My Super Secret Formula That Guarantees You Awesome Weight Loss Results

It occurred to me as I was getting ready to do today’s Insanity workout and absentmindedly singing my cheerful pre-workout song – “This is going to suck suck suck suck, suckity suck suck, suckity suck suck suck, OH!” – that I was not exactly exemplifying the traditionally “correct” positive mindset. I spent a few moments trying to force out the negative thoughts and focus on the good – “how awesome will it feel when I’m done?” etc – but it really just wasn’t enough. I got frustrated at myself for not being able to do what I “should” be doing, and then I got frustrated at myself for being frustrated at myself over something so silly. Then I realized that if I tried to spend that much energy playing mind games with myself, I probably wouldn’t have any energy left to do my workout. So I happily kept singing, and went on to do my workout just fine.

It seems odd for someone who writes an advice blog to tell you to disregard other people’s advice, but really in the end, finding your own success is just a matter of trial and error – advice just gives you a few solid leads to start with. The weight loss and fitness world (as well as the rest of the world, really, but for now I will focus on fitness) is riddled with blatant contradictions and totally arbitrary rules that are nearly indistinguishable from actual valuable information.

Just one small example… Eat three square meals a day. No wait, graze on several small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism revving! Well, hang on a sec – intermittent fasting causes the best weight loss when you eat only one or two large meals per day within a small window of time. Well that’s a head scratcher.

And that is only dealing with meal timing – it gets even more confusing when you try to find out the kinds of foods you “should” eat. Some people swear that the only way to lose weight and retain lean muscle mass is by eating a very strict low-carbohydrate diet and eating a large amount of protein, fat, or both. Within this camp, some advise that you try to reach a state of ketosis for maximum results, while others tell you that ketosis is very unhealthy and should be avoided at all costs. Other people insist that vegetarian or vegan is the way to go to reach optimum health. Still others say that it doesn’t matter what you eat at all as long as your calories fall below a certain level. Sadly, that is barely even scratching the surface of the amount of information dieters get bombarded with on an average Google search.

So, in the end, the first part of my super secret formula that guarantees you awesome weight loss results boils down to… DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. This can mean anything from attempting a trial and error approach like I prefer to finding one sustainable thing that gets you even a small amount of progress and doggedly sticking with it. This also means that, while it is important to keep up to date on the latest science concerning diet and exercise, keep in mind that some of this science may really be hooey – consider your sources, do plenty of research, and evaluate your likelihood of success with any one program.

The second, but equally important, half of my advice is to EVALUATE WHETHER YOUR CHOSEN PLAN SEEMS HEALTHY. Sure, some people can live on the Atkins diet eating bacon, steak, eggs, and cheese while eating few vegetables or fruits and be perfectly happy with it because it works for them. However, is an approach like this (or any other diet plan you may be considering) really healthy? I’m not going to claim that I can answer this question any more accurately than anyone else, but I can tell you that your own body is a pretty good judge of what is or isn’t good for it.

Have you ever noticed how, after downing half a pizza you sit there feeling sluggish, greasy, and just generally lethargic and gross? And maybe after doing well on a diet, eating cleanly, you notice that your skin looks clearer and brighter and your energy levels are way beyond what they used to be? Those are important signals that your body is sending you. I know when I followed the Atkins diet for a while, I felt awful – headachey, cloudy-brained, and fatigued. I would have killed a man for a bowl of strawberries or some cereal. I knew that diet was not healthy for me, even if some people find it perfectly fine for them. Again, do what works for YOU and feels healthy for YOU, not for someone else.

Before you get disappointed that this post seems obvious, let me explain that, often, even obvious stuff like this gets overlooked in the fevered frenzy to lose weight. If common sense reigned, crash diets like the grapefruit diet probably would be unheard of and we wouldn’t have average, everyday people (not bodybuilders, mind you, they have a reason to obsess) flipping out over missing one of their regimented, scheduled meals that occurs every 2.5 hours and consists of 258.7 calories or somesuch. There is not one definite one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss that must be followed or all else is lost. Do a little (healthy) experimentation and sort out the truth from the hype for yourself.

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