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#111 - Q & A: Building Confidence After "Failing", The Optimal Training Routine, & More
20 Plays8 days ago
In this episode, I’m answering 5 questions I’ve gotten recently. Mixing the facts with personal experience and as always some practical tips you can use to improve your health and fitness starting today.
Here’s what I cover:
- How many workout days per week you need for the best results
- Whether you should track calories or all your macros
- How to build confidence after failing so many times
- The impact weight loss has on your life outside the gym
- How my own workouts and diet have changed since losing 100 pounds
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Purpose
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome back to the Fit Dish Project with your host, as always, Lathan Bass, where we make fitness and health simple for regular people like you and I.
Episode Format: Q&A Session
00:00:11
Speaker
We got another weekly episode coming at you this week, a Q&A episode, as I like to do about once a month with questions from you guys, questions from social media, and just so common questions that I get from clients.
00:00:22
Speaker
Before getting into that, if you can and have not already, leave a review just to continue to get this info out to the people who need it most.
Overview of Key Questions
00:00:30
Speaker
the topic of the week. So I have five questions that I'm going to answer.
Optimal Workout Frequency
00:00:34
Speaker
First one is going to be about how many days per week you should be training for best results, whether or not it's better to track all your macros or just focus on calories, how to build confidence when you've tried so many times in the past but failed, how my workout routine has changed since losing 100 pounds and what my diet actually looks like now versus then.
00:00:57
Speaker
And the last question will be, What effect has losing a bunch of weight had on you outside of the gym? So getting into question number one, how many days per week should I work out if I want to build the most muscle?
00:01:12
Speaker
So when it comes to this question, the first thing that you have to ask yourself when you're trying to figure out the most optimal training routine is what is your goal? For most people, a general guideline is going to be working out anywhere between two to four times per week. I find the sweet spot for a lot of my clients happens to be that three times per week.
00:01:33
Speaker
But you also need to understand like you can make progress working out two really solid workouts per week if you really get into the gym and get after it and focus on Progressive overload, you're really pushing the intensity and getting a lot out of those two sessions. You can build muscle, build strength, see results from just two workouts per week.
00:01:51
Speaker
You can also see results from three times per week, four times per week, even up to five and six times per week. But I think for most people, that sweet spot is going to be two to four times per week. With that being said, I think it's critical to find a amount of sessions that you can get in the gym and be realistic with yourself and find something that is actually consistent.
00:02:13
Speaker
Because if you're working out one time and then next week you're working out three times and the week after that you're working out one time again and then you're in there for four times, like if you're super inconsistent. It's really hard to build momentum. It's really hard to follow a good structured program and it's harder just to see results. And so find something that you can stick with.
00:02:32
Speaker
So maybe that's just starting with two workouts per week or three workouts per week, because you know for certain that you can get in the gym that many times per week and be consistent with it and follow a good structured plan. That way you can start to see some actual progress.
Goal-Setting for Effective Workouts
00:02:45
Speaker
And then after you feel really good about that, like you're really consistent with three times per week, you've done that for a month, maybe two months, no problem. It fits into the schedule really well. You feel really good. You're able to recover. You're seeing progress.
00:02:57
Speaker
And you want to add another day to maybe get some extra benefits out of your fitness program, then you can add on another day, and maybe you go to four days per week. But I think a lot of people make the mistake of biting off more than they can chew in that initial like intro period where they think, okay, if working out three times per week is good, then working out six times per week must be way better, you know, twice as good.
00:03:19
Speaker
But if you can't stick to that, it makes no sense. And I think a lot of people really overestimate how many days per week or how much time they need to actually spend in the gym to get good results. With that being said, just because you're in the gym four, five, six times per week, that doesn't necessarily matter if what you're doing in the gym isn't actually moving you towards your goals and making you get the progress that you want to see. And so defining what your actual goal is, do you want to build strength and muscle? Do you want to focus on something else like building your endurance? Do you want to get more functional? Do you want to reduce pain? Like what is your main goal?
00:03:53
Speaker
And I think really narrowing in on what that goal is, is going to be really important for how you structure your training and the type of training program that you do follow. I think for a very large majority of people, they get in the gym for aesthetic reasons.
00:04:07
Speaker
And basically you want to look better. And then secondary to that is you want to feel better. And if you're getting in the gym and you're being consistent, you can absolutely accomplish both of those goals at the same exact time, making sure that you're following a good program that focuses on progressive overload, which, as I've said many times, is just focusing on getting stronger, lifting more weight for more reps with better technique over time. That is the basic principle of getting stronger and building muscle, looking better, feeling better. And if you can do that, follow a program that does that and you're consistent with that program, say three times per week, you are going to see progress.
