The hard truth about meeting your fitness/weight loss goals, is that you can’t out train a bad diet. When I say a “bad” diet, I mean you are making little to no effort to meeting the macronutrient requirements for achieving your goals.
It’s very common for us to reward ourselves with food/drink when we’ve been “good” during the day or the week. We ate good all day and so we deserve to binge on sweets when we get home after a hard day at the office. We got all our work outs in and so that means two glasses of wine tonight instead of one. My favorite? I worked out today so I can eat whatever I want. These are excuses to fall off your commitment. Reasons that you’ve made up for yourself to have whatever it is you want and to justify it to yourself for having it. You want to lose weight? Reach out for some help and when that help is offered to you, take it. Make an effort everyday to follow the suggestions that have been set out for you. Too often do I see people justifying their work to their reason for food choices. You can work in the gym all you want, but if you’re not working in the kitchen too, you will see less desirable results or possibly none. I know better than most that even when I’m killing myself in the gym twice a day, and my meals are on point there are still going to be outside factors that will play into my results. Only then can I say I’m truly doing everything in my power to see the results that I want.
We all want results but who of us are willing to put in the work required to getting it? There’s always a reason or an excuse behind it and rarely are we willing to admit it. People spend hundreds or thousands on easy and quick fixes only to be disappointed at the end because they didn’t learn anything and are now back at square 1. Your love for results and success must be greater than your love for whatever it is that’s keeping you from getting there (Too much wine or high calorie foods).
Which brings me to my next point, Alcohol. We all want to drink and be social but we also want to have a 6 pack and be toned. I’m going to try and break it down to you in the simplest form that I can come up with. Each time that I have decided to take my fitness or fat loss goals seriously, I’ve cut alcohol out of my life. Is this the necessary or the right answer? No. To cut anything out completely, isn’t’ always the answer. Especially if it’s something you enjoy in moderation and have never had an issue with. In saying that, many don’t’ realize that alcohol contains calories. Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but it does. If I decide to have a glass of wine or a crown royal (my personal faves) I count them in my macro’s as either carbs or fats. I choose to count 4oz of wine as 25 grams of carbs or else 9 grams of fat. After I discuss wine, people are quick to jump in and say they only drink hard alcohol and water. The alcohol that you choose to drink isn’t a matter, it still contains calories. Each shot of alcohol contains roughly 15 grams of carbs. So, when you were good with your diet all day or all week, and decide to treat yourself with a drink. Be mindful! Track what you’re having and maybe think about the potential reasons that you’re not seeing the results you want.
It’s common to hear people say they want to lose weight or see a change, but they aren’t giving this or that up. They want to gain muscle but they don’t want to eat protein. They want to lose weight but they aren’t cutting back on sweets or their daily double doubles. Then I ask you to have a look at what you REALLY want and decide what’s more important to you. Can you have both? of course. But sooner or later you will realize that one passion needs to over take the other to find what you’re looking for. Stop making excuses for the results you aren’t seeing and start making the changes necessary. If you’re unsure where to start, start tracking your macros including your glass of wine and the double-double from Tim’s. I’m sure you’ll be surprised at the amount of fats and carbs you’re consuming and the lack of protein in your diet. You must start somewhere and you aren’t always going to like the answer given to you. There are many approaches to weight loss or body transformations, but most of them come down to hard work and discipline. The key is to start somewhere! Start small and slowly build up your knowledge along with your approaches.
P.S. This picture was from one of my best friends stagettes! ‘WINO’ Because I love wine just as much as the next person.
