Whether it be a new nutrition plan or a new workout plan – “boring”, or more appropriately – simple is the way to go.
The simple workout strategy is an easy one – don’t jump into something crazy day 1 if you haven’t been doing much of anything lately.
It blows my mind when I hear about people having to go to the hospital because they worked out so hard their muscles start to breakdown and poison the body (rhabdmyolysis).
If you were completely new to playing the guitar, would you immediately try to play Stairway to Heaven (who hasn’t done that) – you might, but you will fail, or it will take a long time of practice and patience.
So why do we think exercise can be any different?
Maybe it’s the “go getter attitude” or “motivation for change” that makes us so dumb that we do 2 hours of high intensity sprint work day one and nearly die.
Keep it simple. If you haven’t been working out at all – or are thinking of starting a totally NEW mode of exercise – say you want to start lifting, and have only been running your whole life – then START SLOW, and basic.
I promise this is the best way to go about it. It may not be the coolest or sexiest – but you know what’s not sexy? Being laid up in a hospital bed for 2 weeks.
Now on to diet – this is where people REALLY go wrong…
“I’m going to go gluten free, vegan. GMO free, sugar free, colored dye free, and artificial sweetener free” – current diet is no breakfast, McDonalds for lunch, and an ice cream binge at dinner.
Motivation = HIGH, Chances of success = ZERO
You have to start simple, and get a base figured out before trying to get super fancy. It’s all about your sequence of priorities here.
Was the first math class you ever took Calculus 2? No. You started BASIC, built on that knowledge, built on more knowledge, until you were ready for higher level math.
Same thing goes for diet.
If you are asking me about some crazy sugar detox, gluten free cleanse that you heard on TV, yet you don’t know how many calories you’re eating in a day – you are out of sequence.
The first step in any change process is knowing where you are starting.
My friends at Relentless Dietetics talk about this all the time.
If you ask me how to get to my house, and all I say “take a left on Maple Grove Dr.” – that doesn’t help you at all because in order to get somewhere, we have to know the starting point!
You must figure out when you are starting from.
Then, find basic, simple meals that are easy to track and easy to modify and easy to manage daily. Keep it super basic for a at least a week and see what happens.
Weight goes down? Now you know that you’re in a calorie deficit!
From here you can slowly make meals more complicated, play around with new recipes, try to flavors, etc.
My favorite recipes come from here –> Kitchen/Misc. Stuff – https://mgfitlife.com/shop/kitchenmisc-tools/
But without starting basic and simple – your journey will be a short one.
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Stay healthy my friends,