Sometimes a title just needs to grab your attention.
After discussing avoiding the Holiday Season weight gain with some clients, I got to thinking. Instead of coming up with “tips and tricks”, why not just change the status quo? A paradigm shift of sorts.
***Average American gains 5-10 pounds during the Holiday season by the way…BUT that is because the AVERAGE American is overweight, and according to the most recent studies, healthy weight individuals actually only gain 1.3 pounds during the holiday season***
Why be average? Why be like everyone else? Really. Let’s look at average:
2/3 of Adults are Overweight or Obese in America
The norm is to be overweight or obese. Now yes, I know these numbers are based on BMI data, and strong muscled up men and women might be technically overweight according to BMI….but just take a look around. Do you see more tight buns and chiseled arms or saggy butts and big guts?
So what do we do about this? How do you and I solve this epidemic???
Let’s dive deeper into the “Average person”…
According to a Nielsen report, United States adults are watching five hours and four minutes of television per day on average.
5 hours of TV time!!! Yet…
The average American only gets 4000-5000 steps per day.
The usual recommendation is 10,000 steps per day…
Only 59% of Americans get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
While it’s more than average getting enough sleep, 41% of people are not. Why is sleep important?
- Cognitive function – your brain recovers
- Immune function – your body recovers
- Hormone production – your muscles and sex drive recover
- Cardiovascular function – your blood pressure lowers
- Fat loss – you burn the most fat while you sleep
“Hey average American, cut back on 2 hours of TV, use one of those to go for a walk or exercise, and one of those to sleep, and we might get this obesity rate down pretty fast.”
Here is your “average” food group consumption:
How about beverage choices?
Americans on average drink 58 gallons of water per year. That’s 7,242 ounces of water annually — 20 ounces daily, which is 2.5 cups. And ZERO calories…
I recommend consuming at LEAST half your body weight in ounces. i.e. If you weigh 200 pounds, then drink 100 ounces.
Americans on average drink 44 gallons of soda per year. 5632 ounces…or 67,584 calories per year…from soda
Alcohol consumption is tougher, but 30% of American adults don’t drink, and another 30% only consume one drink per week on average, but the top 10% of alcohol consumers drink 74 drinks per week. Yes, 74…
Median consumption is 3 drinks per week for those who drink. It’s hard to guess calories because of the types of drinks can vary.
So what do we do with all of this???
If you fall into these “norms” then pick one and get to work. I like starting with step tracking. Find out how many steps you get in a day, and try to add 500 each day, week by week, until you are up to 10k per day.
What if you are don’t fall into these norms, but still struggle to lose weight? Look again. Do you truly meet all the dietary recommendations? Do you consume enough water? Do you get enough sleep?
Are you CONSISTENT with most of the healthy habits? Or do you jump on and jump off the routine often?
I always say – CONSISTENCY is the secret sauce. It’s not sexy, it’s not trendy, but holy moly does it work.
Your success in the long term will always be determined by the persistent execution of the most basic things. So don’t be average. Looking back at those stats, it’s really not THAT hard to be better.
If you need help getting started, look no further than online coaching. Training and nutrition! Let me help you find the best plan for you – from anywhere in the world.
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