Hey Fit Family!
It’s a holiday weekend so let’s have some fun and go on a full on MEME PARADE!
I promise you will want to stick around to the end.
First, some Bad News...
For some people to lose body fat they do need to have all their ducks in a row.
Unfortunately, they kind of have to be “perfect” and one night out really can kill an entire week of progress.
This can lead to a fear-based mentality when it comes to food.
So, how do we get out of this fear-based mentality?
First, many people see staying weight stable and not actively losing weight as a failure…but, hold up fat loss by definition is NOT sustainable.
No one, let me repeat that...no one can lose weight forever.
Thus, I see weight stability in the face of Tacos and Candy as the MOST IMPORTANT skill one needs for long-term success.
Active Fat Loss phases are difficult and My Fit Foods can make them so so much easier, but you know what isn’t nearly as difficult?
Maintenance!
In fact, just one pre-packaged pre-portioned meal per day may allow you to keep your results.
And IMO, the most important factors for maintaining your results long-term are increased physical activity and having a system or solid plan to fall back on.
I've read a lot of research on weight loss and weight loss maintenance and as far as non-food-based strategies for long-term success you probably can't change my mind when comes to the importance of increased physical activity.
In one of my favorite studies to date Martin et al., 2019 had groups of people increase their exercise by varying amounts over 24 weeks and on average they were able to eat ~100 kcals more per day and they did not gain body fat. Recently, Foright et al., 2020 found that after an active weight loss phase increased exercise ALONE was able to maintain 10% weight loss!
This is in sharp contrast to the average American who perennially gains 1 to 2 pounds of body fat per year on repeat until late middle age.
Here’s the rub though, the people in that Martin study who thought that healthy behaviors could make up for unhealthy behaviors got the worst results.
This is likely because all of us seem to be really terrible and at playing the calorie math for cheeseburgers game.
We tend to underestimate the calorie content of food by around ~20-50% and overestimate the number of calories we burn from exercise by as much as 300-400%.
Also, the mindset of utilizing exercise as punishment for food transgressions isn’t really going to be helpful for most people long-term, and in most instances, it probably just leaves us fighting ourselves.
Thus, to me, it is much more about how can we get CONSISTENT with our movement practice on a daily basis which will likely help us regulate our appetite and maintain our results.
So Ya Ate Some Candy…Now What?
Get back to it.
AKA What are your normal baseline systems that hold the line and allow you to be successful?
Reflect…
Are you consistently getting in your steps?
Successful weight loss maintainers look like they get over 11,000 steps per day and the breakpoint for appetite regulation looks like it is around 8,000.
Are you consistently training twice per week?
Because this is likely the amount of resistance exercise we need to maintain our muscle mass and functionality as we age.
Did you eat real food at most meals?
Increasing our nutrient-dense whole food intake is likely one of the biggest keys to our long-term success and health.
Did you have your My Fit Foods meals ready for those occasions when you might be prone to order Uber eats for absolutely no reason?
As James Clear says, “We do not rise to the levels of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.”
So instead of being hyperfocused on how many Reese's peanut butter cups everyone is consuming…let’s shift the conversation to how can we live better more fulfilling lives that aren’t constantly inundated with worry about the next Holiday!
Click HERE to order your meals.
#GIVEAFIT
REFERENCES:
1. Martin, C.K., et al., Effect of different doses of supervised exercise on food intake, metabolism, and non-exercise physical activity: The E-MECHANIC randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 2019. 110(3): p. 583-592.
2. Foright, R., et al., Effects of Exercise during Weight Loss Maintenance on Appetite Regulation in Women. Transl J Am Coll Sports Med, 2020. 5(12).
3. Konig, L.M., K. Ziesemer, and B. Renner, Quantifying Actual and Perceived Inaccuracy When Estimating the Sugar, Energy Content and Portion Size of Foods. Nutrients, 2019. 11(10).
4. Zhou, J., et al., Calorie Estimation From Pictures of Food: Crowdsourcing Study. Interact J Med Res, 2018. 7(2): p. e17.
5. Lichtman, S.W., et al., Discrepancy between self-reported and actual caloric intake and exercise in obese subjects. N Engl J Med, 1992. 327(27): p. 1893-8.
6. Champagne, C.M., et al., Energy intake and energy expenditure: a controlled study comparing dietitians and non-dietitians. J Am Diet Assoc, 2002. 102(10): p. 1428-32.
7. Dahle, J.H., et al., Underreporting of energy intake in weight loss maintainers. Am J Clin Nutr, 2021.
8. McKenzie, B.L., et al., Investigating sex differences in the accuracy of dietary assessment methods to measure energy intake in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr, 2021. 113(5): p. 1241-1255.
9. Willbond, S.M., et al., Normal weight men and women overestimate exercise energy expenditure. J Sports Med Phys Fitness, 2010. 50(4): p. 377-84.
10. Brown, R.E., et al., Calorie Estimation in Adults Differing in Body Weight Class and Weight Loss Status. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 2016. 48(3): p. 521-6.
11. Ostendorf, D.M., et al., Physical Activity Energy Expenditure and Total Daily Energy Expenditure in Successful Weight Loss Maintainers. Obesity (Silver Spring), 2019. 27(3): p. 496-504.
12. Melby, C.L., et al., Increasing Energy Flux to Maintain Diet-Induced Weight Loss. Nutrients, 2019. 11(10).
13. Church, T.S. and C.K. Martin, Exercise is the Key to Keeping Weight Off, but What is the Key to Consistently Exercising? Obesity (Silver Spring), 2019. 27(3): p. 361.
14. Mitchell, W.K., et al., Sarcopenia, dynapenia, and the impact of advancing age on human skeletal muscle size and strength; a quantitative review. Front Physiol, 2012. 3: p. 260.
15. Pontzer, H., et al., Daily energy expenditure through the human life course. Science, 2021. 373(6556): p. 808-812.
16. Varkevisser, R.D.M., et al., Determinants of weight loss maintenance: a systematic review. Obes Rev, 2019. 20(2): p. 171-211.
17. Rolls, B.J., Dietary energy density: Applying behavioural science to weight management. Nutr Bull, 2017. 42(3): p. 246-253.