**Weird** Body Transformation Tip
Eat low carb. Eat low fat.
Drink milk. Don’t drink milk.
Grains are good. Grains are bad.
Eat whey protein. Nope, only choose soy. High fructose corn syrup is the devil. Or is it artificial sweeteners?
Nutrition can be confusing. When you let it get to you…
But *THIS* single factor may be the most important thing you ever hear when it comes to transforming your body.
Yes, THE most important thing you ever hear.
Ready?
STOP THINKING.
Weird, right?
I once had a football coach who would remind us, when you messed up, to "don’t f****** think." Maybe a bit harsh. So we’re sugar coating it a bit and simply saying STOP THINKING.
What do we mean?
Stop OVERthinking.
Every time you log on to the internet, pick up a magazine, turn on the tv or radio, you’re bombarded with some nutrition message. Maybe it’s a recent study. Maybe an advertisement or infomercial. Much of what you see conflicts with something you may have read the day or week before. In fact we recently wrote about a new study in what we called the "Great Calorie Con" — one of the conclusions was that potatoes were one of the foods responsible for people gaining weight.
Potatoes? The media was all over it — but is it really potatoes we should be worrying about (assuming whole potatoes) when kids are eating 100 lbs of sugar each year and adults even more than that? Or when we eat several hundred calories more each day than just a few short decades ago, get close to 8% of all of our calories each day from soft drinks, and about 26% of the population is 100% physically inactive?
Let’s not split hairs and instead focus on the BIG picture. The other day we were at the store and they were giving out samples of a smoothie — advertising the Vitamix blender — they had the ingredients they were using, which included "organic turbinado sugar." A woman, who was clearly trying to lose weight judging from the books she had in her cart, next to us looked at her husband and said "wow, this is really good — and, look, I told you we should have bought the organic sugar like they’re using."
Really? Is that what people think is the problem?
And that’s why we say stop over thinking.
Transforming your body isn’t as complicated as people make it out to be.
- You’ll get results when you fill half your plate at each meal with more colorful veggies.
- You’ll get results when you replace liquid candy (errr, soft drinks) with water.
- You’ll get results when you start to move more.
- You’ll get results when you replace typical snacks (pretzels, chips, etc) with a piece of fruit.
- You’ll get results when you eat foods with less ingredients on the label (aim for less than 5 per food).
- You’ll get results when you start planning ahead and stop flying by the seat of your pants.
- You’ll get results when you start to sleep more consistently and regularly
- You’ll get results when you stop thinking and start following the tips and strategies above.
Don’t split hairs over minute details. Go back to basics to get RESULTS! The less you get your mind involved, the better your results…
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October 12th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Wow, what an excellent post. You are soooooo right. Every single time I am online or pick up a magazine you get conflicting stories about the same thing. I am getting e-mails from “personal trainers” and even their info is confusing. I’m trying to figure out how much weight I need to use when lifting weights and how many reps and how many sets. I can’t get a straight answer. I guess you choose the one you feel comfortable with. I was using a weight machine and was having problems with my knees. So I stopped and wrote to some of these trainers. I found out that doing leg extensions on the machine was putting my knees in an unnatural postion and adding weight was ruining them. Now I need to find leg exercises that are not going to hurt me. Some of the trainers told me that I just wasn’t used to it and to give it time. I’m smart enough to know that if it hurts like it was hurting, don’t do it. Bottom line, thanks for the great post.
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October 12th, 2011 at 10:40 pm
This is such a kick ass article which really hits you on your nuts- in a good way, that is. STOP OVERTHINKING! Man, did you write this one just for me?!
Just the push I needed to clear my mind off all the confusing, conflicting, exasperation inducing info out there
Thanks guys
.
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October 13th, 2011 at 8:56 am
“Vitamin Blender” LMFAO.
Amazing what’s being sold on supermarkets as healthy food.
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October 13th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I DO UNDERSTAND what you are saying BUT i fear that my clients won’t. I liked the part in your blog when you listed all the things we would get results from but then you ended with “the less you get your mind involved the, the better your results.” Again, I get it, but it seams that it takes very little for my overweight clients to find excuses and reasons why they don’t eat well and “mindless eating” is one thing they say they do.
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October 13th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I DO UNDERSTAND what you are saying BUT i fear that my clients won\’t. I liked the part in your blog when you listed all the things we would get results from but then you ended with \"the less you get your mind involved the, the better your results.\" Again, I get it, but it seams that it takes very little for my overweight clients to find excuses and reasons why they don\’t eat well and \"mindless eating\" is one thing they say they do.
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October 13th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Great post!
To Barb: There is a huge difference between coming back to simplicity and not overthinking, and “mindless eating”. We’re talking about awareness here, not the kind of thinking that actually lends itself to the very excuses and reasons you are afraid your overweight clients will fall back on. Conscious eating is not the same as overthinking eating. Conscious eating means I make a conscious decision to eat the pear with a reasonable amount of nuts rather than the chips or ice cream. Or that I make a conscious decision to eat the chips or ice cream as a “planned indulgence” in moderation every once in a while. Overthinking is where I begin to rationalize the chips or ice cream on a daily basis as somehow being healthy for me because there are no transfats in them, despite the fact that they displace truly healthy foods with nutrients and fiber that my body really needs.
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October 14th, 2011 at 7:59 am
Love it…..it’s the “K.I.S.S.” philosophy. “Keep It Simple Stupid.” There are nicer ways of saying it, but that abbreviation sticks in my brain. I find the more I think and contemplate what is the proper or improper way to lose weight, the less I lose. The days I stick to the “basics” I feel less stress, more energetic and the weight slowly comes off. Great article and reminder of how to not overwhelm yourself.
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