00:04:42
Speaker
I think it's really important to understand, as I said, that like just because you're in the gym for a lot of time doesn't necessarily equate to being better or getting more results.
Adapting Workouts to Lifestyle
00:04:52
Speaker
More does not always equal better.
00:04:54
Speaker
And so making sure that you're really focused within that time that you're in the gym, because it doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of extra time in the gym if you're not really seeing the progress that you want to see and you're not really making progress.
00:05:05
Speaker
strides towards those goals that you have and so really focusing in like when you get in the gym like have a good program to follow and make sure that you are sticking to that program you're tracking your weight you're making sure that you're getting stronger over time so that you can actually see the progress that you want to see which continues to build that momentum creates a little bit more extra motivation And everybody wants to see those progress. We all want to see that we what we're actually doing is actually working.
00:05:30
Speaker
And so making sure that you are intense and you are focused when you are in the gym. The other thing that you have to realize is that there's a lot of factors that are going to influence how many times you should be getting in the gym.
00:05:43
Speaker
And so I heard this quote a while back, and it's always stuck with me. And it said, something is only optimal if it's practical. And so like people will ask these broad questions, like how many days per week should I work out or what diet should I follow or What habits should I do to attain this goal?
00:05:59
Speaker
And the fact of the matter is like for you and for me and for other people out there, that may look slightly different. Because if I tell you that you need to be working out four days per week, but like right now where you're at, you can only get in the gym twice per week.
00:06:13
Speaker
then that makes more sense for you to focus on that twice per week than trying to stretch yourself thin, get in the gym four times a week. But those four sessions aren't actually any good. You're not consistent with it. That is no longer optimal. And so there's not really a one size fits all approach for everybody.
00:06:30
Speaker
I think it's about figuring out what's actually practical for you and what's practical for you, meaning what you can be consistent with and actually see progress towards the goals that you have is going
Lifestyle Impact on Fitness
00:06:40
Speaker
to be optimal.
00:06:40
Speaker
That may change at different times throughout different times of the year, maybe based on things that you have going on in your life, maybe based on your goals, all that different stuff. But there's a lot of factors that really affect your training in the amount of progress that you're going to see. so thinking about things like your recovery. So like if you're in a time period right now where you're super stressed out, you're really busy, like things are kind of chaotic at work, and maybe trying to get in the gym four or five times per week isn't going to be optimal for you. Maybe that's just getting in two or three times per week. And this is something that I see with my clients all the time.
00:07:13
Speaker
It's like, we might have a certain plan where like we're planning on getting four sessions in per week but then life starts to get a little wild it starts to get a little chaotic like something pops up like they're traveling a bunch for work and that may have to adjust a little bit and so we're only focusing on two or three sessions per week getting in there getting some good work in and making sure that we stick with that because again if you're just getting in there four times a week just to check that box but you're not actually putting in good solid work then you're not really getting what you want to be getting out of the gym and so Thinking about things like recovery, stress in your life, what kind of diet you're following right now, like if your sleep schedule is real off, like all those things are going to affect the amount of progress that you see within the gym. So if all that stuff is just trash right now, but you're still trying to get in the gym six times per week. Like you're really not doing yourself any any favors. And in fact, you might actually be digging yourself in a hole.
00:08:04
Speaker
And so being really smart about it and just understanding, OK, what's the best approach for me right now with this season in my life? And the last thing that I'll say about this, because just to really hammer this point home is that so many people think that more is better when it comes to fitness.
00:08:21
Speaker
It's a really good idea to be active in get your steps in, get some exercise in. If you want to exercise every day at different intensities, that's absolutely fine. All good. Like being more active is generally a good thing for most people, but you really have to understand A poor lifestyle is extremely hard to out-train, especially as you get older. So like you might in your 20s, you might get away with some of that stuff. Like you eat a really trash diet, you barely sleep and you still like you were super fit.
00:08:50
Speaker
You had no issues with getting in the gym. Your energy was fine and all that stuff was okay. But as you get older, you get into your 30s and beyond, your 40s or 50s, things like that. Like you're not going to out-train a bad diet.
00:09:01
Speaker
Most people's goal when they get into the gym is they want to look better. They want to feel better. And all the things that you're doing in the gym is important towards those two goals. But even if you train every single day, let's say you train every single day, you train seven days per week and you get in there an hour per day.
00:09:17
Speaker
That leaves 23 hours outside of the gym that really is going to affect your progress depending on how you spend those 23 hours. So if your diet is trash within those 23 hours, if you're not sleeping at all, if you're super stressed, like if you have all these other lifestyle factors going on,
00:09:35
Speaker
in those 23 hours just don't look very good, then all that stuff that you're doing in the gym is not going to produce the results that you want. And so the main point is find something that you can be consistent with, but also do not neglect the things outside of the gym because you need to have both those things in line, be consistent both inside the gym and outside the gym. And that's where you're going to hit that sweet spot of making the most progress and seeing the best results and getting to those goals that you have.
