What’s cool about having done this for 15 years, is that we know all of the questions that people ask every New Years. The New Years questions are actually the perfect place for you to start.
Should I Do This Cleanse/Magic Diet?
This is a common question because people have that feeling of being “super motivated.” You want to do something hard and exciting and really see results this time.
There’s a superstition created by our media that says that super hard crazy restriction, magic foods, or avoiding food groups are the key to weight loss. This, of course, is false. Calories determine weight loss.
You can lose weight in any amount of caloric deficit. What we what to do is work on the skills that have people reduce calories and lose weight:
- Waiting until hungry to eat
- Eating 3-4 meals per day (no snacks)
- Eating mostly whole foods
- Plating meals ¼ protein, ¼ carbohydrates, ½ vegetables, 1 tablespoon fat
- Eating just enough (stopping before too full)
If you really take a look at the above skills, it’s pretty obvious that if you were doing all 5, you would lose weight.
There’s no reason to get distracted by “magic foods” if the issue is simply that you’re snacking too much between meals and after dinner. Let’s focus on the big, important stuff, and not get distracted by things that don’t make a difference.
Will This Supplement Help Me Lose Weight?
It’s possible, but most people that try to lose weight without changing their diet end up the same size or heavier. A person may initially lose a couple pounds but they come back. If you have weight to lose, it’s not because you’re lacking a supplement, it’s a result of what, when, and how much you eat. And popping a pill or drinking a tea won’t help you solve those real issues behind your weight.
Working on your eating skills is so effective that you won’t need any supplements
Should I Count Calories?
This is a better question.
The answer, though, is probably not.
Counting calories is kind of like if you were playing basketball, but instead of passing, shooting, and dribbling (playing the game) you just stood and looked at the scoreboard, trying to will it to be different.
In reality, what you want to work on is playing the game really well. That means working on food skills:
- Waiting until hungry to eat
- Eating 3-4 meals per day (no snacks)
- Eating mostly whole foods
- Plating meals ¼ protein, ¼ carbohydrates, ½ vegetables, 1 tablespoon fat
- Eating just enough (stopping before too full)
If you do the above five food skills, you’ll be in a caloric deficit automatically, and you’ll lose weight. Focus on the actions that put you in a caloric deficit.
Can I Do More Than One Food Skill?
Now we’re getting to even better questions!!!!
In the past, we tried to dial people back to one skill at a time. The idea was simple: Let’s focus on one thing, and really be successful at that one thing, before moving on. We’ve changed our tune in the last couple years.
If you’re feeling super “motivated” at New Years, DO ALL FIVE.
Seriously, jump right in and do as many as you can. Just don’t stress out if some of these are hard. They are hard. And they’re worth it.
If you really want to rock this January, do them all. They’re the same 5 skills you’ll use to maintain your weight loss results for the rest of your life, so get as much practice as you can!
Just make sure to hold them lightly. If you start to feel less “motivated” in February and March (most people do) you can dial it back to practicing 1-3 of the skills, and then slowly ramp up over time.
Why Do You Keep Putting “Motivation” in Quotes?
Well, mostly when people say they are “motivated,” what they mean is that they have a feeling or an emotion that they want to do something. That feeling can be really useful for getting started.
The issue is what happens in February and March when you no longer “feel motivated”.
That’s when the game actually begins. That’s when we play the game of how to fit these same skills into your life, at different levels, over a lifetime.
Ultimately, what will have you maintain the results you get is doing the food skills because they represent the kind of person you want to be.
Generally, people are parents to their kids because it’s important for them to be parents to their kids, not because they feel “motivated.” No one gets a four-year degree in college because they were “motivated” the whole time — they did it because it was important to them, and they kept working at it when they didn’t feel “motivated.” Weight loss and healthy eating work the same way — to keep going you have to get clear about the kind of person you want to be.
Your weight loss results will last a lifetime if they are a combination of:
The kind of person you want to be
+
The most effective food skills
But it’s ok if you start with “motivation.”
Why Food Skills and Not Diets?
Most of our clients have failed at white-knuckling diets at least 10 times before. They find that food skills work where diets have failed.
It just makes sense — food skills are the actions of weight loss.
Why These Food Skills?
- Waiting until hungry to eat
- Eating 3-4 meals per day (no snacks)
- Eating mostly whole foods
- Plating meals ¼ protein, ¼ carbohydrates, ½ vegetables, 1 tablespoon fat
- Eating just enough (stopping before too full)
We continuously pour over the research on which food skills have people lose the most weight and keep it off for the longest.
We also look at the research on which food skills positively impact people’s relationships with their bodies, repair issues with emotional eating, and increase well being.
We find that the One by One Nutrition food skills are the ones that work best for all of these, from weight loss to well being.
What If I Have Trouble With These Food Skills?
Well, the food skills are probably the opposite of how you’ve been eating all of your life. So, we’re doing a full 180°.
It’s kind of like this: the way most people eat is the way you would eat if you wanted to be hungry all of the time and gain weight. We flip all of that completely backward, so you’re satisfied all of the time and lose weight. But that also means that we’re filling in a lot of skills-gaps that people have. That can be tough.
Many of our food skills have subskills. For example, if a person struggles with Eating Just Enough, we can take a look a some of the sub-skills that make up Eating Just Enough:
- Eating slowly
- Taking half-time
- Boosting veggie intake
- Eating without screens
- Eating carbs last
- Eating protein
- Planning the next thing
- Sensing diminishing returns
We can work on any one of those sub-skills, and then come back and have Eating Just Enough be more successful. The important thing to know is that we’ve got a complete system, and we have tools specifically designed for you to use whenever you are having a tough time.
By Josh Hillis
Author of Fat Loss Happens on Monday (2014), and Lean and Strong (upcoming 2019), for OnTarget Publications
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