EXTREMISM: IS IT DEFEATING YOUR WEIGHT LOSS PLAN?

Hello my friends! Every morning, I wake up and drink coffee (yes. Coffee. Because I’m a normal every day American, not a crazy guru who’s come up with a brothy, apple cider vinegar drink that scrapes my colon clean). While I drink my coffee I peruse social media, again…normal American.

Here is what I generally see:

Shrink your belly fast! Carb cycling is the fastest way to a flat tummy!

“Easy Shake”! Don’t change anything in your life…just drink our shake and see the fat melt away!

KETO! “Carbs are for wussy’s!” (I honestly saw this one except it started with a P. I was appalled.)

Don’t waste your time on the treadmill. It’s not doing anything for you!

If you haven’t PUKED, work harder!

or the most annoying to me…

“Want to lose weight and flatten your belly? Keep reading for the easy secrets! “

and they never tell you. It’s all a lie so that you buy their program.

Extremism is American. It’s difficult to avoid, plain and simple. It isn’t even just the fitness industry! It’s about money, it’s about how many activities and sports your child DOMINATES in. Because 6 year olds who don’t kick butt on the court obviously suck. (I’m sorry, that’s just dripping with bitter sarcasm). Even how “zen” you are! You aren’t laid back enough if someone else is more zen than you.
Extremism is Perfection and people just aren’t perfect.
Stop beating yourself up if you aren’t PERFECT!

I have news for you. You can thrive in life without living to any extreme. You can succeed in your career without being a billionaire who never sees their family. You can lose weight, without vomiting in the gym, or eating a broccoli birthday cake. I truly believe that the key to SUSTAINED SUCCESS, success for a long period of time or even a lifetime, is persistence in gradual progression.

What in the world do you mean Jill? Persistence in Gradual Progression?

I’m glad you asked!!

Persistence- Firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition.

This means that even though something is hard, day after day, you push.

It’s hard to keep avoiding pizza even though I only lost .5 pounds this week
Yes. It is.

It’s hard to workout when I get home from work. All I want to do is sit down and relax.
Yes. It is.

It’s hard to always have it in the fore front of my thoughts. I just want to let go.
Yes. It is.

Persistence is acknowledging that it’s hard, and continuing to push.

Gradual Progression- The word progression is literally in the definition of gradual.

Gradual –“Taking place or progressing slowly or by degree”

To work on something gradually takes patience. However, if you choose to work with gradual progression, you feel more success. This leads to higher motivation, which in turn creates more success.

I love what the CDC says here about lifestyle changes and gradual weight loss. The health benefits of small daily adjustments really add up to not only a physically healthier life, but mental and emotional wellness as well.

Have you ever talked to someone who is on an extreme program and all you hear are words like “Can’t”, “Never”, and “Always”? Does that person seem happy with what they are doing every day? or do they seem like they are suffering just to be happy with the seemingly instant results that it produces?

What happens when the suffering stops? In this instance “the suffering” is the denying of foods and activities that they have been restricting. I’ll tell you what it means. They gain fat back. Not everyone gains it back, some people can live on complete restriction for years. Unfortunately that’s just not the case for most of us.

Most Americans who try extreme programs fail. This leads to

more weight gain
lower self confidence
and an unhealthier body than before their first weight loss.

When you follow a program with “can’t” and “never” restrictions, you will inevitably experience failure during the process. When that happens, you beat yourself up, call yourself names and equate your self worth with whether or not you can avoid Christmas cookies. It’s Silly.

This mental abuse that you do to yourself creates a negative, unproductive cycle.

You follow the program for a bit, but get tired and deprived
You “fall off the cliff” and binge
You wallow in feelings of failure and defeat, all while continuing to eat junk because “you may as well. It’s all ruined anyway.”
You realize you’ve got to “get back on”, so you start the same extreme program. But this time you’re SERIOUS. (Please see number 1. to continue the cycle)

Getting a healthy life takes TIME. It takes PERSISTENCE. And a true lifestyle change is continuously improving. My healthy lifestyle is ALWAYS improving. I add new exercises, I discover new foods, I read new studies and try to implement them into our lives. It should be a continuous progression.

By taking things slowly, you can learn to include everything into your life that you want. Even biscuits and wine.

Let’s take yesterday at my house for example.

I had a bad afternoon. Some things happened that stirred up feelings of defeat, rejection, and low value. BRING ON THE WINE AND COMFORT FOOD! I made myself chicken and dumplings, or at least the version that I grew up on. My moms dumplings were Bisquick biscuits dropped into the chicken soup and cooked in the broth. This was not gluten free. This was not “light” bisquick. Full fledged, white flour, processed BISQUICK. Plus 2 glasses….that’s right TWO glasses of red wine. Why? Because I was sad. Is this a good way to deal with my sadness? Maybe not, but I feel fine today!! I’m not mad at myself. PLEASE! It was homemade, bone broth, chicken breast, carrots and celery soup with a biscuit! I’ve got other things in life to feel bad about…that’s not it.

Do you want to see the horrible damage it did to my day?

It didn’t. It really didn’t damage my day at all. I knew that I had had a low carb day. I knew that my nutrition throughout the day was pretty low processed and I hadn’t had any “treats”. I was fine.

You can be a normal person, with a normal diet, and not be obese. People are not only successful, but happy, ALL THE TIME on moderate, healthy, lifestyle plans. It’s just a slower process, that’s not very sexy, and there’s not much to sell you on this kind of plan so you don’t hear much about it.

MAN! This is a major “soapbox” for me so if I rambled, please forgive me. I truly hate the extremism that the fitness community often represents. I think it defeats more people than it helps. We’re supposed to help people.

So as promised, here are some guidelines to a moderate healthy lifestyle that will help you to lose weight and be more energetic.

1. Get some exercise. There are exercises that will help you to improve your fitness faster than others. But you are working with gradual progression! So implementing exercise is FIRST. Once you’ve formed a habit you can start doing more strenuous or difficult work. For now, get on a treadmill. Get on an elliptical. Try some push ups. If anyone tells you that you’re wasting your time walking…FIRE THEM. They don’t understand where you’re coming from.

2. Get more protein. Increasing your protein will help you to stay full longer. When you have more protein in a meal, there is less room for carbohydrates. I’m not telling you to drastically cut carbs, since I don’t know what your daily intake is. I DO KNOW that most Americans have no issue getting enough carbohydrates. I always suggest starting out with 40% protein, 30% fat, and 30% carbs as a goal to start with.

3. Drink water. Drink water throughout the day. You already knew that one 🙂

4. Smile. Be joyful. Lower your stress. Where there is stress, there is Cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone in the body that increases Insulin levels which create a craving for high carbohydrate, sugary food. WHAT?? My stress last night made me want dumplings and wine? YEP!

Of course there is more to be done, but this is a solid start to a healthy lifestyle. If you’re overweight, following these tips would give you a great start to weight loss. If you need more help, contact me! I’d be happy to help.

About the Author

Jill McCollum

December 8, 2017 | Weight Loss