STOP THE LIES: "It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change"

We've all heard this one before, from just about every new fad diet on the market.

"No, really! This is NOT a diet. It's a lifestyle change/way of life/new mentality/fresh start/bla bla bla..."

Come on, now.

If it comes with a meal plan, and has any sort of weight loss goal associated with it, it's a diet.

Now- let's distinguish a bit here, because 'diet' is a tricky word.

There is "YOUR" diet- the food that you (and every other 'you' in the world) eats. Your diet may or may not have a meal plan, weight loss goals, nutrition goals, or be comprised of foods haphazardly tossed on your plate. Every person has their own diet- the intake of food that they engage in.

But, for the past fifty years or so, the fitness and weight loss industry has hijacked the word 'diet' and distorted it pretty seriously. So now, we must content with "a diet", which is significantly different that 'your diet'.

'A diet' generally implies caloric restriction for the purpose of reducing body weight. And there are TONS out there on the market.

But, people have gotten fatigued from this word "diet". They aren't interested in being sold a plan that feels shameful, restrictive, and- often- unhealthy.

So the fitness and weightloss industry adapts. And, in doing so, continues to appropriate terms as needed and completely distort their meaning.

The newest one is 'lifestyle', which might disguise itself with other similar types of euphemisms. But they all come down to the same thing: We don't want you to think that we are a 'diet'- because diets aren't things you want to buy anymore. So instead, we want to sell you a 'lifestyle'- because it not only sounds better, but it implies to you that you will need us...for the rest of your life!"

Double win for the industry.
Double lose for you.

Because, here's the thing. It's a lie...again.

The vast majority of programs that are touting these major new lifestyle changes are fully unsustainable in the long run, do nothing to help you plan for maintenance mode or to transition away from them, and do very little more than creating disordered eating patterns that take you about as far away from a natural food lifestyle as humanly possible.

You see, while eating a specific way (whatever that way might be) can be part of your lifestyle, following a specific meal plan is very rarely sustainable in long term situations. People don't live thirty or fifty years carrying food containers, special shake packets, microwave meals, or food journals around with them. Sometimes, restaurants happen. Sometimes, you eat over at a friend's house. Sometimes, you have a hankering for things that aren't on your plan.

So then we "cheat" (a term that I loathe, and will write more on later...trust me, I've got a list going.). And then we relapse. And then we need to start over, this time with a new diet 'lifestyle' plan.

Same goes for the fitness program. 30 minutes a day of the same dvds...indefinitely? Likely not going to happen. Variety is the spice of life, and pretty much the only way to ensure that your 'active lifstyle' doesn't wind up being a fleeting phase is by adding physical activity into your days in a variety of different ways. Your body is built to adapt, grow and evolve, and your fitness/exercise/activity routines must do the same.

So, a 'lifestyle change' that you can't actually sustain for the rest of your life...well, it's not a lifestyle change at all, now is it?

Now, have some people experienced transformative lifestyle changes using some of these programs as starting off points? Sure. You're reading from one of them.

But it wasn't the actual program that gave me that change. In fact, the more my lifestyle changed, the more I realized how incredibly problematic the programs I had been using really were. I hadn't been actually 'taught' anything about food, proper nutrition, muscles or cardiovascular needs...I actually didn't know ANYTHING except how to follow that program.  Beyond that, I was continuously subjecting myself to messaging that shamed my body and implied that I was not/would never be good enough- that I had to work harder, and constantly strive to be thinner/stronger/sexier/more appealing.

It was a head trip.

So once I was done with the program, or got bored, or found it didn't work for me, I would just quit.
My psyche was done taking a beating, and I needed to walk away in order to recover from the shame and disappointment that comes with being 'unsuccessful' and not seeing 'results'.

The programs were actually part of the cycle that was preventing me from getting into a sustainable lifestyle of health and wellness.

So, how does one actually make real lifestyle changes?

Well, it's actually pretty simple, even if it is easier said than done. The body of evidence indicates that long-term lifestyle changes are most successful when they:

a) Follow a plan that is personalized and tailored to your own goals (none of this mass market, 'we should all do the exact same thing and look the exact same way' bs) 

b) Are focused on making small, short-term progressive changes in manageable doses that all point towards specific long term goals.  

c) Focus on changing on behaviour at a time, only adding in more changes when the first has become part of the daily routine.  

d) Involve an active support network of people who are engaged in seeing you succeed, who care about you personally and have a socio-emotional relationship with you and are prepared to actively support you in your goals. (Again, we're not talking about someone who is only Facebook friends with you in order to sell you something.) 

