Lets talk why you shouldnt do a weight loss challenge. It is January, time to do a 30 day, 90 day, who can lose the most weight or whatever challenge season is in full force. Do not do it. Why? 1 - Chances are you will reduce calorie intake to a level that you cant sustain for the rest of your life. Depriving yourself with such a drastic change for 30 days isnt healthy for the body and the metabolism. Have you ever rebounded to more weight than when you started? Hmmmm 2 - Along with dropping calories drastically so you hope you win that prize or trip, you eat clean. For starters, what the hell does that even mean? But lets carry on. You pick foods based on what you can eat and what you cant eat, which is bullshit, because weight loss is about eating less calories than you need, not certain foods. So restricting yourself to about 8 different foods, you set yourself up for failure. You cannot sustain a diet on chicken, tuna, fish, asparagus, broccoli, 7 almonds and avocado. Oh, and if you are lucky, you get 1/2 cup oatmeal a day. Is that sustainable, can you eat that for the rest of your life? No. You can. Have you ever rebounded to more weight than when you started? Hmmm 3 - You have a deadline, a goal, a monumental moment to get to a certain weight. You will do anything, including not drink water, not eat, because most of these solely focus on the number on the scale. Weight loss isnt fat loss. Think about that for a moment. Just because you lose weight, doesnt mean you are losing fat. So after you go 3 days not drinking water for your weight in.... Have you ever rebounded to more weight than when you started? Hmmm 4 - If the challenge says WEIGHT loss and not FAT loss, the person who created it is stupid. Im going here. That is just wrong, and that person is just perpetuating more harm that good in the health and fitness industry. If someone doesnt know how to distinguish the difference between weight and fat, I wouldnt even ask them any basic nutrition or health questions. 5 - Once this challenge you and your friends worked so hard on doing, what is the next step? You are doing to tell yourself you worked so hard, and you need to reward yourself. So now you will partake in some of the restricted foods you abstained from for the last X number of weeks. Since you have no new goal, or since the nutrition plan you were on isnt sustainable, you are now falling off the bandwagon. But let me tell you something. This bandwagon was designed for you to fail. If your list of foods to NOT eat exceeds the list of foods TO eat, you are pretty much setting yourself up for failure. So now that you pigged because your challenge is over, chances are you will blow up to your start weight within a few days of normal eating again. Have you ever rebounded to more weight than when you started? Hmmmm These are a few of the reasons I dont agree with weight loss challenges. What you do need to work on is balance and moderation. Weight loss or weight gain is about calories in vs calories out. If you eat more than you need, you will gain weight. If you eat less than you need you will lose weight. Now that you know this, you realize there are no foods off limits. Just limit the amounts of food you eat. If you reduce your calories 5% a week, while still eating the foods you enjoy, keeping your meal timing and meals a day the same, you will have more success in 6 months, than doing a 30 day challenge. Plus, I bet you could even sustain that change in your nutrition habits because it isnt drastic! Flexible Dieting for the win. Every time.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 20:31:12 +0000
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