free to contact me or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Weight Lifting Women Over 35
Oh, one more thing, before I go, I would like to do another quick little plug. With the move we made this year, I have found myself lacking a community of other women who lift and am really missing it. So, I have just started a group on Facebook called “Weight Lifting Women Over 35”. This group is not connected to my business whatsoever, I created it specifically for the community and support. If you are interested in joining, please check it out, I would love to grow this group with older women who are focused on their health and fitness levels.