Benefits of Tracking Calories and Macros
00:10:03
Speaker
Question number two, Is it better to track all your macros or just focus on calories? So when it comes to tracking, I think it's first, it's important to talk about why somebody might actually want to track.
00:10:14
Speaker
I am a fan of everybody tracking their calories for at least some period of time throughout their life. And there's a lot of different reasons for that. I think for a lot of people, a issue that I see them run into is like, they just have a very, very skewed education around food.
00:10:32
Speaker
And I get it because especially now with social media, you have all these people with all these different opinions about what you should be eating. All these different things like people demonize certain foods and they tell you not to eat this and you should eat this and buy this supplement and do this. And so there's so much confusing information out there, which is why I do these podcasts and try to talk about these topics and try to simplify these things because it's in a nutshell it's really not that difficult but you do have to spend some time like really understanding these things and really learning these things and a lot of times relearning these things and forgetting old habits or breaking through these old like misconceptions and these these beliefs around food because
00:11:11
Speaker
understanding just like food in general, understanding macros a little bit like protein, carbs, fats, understanding calories a little bit is going to help you get through a bunch of that trash and a bunch of that garbage so that you can actually make educated decisions for you.
00:11:25
Speaker
Because a particular diet that works for me might not be the best diet for you. And so it makes sense. Once you have some of that basic knowledge, once you have that good foundation about food, you can start to make more informed decisions about what's going to be best for you. Because there's people out there who feel really good on like a low carb diet, and they feel great. And that works really well for them.
00:11:46
Speaker
I am not that person. Like if I do a low carb diet, I feel like trash, my energy sucks. And maybe you feel the same way. Or there's other people out there who they maybe eat a little bit less protein, and they focus on a little bit more fat, or they stick to more of a like vegetarian plant based type of way of eating. And that's what they find they feel best on. And so I can't tell you exactly what that's going to be for you. I can give you some guidelines and I can give you some education around these things and that you have to make informed decisions about how you want to approach your diet and what you feel best on and what's going to help you get to your goals.
00:12:19
Speaker
And so the first part of tracking is just education. Once you start actually looking at food labels, once you start understanding what foods have protein, what foods have more carbs, what foods have more fats, and you start to really take that information in and get a good understanding, it makes a lot of these other decisions around food a little bit easier.
00:12:36
Speaker
A couple other reasons that I think tracking is really helpful for people is if you have specific goals, especially with like fat loss, it can give you a little bit of peace of mind and a little bit more certainty that you are doing the things that you need to do in order to hit those goals. Because sometimes people will think that they need to follow these certain rules or they need to cut out entire food groups or they need to like do these certain methods in order to lose fat. And that's really not the case. Going back again to that education. piece, once you understand how calorie balance works and calories in versus calorie outs, you understand that like you can eat certain foods and you can use different methods to get to your fat loss goals.
00:13:13
Speaker
It also just helps with accuracy. So like, if you're just trying to guess your way to fat loss, it's really hard to know like how much you're actually eating. And I've said this again, multiple times on different podcasts, people overestimate how much they eat by a lot and as much as up to 50%.
00:13:29
Speaker
And so a lot of people think that they may be eating maybe only 2000 calories. But if you're overestimating how much you eat by 50%, that means you could be eating 3000 calories. You think that you're trying to hit these fat loss goals and you think that you're doing all the right things to lose fat. But if you're overeating, you're never going to lose fat.
00:13:47
Speaker
When you track, you just know. you You know the calories, you know the targets that you are aiming for and whether or not you are hitting those things. So it can give you a little bit better accuracy with actually being able to hit some of your goals, maybe get there little bit quicker and help with just staying on track and accountability.
00:14:04
Speaker
It also makes adjustments a little bit easier. So like if you're, let's say you hit a plateau, if you're trying to lose fat, it's good to know where you're at as far as calorie goes, because then you can make a more educated decision. Like, okay, I hit a plateau. Let me lower my calories a little bit. Let me up my my steps a little bit so that I can offset this plateau and kind of break through that.
00:14:23
Speaker
But if you're not tracking, it's just hard to know. Then you might just think, okay, I need to cut more food out and When you go and do that, you could be cutting out way more food than is sustainable for you. And then now, like you can't stick your diet.
00:14:34
Speaker
Now you're struggling. Now you start gaining weight. And so it makes actually having a good strategic game plan a little bit easier when you are able to track calories.
Simplifying Diet Management
00:14:43
Speaker
And then the last thing, and this was a big one for me is that tracking calories allows you to have a little bit more food flexibility and gets rid of some of that food guilt.
