The Strategic Method to Getting in Shape
Fitness is one of those things like money where many people get big swings in motivation to achieve these goals. When someone gets motivated or inspired to get in better shape they often go to the extreme and will all of a sudden go on a strict diet and workout regimen and expect to get results.
Many times people actually do see great results from this. The extra focus people use on this one goal they’re extremely motivated by creates a lot of momentum. So the issue isn’t really the workout program or the diet. The issue is that it’s not sustainable.
For most people the most important things in their life are their health, wealth, and relationships which all leads to happiness. However, people usually go after one of them very hard and neglect the other parts of their life.
The way this plays out in people’s fitness journeys is they get really motivated to get fit, they get fit but it’s not healthy to sustain that long term. People then binge eat because they’ve been restricting all of these foods they like and calories so they will keep losing energy.
Strategize Your Fitness Journey
The strategic approach to fitness if your goal is to get in better shape and stay there would be to find a sustainable long term solution. That can include monitoring your calories but not every day necessarily. If you’re monitoring your calorie intake then you can still enjoy some of the food you love but you will have to do that in moderation.
The long-term sustainable diet for losing weight is restricting your calories gradually and losing only a few pounds per week. That way your energy levels won’t drop and you won’t feel as hungry as if you were restricting more.
For example, if you burn 2,000 calories per day then if you ate 2,000 calories for one week, you wouldn’t gain any weight.
If you start out by reducing 500 calories from your intake then that would be 3500 calories in a week. So you’ve eating 3500 less calories than you have burned during that week. One pound is 3500 calories so that would mean you lost one pound that week. If you did that for 10 weeks that would be 10 pounds.
The more weight you lose quicker the more muscle you will lose too though. So depending on your goals you could increase or decrease the amount of weight you want to lose per week. If you lose 2 lbs a week, then you can lose almost 25 lbs in 12 weeks. Then you can increase your caloric intake and maintain where you feel comfortable.
Summer Body Versus Winter Body
Now we all don’t keep the same physique all year long of course. We want to look especially lean during the summer because that’s when you go to the beach or pool parties and even just go out more.
So there’s nothing wrong with getting extra strict a few months before summer and then maintaining that throughout the summer. Then after summer when fall comes and the holidays you can moderately increase your calories and reduce the amount of physical activity.
If you binge on the holidays that’s just going to mean you need to burn more calories. When you’re in the holiday spirit you’ll have more energy and because of the increase in calories you have more energy too. Use that to your advantage and go do something fun outside with your family that also burns calories.
High Energy Foods
During the course of year we need to make sure we keep the rest of our lives in order too. If you base your diet on nutrient dense and energy packed foods you’ll have more energy and you’ll be able to work better and you’ll be in a better mood.
Part of the enjoyment of life for many people involves eating foods you like with other people you have relationships with. You can still enjoy those foods but otherwise it’s going to be most effective if you’re eating healthy whole foods.
Whole foods like meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans should be the core of your diet. If you’re against eating meat than you can just eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and so many other whole foods.
It’s hard to stay away from process foods and even if you are a vegan or vegetarian, a lot of the meat substitutes are processed too. So just like real meat it should be eaten in moderation and the rest of your diet should be real whole foods.
Fruits and vegetables mostly are best eaten raw but of course cooking them can make them taste better so find your balance there. Rice and potatoes are great foods too. They get a bad rap with the fat loss community but they can help with building and maintaining muscle.
One last good food to eat are grain. Oats are one of the best grains and a great source of carbohydrates. A very tasty breakfast or dessert is overnight oats. You can use your favorite type of milk, oats, fruits like banana or strawberry, and protein powder. Mix that up and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Conclusion
If you want to get fit then you should take a long-term approach to it and do things in moderation. Balance your diet between eating your favorite foods and whole foods while monitoring your calories burned vs calories eaten.
A mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercises will help you maintain a healthy body and good physique. High intensity aerobic exercise for 15-45 minutes is so good for your body and your brain especially. The brain is the engine that powers the body so you want to keep it healthy. To learn more about the strategic method to fitness check out https://fitnessjuggernaut.com/.
Don’t neglect the other parts of your life like your relationships especially if you’re married, your career, and your sense of happiness. Don’t sacrifice these things in order to get fit because these all work with each other and work towards your ultimate happiness.