One question I get asked a lot: “How do you stay motivated?” I guess most people on the fitness industry get asked this question weekly. True is: I’m not always motivated. I have my ups and downs. The biggest difference lies on what do you do when you are NOT motivated!
Working out , eating whole foods and stick to your plan is easy when things are working for you. When the sun is out, when traffic collaborates, when NOTHING goes wrong.
However, 70% of the time this is not the case and that’s when you have to prove your strengths and “power through” a workout or a very difficult day where you don’t even want smell that meal you already prepared and just want to eat a take away.
I say that to all my clients, what you eat is your FUEL, you have to think about this. You don’t fill up your tank with cheap petrol or you don’t drink that cheap brand of beer/wine to wake up next day with the worst headache. Then why the heck do you that with food?!
Packaged, labelled , the food industry tries to make it everything easier by adding tons of preservatives and chemicals to make your food look, smell and taste better but in the end you ended up feeling terrible.
What keeps me motivated is fuelling my body with proper food, avoiding poisoning (alcohol is poison and your body pretty much put every function aside trying to eliminate this), staying hydrated and being active!
The two main things I did for myself for the past two years, and trust me it wasn’t from one month to another, or from 1 year to another. It took me a few years to mature this idea.
- I drastically reduce my alcohol intake.
- I stopped worrying about my weight and carbohydrate intake
Number 1 – I still consume alcohol every now and then but not every weekend and nowadays, I probably drink in one month what I used to drink in one day. Results: YES, absolutely YES! Especially on my abdominal area. My recovery is 10x better, I can enjoy my weekends without waking up feeling like I got hit by a truck and I crave going on hikes, cycles and runs rather than out to pubs and trading days for nights. I go to bed early and wake up early. Some of you will think – “Wow! Are you 80 years old?” No, that just makes me HAPPY now, the same way that 3 years ago going out and drinking every weekend was also making me happy. BUT If I do want to see results, especially aesthetics results, drinking every weekend won’t do the job.
If you are an amateur athlete and want to run your first 5, 10 21, 42k I highly advise you to have maybe 2 drinks per weekend and keep on training. If you are trying to build muscle I would REALLY recommend no drinks at all or maybe one every 2 to 3 weeks. If you are trying to lose weight – Do I need to say? You are afraid of eating a slice of bread but won’t mind the 600+ kcal you drink in one night?!
Number 2 – That one is still a work in progress…However I must say – I really DON’T CARE about the number on my scale as long as I’m happy to what I see on the mirror. I see improvement , I see what I like , why the heck a number on a piece of equipment will tell me otherwise? That goes the same for body fat analysis, callipers and other assessments. The amount of people that worry about the body fat %in UNREAL. Do you feel your clothes are loose? Can you see some muscles growing? Are your trouser tighter on the but butt but loose on the waist? Ta-da! You are progressing, there is no need for numbers in this case!
HOWEVER , the weight is a great way to calculate your caloric needs and assess when you are losing or gaining weight too fast or too slow. Sometimes something is wrong with your body and further analysis is required.
Carbohydrates….poor carbohydrates. Do you know why they are demonized? Because all the chemically, packaged and modified food I mentioned in the beginning are mostly carbohydrates. Sugar is carbohydrates and yes, when OVER consumed can cause weight gain and water retention. Now, potatoes, rice, quinoa, vegetables, fruits, are all carbohydrates, are they “bad” ? Should you cut that on a low carbohydrate diet? No, you can eat bananas, bread, potatoes, pasta …all of this, as long as you know the right amount. That’s why you go to a nutritionist, a qualified professional that knows (or at least should know!) the best options for you based on your daily needs and current health status.
If you haven’t noticed I will say that one more time: NO SINGLE MACRONUTRIENT OR FOOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WEIGH GAIN! The constantly positive TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE is the one responsible for this.
Hypercaloric diet = weight gain
Hypocaloric diet = weight loss
Isocaloric diet = Maintenance