00:14:52
Speaker
And because lot of people think when they have weight loss goals, or even sometimes just to like be healthy or like maintain their weight, they have to cut out certain foods completely. For a lot of people, that's just not sustainable long term. And so understanding that you can eat whatever food that you want, as long as you're managing your calories, you're counting your calories, you know that you're hitting your targets, you can incorporate some pizzas, some ice cream, you can have some drinks, and still lose fat or maintain your weight fairly easily, because you know that you're hitting those targets.
00:15:23
Speaker
And so tracking can actually be ah beneficial thing. And a lot of people think it's like, if I track calories, it's like more restricting, and it's just extra time. And it's like, it's just harder to do. But that's really not the case in my experience. And I'm not saying that it's something that you have to do forever.
00:15:40
Speaker
But I think spending a period of time and just really learning about food can be really beneficial for you in the future. Because now like, I'm not somebody who wants to track every single day of my life. Like, that's not the goal. I don't think but I have a way better understanding about certain foods and how many calories they have in them how much protein is in certain foods I know like this certain food over here is super high calorie and like maybe i want to stay away from that food for certain instances and then there might be other instances where I know like okay, this food does have a ton of calories, but I'm okay with eating that food right now because I just feel like that's something that I want to do right now. And then I don't feel bad about it. And so you have a little bit more transparency about like what is actually going on with food. And again, you can just make more informed decisions.
00:16:24
Speaker
So back to the main question about tracking all macros, so carbs, fats, proteins and alcohol is technically a macronutrient as well, or just tracking calories. For my clients specifically, what I do is I have them track calories and I have them focus on protein because if you are hitting calories and you're hitting protein,
00:16:43
Speaker
Those are the two main things. It's important that you get enough fats within your diet because we need fats for hormone health. And if you are eating too little of fats, you might start to get some effects on your health.
00:16:54
Speaker
You also, for certain people, might want to get a certain amount of carbs. Like if you're somebody who's active and you want to make sure that your workouts are good and that you don't feel like drained all the time, that getting a certain amount of carbs can be beneficial.
00:17:05
Speaker
beneficial as well. But I found for most people, they don't struggle with getting enough carbs or enough fats within their diet, like most people are going to get enough fats and not have to worry about tracking that.
00:17:16
Speaker
And so it really just comes down to personal preference. So like if you start experimenting a little bit with more carbs and you feel better on that, then go with that diet If you start experimenting and you feel a little bit better with more fats, then you can go with that approach.
00:17:27
Speaker
Or maybe you just want a balance of the two, then you can do that as well. But as long as your calories are good, your protein are good, then it doesn't really matter as far as fat loss goes, or even just maintaining your weight when it comes to particular goals.
00:17:41
Speaker
If you're somebody who is like more advanced, like say like you're heavy into like the performance side of things, like whether you're trying to like, you know, do a bodybuilding show or like you have some sort of athletic event, then it might make sense to track carbs and fats more closely.
00:17:55
Speaker
It's easier just to focus on calories and protein because then it's just a couple less things that you have to actually focus on. I'd rather have less things to focus on. That's exactly what I talk about within this stuff is making this stuff as simple, simple and practical as possible. So if you're going to track, I think just tracking calories and tracking protein, like making those your main things to focus on is the easiest and most effective route that you can take.
Importance of Reading Food Labels
00:18:18
Speaker
And just a little practical tip or practical takeaway from all this when it comes to tracking calories even when you're not tracking calories for a certain period of time, I think it's really beneficial to just make it a habit to start looking at food labels. And when you look at food labels, I typically will first look at the calories and then I'll look at protein. Sometimes I'll look at other things as well. Like I'll look at carbs and fats and maybe sugars and things like that. But again, back to just making this as simple as possible.
00:18:44
Speaker
When you look at food labels, just understand, okay, a serving of this food has this many calories and it has this much protein. And then also realize if this certain particular food is really small for its serving amount and it's a lot of calories and maybe not so much protein and you're going to be eating multiple servings of that food then take note of that like maybe this is a food that you don't eat as often maybe it's a food that you save for special occasions or maybe you can find a certain alternative that is a little bit lower in calorie and it has more protein And so when you start to look at food labels, you start to become more cognizant of how many calories you're actually taking in, how much protein you're actually getting, how much of these things are in particular foods, you can start making better choices. And so making that small little thing, like making that small little switch can have a huge effect down the line. Because when I was like bigger, and I didn't pay attention to nutrition at all, when I was 100 pounds heavier, I never looked at food labels like ever.
