I intentionally gain a little weight during the holidays. Partially because I just want to let loose, but mostly because I want to practice and demonstrate my ability to recover and quickly drop the pounds.
It’s always perplexed me that people I know don’t ask me how to lose weight. They’re all quick to tell me about dieting and exercising, but slow to ask for input. Sometimes I think that they think that I’m naturally fit. This isn’t true at all. I’m actually a “Chubby” kid on the inside with a proclivity to gain size. After over a decade of being a SEAL and a lifetime of being a chubby kid, I’ve learned that there are three core ways to get and keep the weight off and none of them are what commercials talk about.
It takes a lot of time
There are too many programs, pills and diets out there that claim they can help you lose weight quickly and without effort. I know you already know this deep inside, but I have to make sure I tell you straight up. Those “Commercials” are full of shit and if you want to lose weight then you need to accept that you’re going to spend a couple of hours a day doing it.
Plan on running for at least an hour a day, lifting weights for 30 minutes and stretching for at least 30 minutes. Assuming you don’t want to spend the rest of the day smelling like a badgers ass, you’re going to need 15 minutes for showering and another 15 minutes for transit time. Do the math and you’re quickly at 2 hours a day. The good news is that once you drop the candy cane blubber you can scale it back to an hour a day.
Organize Your Garage
Ask a room full of people how to lose weight and they will all reply with the same thing. “Diet and Exercise”. If everyone knows how to lose weight why isn’t everyone as thin as they should be?
Physical fitness and weight loss is more about how clean your garage is than it is about diet and exercise. Weight loss and fitness is about getting organized.
If you accept my earlier claim that your weight loss goals are going to take you up to 2 hours a day, then this claim of organization makes a lot of sense. People don’t realize that fitness is a byproduct of an organized life. The number one reason most people are out of shape is because they really just don’t have the time to workout regularly. If you’re not already spending 10 plus hours a week moving your body then the idea probably seems impossible. This is why the “magical” diet pills and exercise programs are so appealing. Unfortunately their results are not.
Stop dieting and start reading
I’ve found two things to be true when it comes to diets. First is that an active body will crave that which is good for you and second is that if you educate yourself about nutrition those “healthy cravings” will get steered to the right foods.
Bonus Tip
Ultimately I’ve been able to stay in shape because of my commitment to lifelong fitness. I’ve accepted that there are no shortcuts and there is no way around putting in the time everyday. Your body is a foundational element of your life and if you let it go it will let you go. Try and skip it so that you can make more money and watch more TV and it will bite you in your fat ass!
Eric
Featured image courtesy of army.mil
