Being overweight sucks. Any way you try to frame it, you still have to face the facts that it interferes with your overall quality of life. The good news is that it’s unnecessary for 95 percent of people to be that way. If we are going to be real, there are only two reasons you might be overweight. Now, I understand your first knee-jerk reaction is probably “screw this guy,” but hear me out.
Artificial Fitness Complexity
I was reading my buddy’s article on decomplication where he was explaining why we believe so many of the most common things we struggle with are difficult, when in reality they are quite simple. As it turns out, there is this concept at play called “artificial complexity” that means that you make something way harder than it needs to be because your ego is getting in the way of how simple the solution is, or you flat out don’t have the willpower to do what it takes to get your ideal outcome. As my buddy put it in his article, “Artificial complexity occurs when a commonly encountered problem has a simple solution, but that solution is made more complex to appeal to the solver’s lack of willpower, past failures, or to benefit the interests of a third party (usually a company selling something).” In the fitness industry, artificial complexity is running rampant. Many people think being lean is complicated — it’s not. Many people also think it will detract from their social life — it doesn’t. Just about everything that makes people think that committing to their fitness will suck is complete B.S.
What REALLY Affects Your Weight
Here is what matters. That’s it. Let that sink in for a moment. I know you have heard so much about GMOs, gluten, and bad carbs vs good carbs that you think what I am telling you is too simple to be true. Why would so many people be making such a fuss over so many things if only two things really mattered when it came to their ability to attain a lean physique? The answer is obvious isn’t it? Fitness is a multi billion dollar industry that everyone wants to get their piece of. Just like any other industry, if you want your product to sell, you have to be constantly reinventing it in a new way. Even if the product doesn’t need to be reinvented! That is why you always see the next best diet and the next best fat-blasting workout routine. People just need something new to talk about. That’s cool up until the average person gets confused and falls into the trap of artificial complexity. When you see a thousand different options out there, how do you know where to begin? How do you have the discipline to stick with one thing, when you know there is another tactic out there that might be even better than the one you’re doing right now? I mean, everyone who is pushing these products and programs looks pretty good with their shirt off, so who do you listen to? Well, today you listen to me, because I am lifting the veil of this complexity that has crowded your mind for far too long.
The Truth
I am here to tell you that:
You do not need a new groundbreaking supplement. You do not need to workout for hours every day with cutting edge equipment. You do not need to eat chicken and broccoli out of tupperware six times a day.
All you need to do is focus on the two things that matter most, and fitness can be a very enjoyable part of your life. Here’s the deal, you need to start focusing on what matters, and let everything else go. If you are someone who is overweight, but you are stressing about buying organic, cut it out! Those organic baby carrots aren’t going to help you get any closer to your goals. What will help you is just focusing on what will bring you results. You don’t even have to do these things every day. Five to six out of every seven days is plenty to keep you from putting on any extra weight. Just do it consistently and make it a part of your daily routine. Many people will read this and think “No there has got to be more” or “No this isn’t something that would work for me because of x,y,z,” and they will just go on living their life, but some of you will feel something rise up inside of you. You will say enough is enough. I want to live in the body I know I deserve, and I refuse to settle for less. You will save this article, maybe even print it out, and put it on your wall, and look at it daily as a reminder that two things matter: that you’re doing some sort of exercise (move) and that’s you’re eating the right amount of food.
Time to Take Action
Let’s break these two things down in case you are one of those people who are ready to take action right now. Exercise I recommend doing workouts like the one below 3–5 times a week: jump rope and body weight high-intensity interval training workouts. You can do just about anything. Just make sure you do it consistently.
Nutrition
I recommend using this calculator to find out how much food you need to eat each day, and then using myfitnesspal to track your food to make sure you’re hitting your daily goals for calories and macronutrients (fats, protein, carbs.) Again, hit these numbers 5–6 days a week, and you’ll be great. That’s it. I f you try and fail at this going forward, it’s going to be because of your will power, not because you had the wrong tactics. Unless of course, you fall into the 5 percent of people struggling with Hyperthyroidism (what happens when your body isn’t making enough of your thyroid hormone.) But, let me reiterate, that’s probably not you. You just need to take the advice I just gave you about eating the right amount of food and exercising and follow it. For as long as it takes to reach your target goal, follow it. It may take a week, a month, or a year. It doesn’t matter. This is now a part of your life, so there’s no reason to even think about an end date for this new attention you are diverting towards being lean. Embody it. Build this into your identity, and just go with this process.
One Year From Now
After a year or so of being diligent with tracking, you’ll figure out how much food your body needs, so you’ll be able to stop using myftinesspal. At this point you’ll have such a deep understanding about what your body needs that you’ll never have to worry about finding a new diet again. Your diet is always just to get back to your numbers and tighten things up. Movement will become something that you look forward to, something that you use as a form of therapy and that you do because you enjoy it. That’s the point I have gotten to and you will too. Just stay the path and find ways of moving your body that you enjoy (like this.) Beyond that, let the good times roll. Live a life where you look and feel awesome every day. It’s your opportunity. Go. Featured photo credit: Body Building via bodybuilding.com