00:19:38
Speaker
Now it's something that I do regularly. Like when I go grocery shopping, if I'm getting like, if I'm going to try a new food, I'm going to look at the food label. And it's not that like, I can't have certain foods, but like, the way I look at it is like certain foods are worth eating and certain foods are not like if there's a food that's super high calorie, and like, I don't really care about eating that food. It's not something that I'm super thrilled about eating, then I'm probably not going to eat that food. But On the other hand, there might be a certain food that's super high in calories. Like maybe it's a special occasion or whatever the case may be. And I want to have a piece of cheesecake.
00:20:09
Speaker
Cheesecake is crazy high calorie, but like in a certain instance, like that might be worth it to me. and In another instance, that might not be worth it to me. And so just starting to look at food more objectively and just understanding what's actually in food can help to make some better decisions as you start to pay attention to those things. so Question number three.
Societal Perception After Weight Loss
00:20:30
Speaker
This was an interesting question that I got from somebody on Instagram and they just randomly asked me about this. So I thought I'd take it to the podcast because I thought it was interesting. Do you feel like people treat you differently since losing 100 And the person that asked me this, they wanted to get this view because they are a female and they've lost a lot of weight and they feel like people treat them differently and they wanted to know a little bit of the male perspective around this. And so I thought I'd talk about it. And so the broad answer, like just the basic answer is yes, people treat me differently since losing 100 pounds.
00:21:00
Speaker
And I think Some people will hear that and they'll be like, that's terrible. Like people shouldn't treat you differently because you weigh more or because you look different or whatever the case may be. But when you just look at reality, like just take a step back and take all the emotion out of it, people are going to make judgments of you based on how you look.
00:21:18
Speaker
A lot of communication is done non-verbally. Like I think it's like 60 to 70% of the communication that we do is done through the way that people move. And the way that you look and, and just nonverbal communication is a huge part of just humans in general. And so like, when you look at people, sometimes you realize that sometimes you don't, but like you're making judgments about that person based on what they look like, what they're wearing, how they're carrying themselves, their body language, like how big they are, how tall they are, like just all these different things. And so it's kind of silly to think that people aren't going to treat you a certain way based on how you look, whether you think that's right or wrong, I'm not here to argue that. I'm just talking about the way that reality is and the way that human nature is and what people actually do.
00:21:59
Speaker
And so people are going to treat you different based on how you look. If you've ever heard of things like pretty privileged, basically, People who are more conventionally attractive, like you look at somebody and they're more aesthetically pleasing, basically like they're symmetrical and they just look at what people would consider like natural beauty.
00:22:16
Speaker
They're treated differently. Like they're treated better. People are nicer to them. They get higher paying jobs, all these different things. Like there's studies and science to back these things up. I was just listening to a podcast yesterday and they were talking about the height of men and they were saying like,
00:22:30
Speaker
how in the US, s or maybe it was even in the world, that only 2% or 3% of men or six foot two are 6'2 or taller. But when you look at CEOs across businesses, like 30% to 35% of the CEOs across all businesses are 6'2 or taller. So what's going on there? It's like,
00:22:48
Speaker
are these guys like smarter because they're taller or like, is there some kind of weird thing going on here? And it's like, no, those guys are just seen as they're seen a little bit differently simply for the fact that they're tall, like they get more opportunities and maybe people see them as more powerful and things like that. And so again, I think it's like silly to think that people aren't going to judge you based on how you look.
00:23:08
Speaker
But with that being said, like I don't as a and this is just my personal opinion. Like I don't put too much weight on that. As much like I don't really care as much about like how people treat me I think it's more so comes from how you think about yourself and what weight loss does for you and what it does for your mindset and what it does for your confidence.
00:23:27
Speaker
Because for me, like as I lost weight, I definitely became more confident in who I was in part of that was the physical part of it like I feel like I looked the way that I wanted to look I felt more comfortable in my skin.
00:23:39
Speaker
But the other part of that was the mental part of it because I was doing hard things. I was continuing to keep promises to myself and I was building up this resilience. I was building up this discipline. I was building up this consistency and all those traits made me feel good. It made me feel more confident, made me feel more confident that I could do things not just in the gym, but outside the gym. And that started to go over into other areas of my life within like jobs and relationships and just being more confident person within who I was because I was making these changes, not only physically, but I was making these changes mentally and I was making these changes within just who I was in my identity and how I saw myself as a person.
Building Confidence Through Fitness
00:24:15
Speaker
Because you can look at this from two different perspectives. Like you'll see people who are bigger, maybe they're considered overweight, and those people are super confident within themselves. And the way that you carry yourself is going to make a difference in how people treat you. So like those people who are like very okay with being bigger and overweight and things like that, like they feel comfortable in their own skin, like people are going to treat them differently because they have that confidence.
