The Little Things That Kill Your Fat Loss #2 – “Taking Weekends Off”

By Eugene Thong CSCS

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Alert: Your diet is not your job.  

 

That’s a more far-reaching statement than it may appear at first glance.  First, what it means for you is that you shouldn’t approach diet with a negative mindset (“I can’t believe I have to do this crap, what a chore”).

 

Secondly, diet should be something that you incorporate into your lifestyle. It’s not a quick 6 week plan, then you get to binge on bagels and pizza again;  it’s a commitment to your health and newly-to-be svelte exterior that you go on long-term.

 

Pay attention now.

 

Third, it literally means “Your diet is not your job.”  In other words, if you’re like 99% of the planet, you work at your job 9-5, Monday through Friday, and then get the weekend to do whatever you want.  Most people approach their diets the same way.

 

“I’ll be good during the week, then I’ll take the weekend off.”

 

Big mistake.

 

Consider this: Most people, when they’re being “good”, are not as “good” as they really think they are (which is why Mike and I so highly recommend using a food journal to keep yourself honest).  Couple that with the potential damage you can do during a weekend (think birthday party for the kids, a few beers while watching the fight Saturday night, Sunday brunch of french toast and pancakes, with assorted snacking in-between) and you get what could be rightly termed a futile cycle.

 

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll just call it “spinning your wheels.”  Whatever fat loss you manage to create during the week is cancelled out during the weekend.  If you’re a big eater, you may even end up worse off than before.

 

Don’t confuse this with the concept of planned cheat meals, where you’re allowed to eat whatever foods you’re craving to prevent burnout.  Cheat meals are good.  Cheat days are not.

 

What’s there to be done?

 

First, realize that a diet isn’t something you “do” for a week or two until you reach your goals, then stop.  It’s a deliberate change to your lifestyle you adopt.

 

Second, do have a cheat meal once in awhile (no more than 5% of your total weekly meals).  Just make sure that you plan it and that it doesn’t blossom into cheat meals or an entire cheat day.

 

Third, reinforce the idea of eating according to proper nutrition principles by adopting regular exercise, particularly, the lifting of (relatively) heavy things. 

 

There’s loads of free tutorials and how-tos on the MCNewsletters site, or you could check out some of the workouts in the Black Book of Secrets.  Or you could randomly surf the web and take workouts off of your favorite fitness sites.  Or you could actually use that gym membership and work with a trainer.  How you get started is not important; what’s important is that you do it.

 

P.S. Check out... The Little Things That Kill (Your Fat Loss) #1: Eat Your Damn Breakfast!