8918 Fat Loss Education- Patience
MetCon//
With a Partner against a 12 minute clock- AMRAP Clean and Jerk and Rowing Calories. Switch whenever you choose.
4:00 @ 135/95
4:00@ 115/80
4:00@ 95/65
Greg Glassman is quoted as saying that CrossFit is successful because we're just repackaging the truth and selling that. And that made me think that when it comes to fat loss, maybe there isn't enough truth circulating. And upon more thought I don't think that anyone is holding back the truth, but rather maybe there isn't enough bubble-bursting when it comes to nutrition or food or dieting or anything else under that banner. I've typically tread pretty lightly when people say things like, “I've been eating cleaner or trying low carb and I've already lost 12 lbs.” I just smile and say, wow that's awesome. When someone is excited about changing their habits and seeing fast results, I've always been afraid of discussing what is really the mechanism they're experiencing. Lets check out the common one I hear.
"Hey I've been doing keto or paleo or low carb or whole 30 for two weeks and I've already lost 10 lbs." They'll even sometimes go on to say things like "well actually I've probably lost more fat, but you know, muscle weigh's more than fat and I've been lifting weights so... aren't you happy for me?"
Ok yes, I'm happy you quit drinking soda and haven't had fast food in two weeks. But here is where a little bubble bursting is going to help you in the long run. Loosing 1 pound of fat means that you burned about 3,500 calories more than you consumed. You lost 10 lbs? Burned 35,000 calories more than you ate... doing CrossFit 3 times this week, and going to your desk job?!?!? The reality is that sure, you burned a little fat, but of the 10 lbs you lost, it was probably about 1 lb or less of actual fat, the rest was water. You're excited, but that's an important parade to rain on because...
A. You're not the magical exception. Rapid weight loss is water... always. B. You will not continue to lose 10 more pounds of water each week. 100lbs in 10 weeks? If you know someone who has done that and has kept off the weight, you should fire me and hire them as your life coach. Heck, I'll pay them too.
and B. When you understand and accept the pace that loosing fat actually takes, you can tap into your most effective fitness tools- patience, perseverance and the like. What happens is when someone looses 10lbs effortlessly and fast, it's what they expect now. You can only lose so much water though. And when you run out of water to lose you're like, "WTF? this thing isn't working!" No, actually it is certainly working, but it's much slower than you want it to. It's certainly much slower than peeing and sweating off the pounds (fat doesn't exit through pee or sweat). So what do people do? Quit or change course at the first sign of difficulty or slowing. If you're focused on eating whole foods, mostly plants, not too much, and exercising regularly, it is working, I promise. There are probably plateaus in fitness and the initial thought is to make some crazy adjustment or raise your training volume or lower your calories. What if all you need to do is chill and stay the course? I personally experience this, the urge to switch it up and all, then all of a sudden, things change in the right direction!
C. You need to burst your own bubble sometimes too. How many of you have an awesome weekend full of barbecues, parties, sporting events and celebrations, step on the scale on Monday, and your heart just sinks. Remember that water swing works both ways. Unless you took on some obscene binge of entire pizzas, tubs if ice cream and liters of Coke on your own, it's unlikely that you gained THAT many pounds of fat. You're bloated from a couple of beers and maybe a few too many fries from Bo & Vine. Being bloated weighs more, a lot more. It only takes one whole foods meal and one normal workout to be back on track! Again don't freak out and decide that the only way to fix yourself is to fast 3 days, a juice cleanse, and a coffee enema.
No matter what you're into, Low Carb, Keto, Paleo, Whole 30, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Vegan, whatever. If you're focusing on whole foods, I approve, even if you indulge from here and there. Whatever it is, just be prepared to see it through for a really long time. The more I'm learning, I'd even say a year or more if you really want to experience the entirety of what that way of eating has to offer. Patience and consistency!