00:24:36
Speaker
On the other side of the spectrum, you could see people who are super fit, but they're very insecure. And people are also going to look at those people and treat those people differently as well. And so I think it just comes down to, more importantly, not so much how other people treat you. Yes, they're going to treat you differently based on how you look.
00:24:52
Speaker
But I think the more important thing and the thing that you can actually control and the thing that matters a lot more is how you think about yourself. Because how you think about yourself is going to really really influence how other people see you and how you carry yourself within the world and so continuing to just focus on the things that you can control and if you're showing up if you're you know using fitness as a tool to build discipline and get better and keep small promises to yourself and start to shift that identity and become the person that you want to be i think that you are going to get a lot of those benefits and you're going to be focusing on the right things and this journey becomes lot more meaningful and you're not so much stressed on those other things that you can't really control
00:25:32
Speaker
Question number four, how do I build confidence when I failed so many times before? This is a good question because I think a lot of people, when it comes to health and fitness, they have tried a lot of different things. And especially when it comes to like weight loss or maybe even just like building strength or getting in the gym or being consistent. A lot of people try and a lot of people fail.
00:25:51
Speaker
Like they try to get in the gym, they're consistent for a little bit and then they fall off. They try a diet, they're consistent for a little bit and then they fall off. They try these certain things, these certain methods, and they continue to fall off. And so every time that they try something and then you fall off, like your confidence takes a little bit of a hit and it can be harder to start up that next time and really believe that you have what it takes to make the changes that you want to take.
00:26:13
Speaker
I think a lot of this comes down to just having the right plan and the right approach, the right expectations when you do embark on something new. such as a fitness journey or a weight loss journey or like changing habits or really making a big change within your life. And so the first thing I think people need to realize is like you need to adjust your expectations about where you're actually at and just be honest and real with yourself because most people, they take on too much and they just can't stick to it. Like when you try to make these huge, big, overarching changes and you've been having these really bad habits for the past
00:26:46
Speaker
two years, three years, five years, 10 years, decades, like, it's just unreasonable think that you are going to change those things in a matter of eight weeks or a matter of couple months, sometimes even a couple of years, like, if you've been doing these things for 510 15 years, like you've had these certain eating habits, you've been overweight for a really long time, you haven't ever really had a good consistent fitness, consistent routine, like it's just it doesn't make sense to think that you're going to figure that out in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. That's just you're setting yourself up for failure because your expectations are just unrealistic and i think it's hard for people to admit that and it's hard for people to admit like okay i'm actually not as competent within this thing like i don't have the skill set i don't have the abilities i don't have the knowledge i don't have these things down yet but that's okay everybody starts in a certain position and most people start in a place where they're not as confident and they don't have all the skills that they need
00:27:39
Speaker
But you just have to be willing to accept that and just be real with yourself and just know that like, okay, I don't have it all figured out. I'm not where I want to be right now, but I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to take the steps in the right direction, even if it does take a little bit longer than I want it to. Because when you approach it with the right expectations, when you approach it with the right mindset, and you know that, okay, if I just focus on these little things and I get that 1% better,
00:28:01
Speaker
I'm going to eventually start to build some momentum. I'm going to make some progress. I can start to get to those goals. But when you put this pressure on yourself that you have to have all these things figured out, you have to do all these things right at the same time, you have to make these big changes and then you don't meet those changes.
Establishing Consistent Habits
00:28:15
Speaker
It causes a lot of people to fail. And so stepping back and just asking yourselves, how can I simplify this and make this plan something that I know that I can do? And I've talked about this before, but daily disciplines or weekly disciplines, things that you know that you can do for certain, without a doubt, like 80 to 90% of the time, you can be consistent with these things. And these things might be smaller than you think. So right now, like if you wanted to Take a step back and be like, I want to get a consistent fitness routine. Okay, well, maybe trying to get in the gym six days a week when you haven't worked out for the last six months is probably not a good idea.
00:28:50
Speaker
But I can get in the gym two times per week or three times a week. I feel like I can commit to that and I can get a good 30-minute workout in three times a week. All right, let's start with that. Or maybe you want to increase your steps. Maybe you're only getting 3,000, 4,000 steps right now.
00:29:03
Speaker
Could you up that up to 6,000, 7,000 steps? Like that's not a huge jump. That's an extra 20 minutes within your day where you're focusing on getting a few extra steps. Can I commit to a 20 minute walk every single day?
00:29:14
Speaker
i can do that all right let's do that maybe it's something with your diet like and instead of trying to have a complete overhaul with your entire diet maybe you just start focusing on getting a little bit of protein at every single meal or maybe you start to eat more vegetables like i want to get two servings of vegetables every single day like these small little changes are so much easier to start to implement and start to build a more solid foundation and start to build better habits than trying to do everything at once because when you try to do everything all at once you end up doing nothing well and so Take a step back, simplify, find some daily or weekly disciplines that you can actually do and actually stick to and commit to doing those things for a good solid 30 to 40 to 50 to 60, however many days it takes for you to build that up to a place where you feel super confident and super consistent with that.