Many different diet/fitness plans have some of these elements- but most are missing at least one or two critical components. Some  are trying to change too much, too fast while others are are too hyperfocused on long term goals, and make promises that are literally unachievable in the short term. Some use support groups, but sully these by creating a power dynamic by which pressure selling and false advertising/product claims are the foundation for the relationship. Others leave you hanging in the wind to fend for yourself when the going gets tough.

This doesn't mean that you should throw out every system out there! It just means that you need to be vigilent of what the real limitations are the systems and programs that you are using, and make sure that you find ways to fill in the missing gaps yourself.

Create goals, both long term and short term. Focus your attention on things that are in your control to change, and on making small, meaningful changes.

And enjoy the journey of self-betterment, whatever that might look like for you.

You deserve to be happy in the skin you are in, right now- in this moment.

The most important lifestyle change you can make is learning to love, respect, accept, forgive and celebrate yourself.

  

STOP THE LIES: "It is much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape..."

Today, I'm doing something a little different. Following several conversations at the gym and a few in my personal life, I decided to unpack a very specific claim in a very specific program (that, for the most part, isn't actually entirely terrible...except for crap like this.)

Beachbody's "21 Day Fix" program has been all the rage with many people that I know lately. I have done it myself. Heck, I continue to use a (heavily) modified version of the meal plan, and still use the work outs on days when the gym feels too far away.

The idea is relatively simple: There's an exercise every day (roughly 30 minutes) that you complete, and you eat foods off of a specific list that you portion out into containers, based on how many calories the program believes that you should eat (which is extremely problematic, on its own, but not the topic of today's post...I'll keep that one for another day.)

The foods on the list are well chosen. The work outs are well designed. And most people who follow it, myself included, will have some excellent weight loss results.

So if your goal is to lose weight, there is no doubt that this will likely help you get there. But there are some serious flaws with the system- and one of the biggest is its utter and complete disregard for the fact that- at some point- the weight loss actually has to stop.

I mean that literally. There will come a point where you should no longer be trying to lose weight.
But 21DF doesn't actually tell you when that point is. Ever. It mentions maintenance as a casual footnote, and gives virtually no indication of how to properly transition into a maintenance mode that is sustainable.

In fact, this is their FAQ note on maintenance, taken directly from their page:

"What is maintenance work?
It’s much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape once you get there. You can generally maintain a level pretty close to peak fitness with about half the volume of your program. To maintain, you can utilize many different forms of training but the easiest is often 3–4 days per week of the program you just finished. It will decline slowly over time, but you’ll probably start another program or activity to pick up the slack after awhile."

The lies. The lies. They hurt my head. 
Sigh.
Okay, let's unpack this, one phrase at a time.

1- It’s much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape once you get there.
No, it is NOT much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape once you get there. The science on this is CRYSTAL clear. It is infinitely harder to maintain your weight loss than it is to lose the weight in the first place, so much so that 65% of dieters will return to their pre-diet weight within 3 years of their weight loss. Maintaining a weight loss is hard work, and it is a project that most who have had success have had to invest significant time, effort and money into managing. I don't care what BB says. That first line is just a plain out lie, and anyone with any sort of back ground in physiology and obesity studies will confirm that. 

2- You can generally maintain a level pretty close to peak fitness with about half the volume of your program. Alright, so this line barely even makes sense. Half the volume of what? The work outs? (So you should only do 3 or 4 work outs a week to maintain? Even though that little exercise would go against all the health recommendations for minimal activity standards?) Or the diet? (So you should eat whatever you want for half the week? And you won't gain back that way? Because...magic?) 

Here's the deal: The only way to maintain 'peak' fitness is to train at 'peak' levels. Ask any athlete- once you drop your peak training regimen, your body will react accordingly. If you want to maintain your body's composition, you will need to ensure that you are maintaining the elements that got you there: a strong, well planned diet that provides you with the calories you need for your daily activities (which, really, should always include at least some activity- even if it is light.)

