Here’s a problem worth solving: do I need to learn more to reach my fat loss goals?
We all know a baked chicken breast is better than fried chicken and going for a walk is better than watching TV. But that doesn’t stop us from checking social media to see if there’s some other fancy diet or workout program we should be doing. There’s an anxiety that we all get, worried we are ‘missing’ something.
The secret to solving this problem is:
1) learn to take more action on what we already know, and
2) let go of the worry and just be consistent with those basics we know
Learn To Do More Of What You Already Know
How many more different opinions, ideas, videos, podcasts, articles, etc. do we need on diet and exercise to finally get the results we want?
None.
That is the correct answer.
We don’t need any more information or something different to try. Just to consistently do what we already know.
In today’s day in age, no one fails due to lack of knowledge. Everything we could ever want to know is on the internet in every form possible.
We struggle because we are too busy CONSUMING information, and not busy enough TAKING ACTION on things.
This whole health and fitness thing is incredibly simple.
- Eat protein and veggies. Some healthful carbs like fruit, potatoes, and rice. More if you are leaner, less if you are overweight and trying to lose fat.
- Move every day. Simply walk more. Then add in some resistance training to build and maintain lean mass.
- Sleep 7-8 hours a night
But, we look at other people, and they all seem to be doing cooler, bigger, more rad, fancy stuff than we’re doing.
We do something for a couple of days, maybe not even in a row, just throughout the week… don’t have life changing things happen in that sporadic execution of said thing, and then we start to search for more information.
But honestly, while it’s good to learn now and then, sometimes it’s best just to choose something and dive in, and not worry about whether it’s the “perfect choice”. A decent selection executed at a high level is way better than being paralyzed by worry and not doing anything at a consistent level.
Focus On These Key Elements
You are a pretty smart cookie.
We don’t REALLY believe we are going to get in the best shape of our life having margaritas every week and eating sausage every day… even if it is chicken sausage.
Deep down we know, prepping some chicken breast or lean beef to pair with salad greens or those microwaveable-steamable veggies for our meals and skipping the drinks or opting for a vodka club over the margarita would move us closer to our health & fitness goals…
And a couple of days we may even do those things!
But, we know we didn’t do them every day.
I mean, they are simple and almost too easy and boring. After all, we did hear on a podcast how the keto diet can make our body burn fat from eating fat and we also saw this book at the store that was talking about a special vegan detox…
Maybe it is best to check into those things first. Feel them out for a couple of days a week, only to never actually commit to them and circle back around in another month or two to the same place.
Yeah, that sounds legit!
Or we could just do the ‘boring’ stuff as many meals as possible, day in and out and then not even notice we are doing it every day because it becomes easy and our new habit.
Let’s try a challenge.
Everyone loves those.
Instead of consuming more information or looking for something new to try, let’s take action on the simple basics we already know that have been around and proven for decades.
The next two weeks can we:
1. Eat 3-4 lean protein and veggie based meals a day.
Need a snack? Maybe one of those “healthy” bars with chocolate chips and special agave sugar syrup, the box says heart healthy…
No.
If you are physically beyond being tolerably hungry, have another lean protein and veggie meal. If it doesn’t sound appetizing, then you aren’t starving and just looking to snack for emotional and mental reasons.
2. Walk Everyday for at least 20 minutes and do 3 Strength Training workouts a week.
Don’t worry about killing yourself every workout, just do some strength training and walk a ton. Try and leave every workout feeling accomplished, energized, and better than before you started. Cause’ deep down we know that feeling is much more satisfying than the train wreck feeling, we just think we need the trainwreck feeling so we convince ourselves we like it. 😉
3. Get to bed on time! Aim for at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
For most people that means getting to bed earlier and off the phone or computer. Count backward 7 hours (ideally 8) from the time you have to wake up; there is your bed time the next two weeks.
Now, you can try all of these or just pick one of them to work on the next two weeks. Just commit to focusing on one of these simple things you already know and give it a shot. Tune out all the other noise and incoming information.
Doing the simple things and eventually making them a consistent habit will help you reach your goals much faster than looking for more things to learn and try, always having anxiety and worry over the different things you could be doing.
When you learn to take massive action on what you already know, you will begin to let go of the worry.
Want To Learn More?
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