00:29:59
Speaker
And then you build on it. You add something else and you add something else. I know this is like simple and it's not necessarily the answer that everybody wants to hear, but consistency is the secret. Like it's the superpower that everybody overlooks Everybody knows how important it is, but everybody wants quick results. We want faster progress, but that's just not the reality of how these things work. So have the humility to take a step back and just understand, okay, this is where I'm at right now. I'm okay
Evolving Fitness Routines
00:30:26
Speaker
with that. That doesn't mean I'm going to always be there, but I'm going to take these steps and do these small things to get me to where I want to get to.
00:30:33
Speaker
Question number five, the last question of the day. What does your daily routine look like now versus when you were a hundred pounds heavier? So when I was 100 pounds heavier, when I was 300 plus pounds, I didn't really have much of a routine as far as like diet goes.
00:30:48
Speaker
I've always been really active, like from childhood up until now. Like I've always been into sports. I've always been in, like even as a kid, like I was always outside playing, running around with my friends, things like that. I've always been active. Like that's never been an issue for me, but I was overweight from childhood all the way up through college into my early adult years. And so the big part came with,
00:31:10
Speaker
finding a structured diet that I could follow a better system. And so that is what looks really, really different. Now, am my physical routine has changed a little bit. I'm a little bit more strategic about it. And I have certain check marks that I want to hit every single week.
00:31:25
Speaker
But diet is the huge thing. And so my diet now, Like I didn't have a routine when I was 300 pounds. Like i ate pizza rolls. I ate tons of processed foods. Like that was what I lived on. I ate fast food literally four or five, six times a week.
00:31:37
Speaker
And like, I didn't give a second thought to my diet at all. I just ate whatever was convenient and what was there and what was easy and what I thought tastes good. That was the things that I focused on. But now I actually have a system that I follow that's allowed me to not only lose the weight, but do it in a way that's actually enjoyable. And now I've been sustaining that weight loss for over eight years and it feels pretty easy to me now.
00:31:58
Speaker
So what that looks like now is like I eat three meals per day. High protein is what I focus on high volume because I like to still eat a lot of food. I want to feel full and satiated. And so I focus on high protein, high volume type meals, focus mostly on whole foods. You know, 80% of the time I'm focusing on real food, lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, complex carbs.
00:32:18
Speaker
Those are the things that make up most of my diet. And then 20% of the time, if I want to indulge a little bit, go out to eat, have some things that I wouldn't necessarily have all the time, then I'm going to do that because that's what's sustainable for me. So three meals per day, high protein, high volume.
00:32:32
Speaker
I typically have two snacks per day. So I'll have a snack in between breakfast and lunch, and then I'll have another snack typically between lunch and dinner. And that's for me, typically protein or fruit. That's kind of my rule. That's kind of my guideline as far as snacks go.
00:32:46
Speaker
And then pretty much every single night, I'll have some sort of dessert. If you follow me on social media, you know, I love ice cream. I eat ice cream almost every single day. And again, that's something that I look forward to. It's something that I didn't ever want to give up. And I think that's important to realize that if you have certain things that you really want to include within your diet, find ways to include those things because it's going to make it much more enjoyable. And when things are enjoyable, they're much more sustainable.
00:33:08
Speaker
And so find certain ways to actually enjoy your eating style. With that being said, the other part of my just eating routine is I typically eat less during the week to allow more flexibility on the weekends.
00:33:21
Speaker
Like if I'm going out with some friends on the weekends, going out to eat, having some drinks, maybe there's a social event on the weekend. I want to have that flexibility and I want to be able to enjoy myself guilt-free and not worrying about like eating a ton of extra calories and gaining fat. and Doing this style of eating, eating a little bit less throughout the week and then allowing for more flexibility on the weekend is just my natural way of eating now. And it allows me to stay fairly lean, lean for me at least, and how allows me to look the way that I want to look. It allows me to feel the way that I want to feel and it allows me to live life the way that I want to live life. And so that's how I eat. And so I think it's important to find a repeatable system for you.
00:33:59
Speaker
And figure out what that actually looks like. You might have to try some different things. But once you find that, once you get into a good groove, it makes eating so much easier just as far as being able to hit your goals, look how you want to look, feel how you want to feel.
00:34:12
Speaker
But then again, also enjoy life and enjoy all the things that you want to do and not have to stress about every single meal or stress about every single calorie. When it comes to my training and exercise routine, that looks a little bit different now, but I typically get in the gym four times per week.