3- To maintain, you can utilize many different forms of training but the easiest is often 3–4 days per week of the program you just finished. As I mentioned above, I'm not entirely sure what thy are trying to get at with the '3 to 4 days' per week idea here, but either way this is bs.

To "maintain" your body, you need to create a balance between your exercise levels (which, as we saw above, decline if you decline your activity) and your calorie intake. Weight, while more complex than it appears on the surface, generally comes down to a pretty basic formula: If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. So, to maintain weight, you want to aim to eat as many calories as you burn, give or take. Now, of course, there are some deviations from that formula in terms of muscle mass and metabolic rate. But, generally speaking, maintenance is about finding your body's balance between the energy it expends and the energy it intakes. So unless you are making sure that the 3 or 4 days you take off don't exceed the 3 or 4 days you stay on, this advice for maintenance is really, really bad.

4- It will decline slowly over time, but you’ll probably start another program or activity to pick up the slack after awhile. Again, what does this even mean? What will decline? What slack? I thought you just told me that it was easy to maintain my weight loss, and that all I had to do was stay on my program for 3 or 4 days a week and all would be fine? What do you mean I will 'decline' slowly and need to pick up the 'slack'? Doesn't that imply that I'm not actually in a maintenance mode, at all???

Yes. It does. This advice literally will prevent you from going into a proper maintenance mode to begin with. Why? Well, Beachbody is *really* hoping that the 'program or activity' that you will choose to 'pick up the slack' with will be one of theirs. They aren't quite done making their money off of you, and- well...truth be told- proper maintenance mode just doesn't make them any extra cash. So they simply aren't going to tell you the truth about what maintenance is or how you can achieve that, because doing so doesn't contribute to their bottom line.

FACT: Part of the business strategy for any major diet company hinges of the statistical probability that you are going to regain weight...And generally speaking, it's a pretty strong likelihood that you will. But a big part of that is because no one is teaching you how to do proper maintenance work in the first place. 



It's a vicious cycle.

And, in the case of 21DF, it can be a dangerous one because I have personally witnessed several women continue to use the diet until their bodies are actually undernourished and underweight, two factors that are significantly greater health risks that being fat or even obese. 

Maintenance planning is an extremely important part of any weight loss project. Identifying healthy weight goals and working towards them is great- but remember to also take the time to ask yourself how you can sustain this goal.

Note: For those who want to engage in healthy maintenance using 21 Day Fix, it's actually really simple: Based on your weight, the 21 Day Fix plan gives you several variables, including a 'Caloric Baseline+400 (Fix Calorie Burn)". Now, granted, these are all estimates and are hardly personalized calculations...but, if you continue to do your work outs every day (so are getting in roughly 400 calories of energy expenditure) and are not seeking to create a deficit (so no longer trying to lose weight, because you are in maintenance mode), you should be aiming to eat 'roughly' the number of calories estimated in the "Caloric Baseline+400 (Fix Calorie Burn)" section. So calculate that number, and find the calorie bracket (portions) that is equivalent to that number and ensure that you eat at least that much food every day. If you work out more than predicted, eat more to account for it. If you don't work out as predicted, eat the same amount or roughly 400 calories less. 

There you have it- maintenance planning, made simple.

Now why couldn't they just have told you that in the first place?

Well...I think we already answered that one, now...didn't we?

****The following post is part of a series STOP THE LIES! aiming at deconstructing the hundreds (thousands?) of lies being told by the diet industry in an effort to shame people (usually women, but they are broadening their scope to men more and more...how very inclusive <eye roll>) into having unhealthy relationships with their bodies in an effort to sell them products. Enough is enough. It's time to expose these lies for what they are. 

STOP THE LIES SERIES: "All or nothing."

Today's post is going to be short, mostly because it is Friday night and I am exhausted from a long week.

Today, I went to yoga. I also had great plans to go do a HIIT interval training work out in the evening.

That didn't happen.

Why?

Because I am damn tired. And not the 'I just don't feel like it' tired. Or the 'I need a good excuse to work out' tired.

I am bone weary, struggling to keep my eyes open, "there isn't enough coffee in the world" tired.

So I skipped my evening work out.

And that was an excellent choice.

But it was a really, really hard choice...because I am an exercise-a-holic. (I write that pretty loosely, but I really do struggle with a diagnosed condition of obsessive-compulsiveness, and cardio is one of my obsessions...so skipping a work out is actually a really big mind trip for me, hence why i am writing this post.)

