Oh the joys of modern sensationalist click bait headlines attempting to lure us to read their “amazing” but usually anti-climatic advertorials where you’re persuaded that the solution to your fat waist line is a pill/exercise machine/course that promises easy weight loss with little or no change to your lifestyle.
We live in an instant gratification world where we expect to get everything we desire – RIGHT NOW. Want to buy a new iPad? If we have to wait for three days, forget it! We want it delivered by tomorrow (and that’s being patient).
We hear a song we like, do we wait to the weekend to pop down to the shop to buy it? No, we want to download it now!
Of course we aren’t stupid. We know when marketers are selling to us. We know when we click on those pesky ads that somewhere behind the website is a guy called Tom who has spent a big advertising budget on the hopes that the likes of you and I decide to try that free trial of this new revolutionary diet pill……
We think we’re too smart to be duped into parting with our hard earned cash on some snake oil, but a small part of us wonders. It wonders “what if”. “What if” there is something in this. What if this is something new and so shocking that even “gym owners don’t want you to know about it” incase they lose all of their business……
Well I’m not here to bash anyone. I’m not here to debate about the efficacy of any kind of weight loss product or program. Sure some work, some don’t, some are outright scams and some may aid in some way. I’m here to tell you about the really WEIRD thing I found out.
The weird thing is that since I stopped searching for the latest diet, the latest solution, the fastest fat burning workout, the faster I actually lost weight!
In fact, not only have I lost weight (a whole 14 kilos), I haven’t put it back on for the past two years. Yep that’s right. No more Yo-Yo-ing weight for me and I feel great.
It’s weird when you realize there is no weird trick or that you don’t need any weird trick to get fit, you just end up getting fit! I’m going to reveal to you how I did it in just a second, but the first thing you need to know is that it’s 80% a mental game and 20% actual technique.
The mental game
The mental game is to remember that if you want any success in life – whether that be in business, work, relationships, health, there are no short cuts. You have to put the effort in. There is and never will be a short cut to success.
OK, there are smart ways of doing things that will help you get to your goals quicker, but there is never a magic bullet that will solve all your problems without you having to do any work. Once you realize that, then mentally it becomes much easier, because now you’re focused on how you’re going to reach the goals rather than running after one shiny object after the other.
The Technique
The technique on how to lose weight and get fit. Do you want to know the “secret”? I won’t hold it back from you anymore: Eat well and exercise.
Yep, that’s it. Notice I didn’t mention a specific diet? No South Beach, no Atkins, no Paleo. Simply eat well. You don’t have to count every single calorie, you don’t have to worry about have many grams of fat the piece of Cookie has because eating well means having a balanced diet.
It’s common sense that if you’re going to eat KFC on Monday, McDonalds on Tuesday, Taco Bell on Wednesday and any other fast food for the whole week that you’re not eating well. You know that it isn’t going to be healthy for you. That’s all you need to know.
The vast majority of the week, I make sure I eat plenty of greens, have lean meat without too much sugary or creamy sauces, have whole grains and fruit. I still have fast food once in a while when I’m out with friends but I know that overall, I eat well. I don’t have the stress of having to count every single calorie I eat. Common sense prevails.
I enjoy having a doughnut or Brownie but I don’t pig out on them. I know when it’s enough. I enjoy the taste of having a Krispy Kreme but I don’t feel the urge to eat the whole box because I’m simply aware of what eating well means. It’s who I am now.
I use a similar strategy for exercise. I don’t go to the gym, I don’t have a hardcore DVD that I follow, I simply go on the treadmill when I can during the week. I usually go on it at least four times a week when I’ve got spare time between working and looking after my kids.
I go to the park with my daughter and we have fun. It’s killing two birds with one stone. We both get to exercise, but it’s a quality activity we have together also. It’s these little actions that gives you the exercise you need over time. You don’t have to enroll yourself into a gym or class if you don’t want to. How many time have you joined the gym and ended up paying a small fortune for something you hardly used?
Everyday, I’m secretly proud to have found the “secret” to getting fit. Simply by eating well and doing very mild exercise I was able to lose all that weight and keep it off too. Not only has it worked for me, but scientific studies have also shown this approach is much more effective than most other ways.
Why don’t you see how weird it is that you can lose weight without that “weird trick” after all.