There’s a theme around here the last few newsletters because nutrition is on a lot of people’s minds, more-so than exercise right now, which seems harder for some people at the moment.
And if they’ve realized that Covid-19 has added some nice ‘marbling’ to their bodies, they want to know how they can start to reduce the extra fluff.
As we talked about on Monday, it depends on you and the habits you’re willing to work on, before you just start seeing pounds fall off.
And then comes the question …
“I’ve been coming here for a few weeks, and I still haven’t lost any weight. Do you think I’m broken?”
If this sounds familiar, now is not the time to give up, and no, you’re not broken.
Obviously it’s super frustrating when the scale refuses to move—especially when you’re exercising more and you’ve made some changes to your diet.
But:
Before you throw in the towel, and go back to your unhealthy ways…let’s take a look at some things that could be limiting your weight loss.
And, If you can correct them, you may start to see changes in your body—especially your weight loss.
1. Eating in a Caloric Deficit
This is a pretty simple (not easy) concept, but basically, if you eat less calories than your body actually needs, you will lose weight.
Now, that doesn’t mean drastically reduce calories while adding tons of exercise, rather, eating just a little bit less over a long period.
Going too fast creates counter-productive stress (see below).
You may be living off adrenaline (fake energy fueled by stress), instead of utilizing nutrients efficiently (proper energy fueled by food), and that’s not good, or conducive to weight loss.
Start eating 2/3 of a plate, instead of a full plate, or one less handful of chips – make it easy.
2. You’re Under Stress
As I said Monday, the extremism doesn’t work because reducing calories is one type of stress (not bad) and increasing exercise is another form of stress (not bad), BUT when you combine that with a Worldwide Pandemic of stress (bad), your body will not respond because it will feel under attack and remain in the sympathetic nervous system of fight, not flight.
When we can relax into our parasympathetic nervous system, that’s when our hormones can work for us, instead of protecting us, and allow our bodies to start changing by utilizing energy efficiently.
Most of the world is having at least low-level, if not very high levels of anxiety or systemic stress going on in the background, everyday, bleeding reserves dry.
The more stressed out you are, the harder it will be to lose weight.
Cortisol, which increases in times of stress, may cause an increase in blood sugar, which could stunt even the best weight loss efforts.
Better management of stress could lead to an easier time losing weight (meditation anyone?).
And you won’t crave unhealthy foods, which could easily lead to overconsumption of calories.
3. You Are Born With A “Different” Metabolism
There’s a chance you need to work harder than someone else because you have a “different” metabolism, I know I do.
Although you can’t change your genes, you can alter certain things in your body to give your metabolic rate a boost.
Increasing your lean muscle mass, through strength training, could will add a moderate boost to your metabolic rate.
It’s been shown that leaner people utilize more calories, thanks to having more lean muscle mass.
Even a small bump in your metabolic rate, could lead to positive changes on the scale.
4. Eat MORE Protein
I said this one Monday as well, and I want to go a little deeper.
I’d bet a million bucks you could eat a pound of pasta, {first_name}, or a pound of some other carby goodness like bread, if you really wanted, in one sitting.
I’m not so sure you could eat a whole pound of Chicken Breast though, even in a day maybe.
Good luck overeating when you’re filling up with all that protein.
The “trick” is to eat AT LEAST your goal weight in grams of protein everyday.
If you’re 200 lbs and you want to be 150, start eating 150g of Protein EVERYDAY, and never miss, especially if you want to keep your muscles intact and not become prey to sarcopenia.
Come back to me in a week and tell me you’re not leaner, or more muscly … I’ll wait. 🙂
If you’ve been struggling to lose weight, or you’re frustrated by your lack of results, then eating in a caloric deficit, controlling your stress, accepting your metabolism, eating MORE protein and boosting your lean muscle mass through strength training may will kick-start your weight loss.
Making these small tweaks will result in dramatically different results, guaranteed.
And if you’re ready to hit accelerate and not have to figure it all out yourself, hit reply and let me know with “Reduce My Marbling” and and I’ll grill you up a reply (see what I did there?) 😛
Be Well – John
Changing the way Life is done.
Mindset. Fitness. Nutrition.
P.S. Here are 4 more ways you can become happier and healthier:
1. At-Home Workout Program
We created a 3 tiered entry-level program for those who want/need to stay at home to workout, and you can access it for FREE.
There is NO EQUIPMENT needed, only an open mind and doing the work!
You can get it now: CLICK HERE
2. Online Coaching Program
We’ve created an Online Program to fit all budgets.
Everything from On-Demand Videos, to LIVE Streaming Classes, Accountability Coaching Calls and more!
If that sound interesting, you can find out all the details now: CLICK HERE
3. Join our BADASS Community on Facebook
We want to work with and be around as many BADASS people as possible. Folks who might forget how BADASS they are and just need the space to remember.
So, we started a FREE group on Facebook called BADASS, which is our own private community where we go deeper into what we do at Bair Knuckle Strength.
The truth is, it makes the world a happier, safer, more enjoyable place when you love your BADASS self.
If you’re ready to see what we do, just CLICK HERE!
4. Rise
Rise is the story of ‘never feeling powerful … to … never feeling powerless’. It’s about John Bair’s life, why he does what he does and how his suffering created happiness.
This handwritten book takes you through an intimate, yet, self-revealing journey, which allows you to implant yourself into the story, as it relates to your own, and reveal the steps you’ll need to take, in order to make change a successful reality.
Available in DIGITAL, AUDIO, BOOK