Listen- I know that they tell you to "never miss a work out". Or that, in order for something to become habit, you need to do it every day. Or that "the only bad work out is the one you didn't do".

But that's simply not true. It's actually terrible advice.

There are plenty of bad work outs- you'll know them when you feel them. When a seasoned runner just can't seem to get into their groove, and comes out of their run feeling terrible...they know it. When a lifter struggles to even get through basic reps with loads that they are more than comfortable with...they know it. When you are just 'off your game', and your muscles just don't want to do what you know they are capable of doing...you know it.

Sometimes, your body needs to rest.

For all of the 'exercise' programs out there and the plethora of information on how hard you need to 'work it to earn it', there is a shockingly small amount of information on the need for rest and recovery. This isn't really surprising- rest days don't make the diet industry any money. They can't sell you anything when you're asleep. They need you to feel like you need to perpetually be on the go- like if you aren't 100% all in, 100% all of the time you are failing.

That's how they make their money. By convincing you that you need them...all.of.the.time.

So I imagine it would shock you to learn that how much you sleep is actually more important to your health than how much (and what) you eat; that you can't 'out exercise' chronic fatigue and sleep deprivation; and, that while it's true that working out will give you more energy, nothing will give you more energy than getting an adequate amount of rest.

That's right kids. Rest and recovery are actually really crucial to how you function. And not prioritizing rest and recovery (including sleep) can not only lead to weight gain, but can also lead to injury. And, trust me when I say that nothing messes with your fitness goals more than an injury.

So while I'm not advocating skipping out on every work out because you are "tired"...knowing the difference between lethargy (A lack of energy, generally caused by a lack of enthusiasm and inactivity) and fatigue (your body's legitimate, physiological exhaustion, requiring rest and recovery in order to restore itself) is one of the most important lessons you can learn.

Your body restores itself during recovery periods- even more so when you sleep. This is when your muscles repair their tissue (which is the process that leads to bigger muscles), when it regulates its growth and hunger hormones, and when your brain does a great big chunk of its self-restoration. So yeah, sleep is a pretty big deal, outside of keeping you from just feeling tired.

So while you think it might be a good idea to skip that 'stretch' day in your program to hop yourself up on an extra cardio session, sometimes you need to listen to your body cues and know when to pull back instead of pushing forward.

So if you are fatigued, for the love of all that is good, sit this one out. Do yourself a favour and instead of hitting the gym, hit your pillow and give yourself an extra hour of sleep.



Skipping one work out will not derail your goals. You will not break all your good habits in one day. You will not put back on all the weight you've lost, or lose all the muscle you've gained.

All you will do is give your body an extra day to recover from all the stresses you put on it every day, and become better able to perform for you physically and mentally.

And better performance is worth forcing yourself to take the break.

The following post is part of a series STOP THE LIES! aiming at deconstructing the hundreds (thousands?) of lies being told by the diet industry in an effort to shame people (usually women, but they are broadening their scope to men more and more...how very inclusive <eye roll>) into having unhealthy relationships with their bodies in an effort to sell them products. Enough is enough. It's time to expose these lies for what they are. 

STOP THE LIES SERIES: "You need to dramatically change your eating patterns to change your body"

This month, we're talking about lies and breaking down the myths and pseudo-science that the fitness industry propagates in order to capitalize on your body-insecurity. Sometimes these lies and black and white constructions (we'll get to some of those); other times, it's the partial truths or manipulation of facts that wind up getting us in the end.

Today, we're going to look at one of the most pervasive half-truths out there: "Weight loss (Fat Loss/Health/Insert-Catch-Phrase-Here) is 80% diet, 20% exercise."

There are some variations on this theme, but they ultimately amount the same thing: What you eat is more important to your health than how much you move your body, especially if your goal is trying to lose weight. 

This myth is based on the fundamental premise: that all overweight people have a food intake problem. This has been the dominant paradigm in the weight-loss/fitness/health sciences for a long time, so it is understandable that people believe it. However, several recent studies on obesity are beginning to indicate that the reverse might actually be true.  Science is indicating that weight gain is actually what causes calorie intake to increase- and that sedentary behaviour (the action of not moving) is the real culprit for a population that is rapidly increasing in body mass.