00:34:26
Speaker
That's kind of my weekly discipline that I try to hit every single week, like four workouts in the gym per week. That works really well for my schedule. I know that I can do that. One thing that is a lot different now that I do pretty consistently that I never did before is that I do cardio three times per week.
00:34:42
Speaker
Sometimes that's like playing volleyball or basketball or doing something like that. Other times it's just running or biking or something along those sorts. And I did that because I just wanted to improve my heart health.
00:34:53
Speaker
And then I found that it helps me a lot just from like a mental standpoint. I like that feeling that cardio gives me from a mental standpoint, it's time to just kind of clear my head. And so I've added it in cardio pretty regularly. And three times per week is that target that I try to hit.
00:35:07
Speaker
This year, I started to do a little bit more yoga and just focus on mobility and things like that. So I do that one time per week, that's just 30 minutes or so per week. So nothing crazy there. And then I typically try to get at least my minimum is 8,000 steps in a day, but most days it is closer to 10 to 12,000 steps per day.
00:35:24
Speaker
And the cardio helps with this a lot because that adds in a lot of extra steps. If I'm playing an hour or two of basketball, or if I'm getting out and just doing different things like that, like you're naturally going to start to increase your step count.
00:35:36
Speaker
And the other thing that's helped out with that a lot is this walking pad that I bought. Like I easily get probably an extra 5,000 steps in my day because I have this walking pad that I can use whenever I want, and I can multitask and do different things. And so that's kind of what my training and exercise routine looks like now. Like, it's nothing crazy. But like, yeah I found that it's something that I can do consistently. And I feel really good when I do that. But I'm also able to just maintain my body weight, keep my strength levels up and just feel really solid. And I think It's important to realize like this isn't where I started. So like if you're hearing all that stuff and you're like, damn, like that sounds like a really solid system. But I tried a lot of different things and I've changed my ways and my habits and things over time to fit within my lifestyle.
00:36:19
Speaker
And so I think like if you're looking at this and you're like, OK, where do I even start with this? Like, how do I start to build a better routine? I think it's important what I did at least is I look at what are the habits that I could do that would affect my progress the most? Like what are the highest leverage things I can do?
00:36:34
Speaker
And I focus on those first and then I build those in into my routine. And as I start to build those in, once I feel solid with that, then I'll start to add other things. So in that 1% better that I was talking about a little bit earlier. So this might look like if you want to start increasing how much protein you eat within your diet because you want to build more muscle and have less hunger and just feel better.
00:36:54
Speaker
starting with a high protein diet might be something that could really affect that. And so just looking at like, okay, how can I start to increase my protein? Or maybe you want to start to eat more whole foods. Maybe you want to start to actually preparing most of your food so that you can manage your calories a little bit better. Or maybe you want to start to increase your walking or your strength training or your cardio, like find some of these areas that you can start to improve and just focus on building on that.
00:37:19
Speaker
And then as you start to build those things, then you can add other things because when I look at like what I do now for training and exercise, like working out in the gym and cardio and yoga and like getting steps in my day, I did not do all those things all at the same time.
00:37:31
Speaker
If I did, I probably would be doing none of those things. I slowly focused on one of those things. And I just added things over the years, like I focused on hitting the gym and just strength training for a really long time. And then I focus on steps after that. And then couple years later, I started to add in cardio. And then this last year, I started to add in yoga. So I didn't do all these things at the same time. and You don't have to do all these things at the same time either. Because again, if you try to do everything all at once, you end up doing nothing really well.
00:37:56
Speaker
So pick one thing that's actually going to help you make better progress. And that is actually going to move that needle and allow you to build some momentum and really focus in on that. And then as you start to get really competent within that, and you feel good about that, then you can start to add other things along this journey.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:38:14
Speaker
And with that being said, that is the five questions. This podcast was a little bit longer, but hopefully you got some value, got a little bit of fitness knowledge or ah nugget or two out of here. you want a question answered in a future episode, you can always message me on Instagram, shoot me a message. that's I get questions from you guys, from clients, from social media, things like that. So if you do want a question answered on the podcast, you want me to go into detail about it.
00:38:37
Speaker
I really do enjoy doing these episodes just to expand and get into some detail and get into a little bit more of the planning parts of things and dig into things. So you do have a question you want answered, you can always message me and I will see if that is something that I want to take to the podcast, get that answered on here.
00:38:53
Speaker
With that being said, one-on-one coaching link is in the show notes. If you want help with losing some weight, you have particular goals, you want some accountability from somebody who's been there, you can always check out that link. We'll have a conversation, see if it's a good fit.
00:39:04
Speaker
I appreciate you listening and we will see you next week.