I’m always thinking of different ways to explain fat loss in an effort to help people have an easier time with the process. The reality is that changing your body is very difficult, and I empathize with the struggle.
Here’s something to think about if you haven’t before:
Gratitude.
Instead of focusing on what’s missing, put your attention on what you have and practice being grateful for it.
Adopting a mindset of abundance is how you’re going to change every frustrating thing in your life, from your health to your finances to your relationships.
When you put your attention on what you have, feeling thankful, and enthusiastic about it, you take fewer things for granted.
You waste less.
Restriction can allow us to be more present in the moment and ultimately more fulfilled.
This is one of the many reasons I’m an advocate of tracking macros (protein, carbs and fat). You have calorie parameters, you can’t binge all day like it’s a free for all, yet it’s within these limits where you learn to appreciate every bite of every meal.
You increases awareness, maybe for the first time in your life, because you’re paying attention to the details.
With macro tracking, you have the freedom to eat whatever you want within your nutritional boundaries.
There are no “good” and “bad” foods. You never need to “earn” your food or “burn off” calories with more activity. These asinine concepts are a waste of time at best, and detrimental to your mental and physical health at worst.
Eating mindlessly and allowing yourself to fall into a routine of habits that don’t serve you is precisely why you struggle to see your body change.
Start paying attention to your decisions.
This can be uncomfortable at first, just like anything unfamiliar. If you’ve spent most of your life distracted, and disassociated, mindfulness can be downright painful. Stay with it. Keep practicing.
When you reduce your calories in an effort to lose body fat, you need to “restrict” something, even if it’s just a little bit. This is how you ultimately LOSE body fat. There’s no other way. No need for hours of cardio, unsustainable fad diets or some weird pill or potion. These things don’t work.
Making daily conscious decisions around consumption and your activity is how you’re going to get real results.
When you look at your exercise and nutrition program like this, you not only feel better mentally and physically, you also make the process of getting what you want practically effortless.