This Is The Way
The scientific consensus to body recomposition is pretty well understood and accepted. With the wealth of knowledge available at the click of a button, a monkey could probably tell you how to count calories or what IF means.
Create a caloric deficit and vola! You lose weight. Lift some barbells and eat a bit more… presto! You gain some muscle. There is undeniably enough nuance being scrubbed over in the last two sentences to fill a library, but it really does boil down to this!
So why on Earth is it so hard to do? Or more accurately, how is it that such a simple formula is so rarely implemented?
The mental barrier is clearly the true challenge. So I’d like to explore the question, “What would a healthy person do?”. Are they just more motivated? Do they consistently have the backing of a coach/team? Are they pre-programmed with the self control of monks?
Answer: No. Maybe. Definitely not.
Keep a cake in the fridge and given enough time, even the Olympian in the room will go for a bite. Put a teetotaller in a group of college kids on vacation and at a certain point, they will probably have a sip.
The problem isn’t the lack of self control here. It's the environment. We’re naturally programmed to seek sugary/salty foods and the acceptance of a group. Think of self control like a limited renewable resource. If you have to keep spending it, you will run out of it faster than you can replenish it.
The “secret” of healthy people is that they control their environment. The less often you have to exert “self control”, the easier it is to do so. Of course having a coach and setting goals help! A lot! But it is a lot harder to get a six pack while everyone around you is debating the finer points of their favourite desserts.
Cleanse your environment of temptations and surround yourself with better foods and like minded people. Make it “easy” to do the right thing. You’re going to be way more likely to pick up an apple for a snack if the apple is lying on your kitchen counter Vs needing to step down to get one.
It can seem overwhelming to set a goal of “run a marathon” when you’ve never run a 5k. The way to win here is to make the task more manageable. The first step is showing up. The goal to start with is: “put on my workout clothes and tie my shoelaces”. From there, even 10mins of jogging gets a routine going. The critical point is not the finish line. It's the startline. Tie your shoelaces. Let the body go on autopilot from there.
Finally, answering the key question being asked, “What does the healthy person do?” 1. They decide the type of life they want to live and 2. Proves it to themselves day after day with the smallest of victories possible. Bite sized pieces of “mammoth” goals. Process; not outcome, is where the focus needs to be.
