No matter how you cut it, how MUCH energy you put IN your body matters.
What are your training/lifestyle goals?
For some, their weight, size, and shape is exactly where they want it to be. This is fantastic! Finding a happy place to be within our own body is the ultimate goal! This “happy place” varies depending on the person and what makes them feel comfortable in their own skin.
For some people (many of whom that come to The Lifestyle Block), they are looking for a change in their body shape. It usually begins with, “I want to loose some weight”, or “I need to tone up”
The Key Players
- Protein – eating enough quality protein per day is one of the most important changes we can make for our overall wellness and body composition.
- Sleep – adequate, restorative sleep is unmatched in it’s ability to facilitate recovery and impact almost every bodily function throughout the day! Prioritise this!
- Training/Movement – Moving, exercising, training, all part of the natural course of the human day. “You were born into a body that expects to move” (Herman Pontzer). It’s not just something we “should do”, it’s something the body EXPECTS to do.
- Nutrition – fresh, colourful foods. Natural, minimally-processed as often as possible.
I’m doing all of this… but still no change? Why?
Because QUANTITY matters my friends. Quantity matters.
Let’s look at it this way – there are many ways that the body can expend energy… but there is only one way for energy to come INTO the body.
That’s right, energy can only come in through EATING IT.
What does this mean for me?
“We MUST get the ENERGY IN part under control in order to change our bodies. The scale doesn’t lie to us when we use it regularly” (Marcus Filly)
One of the most powerful feedback opportunities that we have is to understand how:
a.) our INPUTS to our body (calories in) line up with,
b.) our OUTPUTS (metabolism, training, NEAT)
How your body changes is the true place to test how your current food intake is working.
Start the new month by testing this out:
- If your bodyweight is stable during the month then you have found a maintenance level of caloric intake.
- If your bodyweight is going up during the month then you are eating in a caloric surplus
- If your bodyweight is coming down during the month then you are eating in a caloric deficit
We don’t always have to go by scale measurements either – we can use some of our other indicators of success to understand how we are tracking/feeling (refer back to Indicators of Success Post on our TLB Hub). However, using the scale as a “tool” to track ourselves for data gathering purposes can be helpful. We just have to be careful that we don’t rely on the scales to provide the whole picture, rather they can be a helpful assistant when testing and investigating.
Parting Words…
Remember, knowledge is power.
You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
If your weight is going up during the month (and you don’t want it to), don’t freak out!!! This is a great trend to acknowledge and in no way should it make you feel bad! Use this knowledge as a platform for change. Use our other tips and tricks to make some adjustments to your eating habits and see if the “data” changes.
Take the emotion, blame, guilt out of it – and view it objectively. If something isn’t working, we simply acknowledge, adapt, and try something new 🙂
Keep reading through our posts for more of our TLB mindset and lifestyle approach ideas.