This isn't to say that many of us don't eat more calories than we consume, but it is to say that implying that reducing our calorie intake is the key to good health is a bit of a stretch. 

While it may be (mostly) true that you can't 'out exercise' a very high calorie diet (though there are many people who actually do and do so healthily...we'll talk about that in another post), it is equally true that you can't 'out-eat' a sedentary lifestyle. What I mean by that is that evidence strongly indicates that it is a much greater risk to not get enough physical activity and exercise than it is to have a very high calorie diet, even if the former results in weight gain. 

With that in mind, let's look at today's myth: "You need to dramatically change your eating/exercise patterns to change your body."

The BS meter is dangerous high with this one. When we are told that we need to radically transform pretty much everything about our lives, overnight, in order to achieve any sort of meaningful change, we are outright lying. 

Every single change you make, no matter how tiny, is going to have an impact on your body. That's how physiology works. For better or for worse, your body is always working through your choices and making adaptations based on what you are doing. 

The not so great part of that is that all your bad choice impact you. Unfortunately, no matter what they say, calories do count on Valentine's day.

BUT the great thing about this is that every single good choice you make will impact you too! Which means that every time you choose the stairs over the elevator, or have a salad instead of fries, or go for a beautiful walk on a sunny day- every time you make a choice that ultimately favours your body functioning properly, you are going to have a slightly better body.

It may not be a lot. And it may not show up on a scale right away. But, if you play your cards right, it will show up in your life...and the scale eventually catches up, if you decide that you want it to.

So, if changing your diet is something that strikes you as overwhelming right now, rest assured that you absolutely can transform your body for the better just with exercise! Beyond that, if you are careful to not increase your calorie intake and keep it stable, increase in exercise WILL translate to weight loss. It may not be as rapid as going on a hyper restrictive diet; but health is a way bigger picture than your actual body weight, and- overall- increasing your activity levels will be healthier for you in more ways than just change your mass.

Habits take a while to form- we know that. We also know that changing habits in small doses is generally helpful in avoiding relapses and ensuring that the changes stick. There is nothing wrong with focusing 80% of your efforts on diet. And there is nothing wrong with making dietary changes in lieu of activity changes if you want to start there or are limited in what you can physically do.

If that's what works for you right now, then that's great. BUT, weight loss and health are simply more complicated than what you put on your plate. And sometimes, what goes on your plate is a more complicated equation than "does this fit my calorie count?"

Now, if you are looking to get as low a body fat percentage as possible, dietary changes will become inevitable. And that's ok. But it doesn't have to be your starting point.

Don't let diet stress become a barrier to your success. Calories are not your enemy. Food is your friend.
With body-love, 
Coach Zita

The following post is part of a series STOP THE LIES! aiming at deconstructing the hundreds (thousands?) of lies being told by the diet industry in an effort to shame people (usually women, but they are broadening their scope to men more and more...how very inclusive <eye roll>) into having unhealthy relationships with their bodies in an effort to sell them products. Enough is enough. It's time to expose these lies for what they are. 

STOP THE LIES SERIES: "Everyone can do it."

The following post is part of a series STOP THE LIES! aiming at deconstructing the hundreds (thousands?) of lies being told by the diet industry in an effort to shame people (usually women, but they are broadening their scope to men more and more...how very inclusive <eye roll>) into having unhealthy relationships with their bodies in an effort to sell them products. Enough is enough. It's time to expose these lies for what they are. 

You've heard it before: "If I can do it, you can do it."









Or, in a similar vein, "What's your excuse?", "No excuses" or the ever popular myth "Excuses are for people who don't want it bad enough."




All of these catch-phrases amount to the same thing: If one person is able to achieve a specific physical ideal- whether it be a sleek, trim body or bulging muscles and a six-pack- then everyone can.

Here's the truth: It's a lie.

Let's be clear about something. Every human body is completely unique. Every person's physiology works in individualized ways, each acclimated to that person's particular existence. The human body is amazing in the way it adapts and transform itself, to the point that no two human bodies will ever be exactly the same.

Which means, quite simply: What my body can do is not the same as what your body can do.

Even if we train in exactly the same ways, at exactly the same intensity, frequency, and for the same amount of time, our bodies will never be exactly the same.

For that simple reason, the idea that you can do whatever I can do is a load of crap.

But most fitness-proselytizers will acknowledge that, and respond by saying: "Sure, but you can do something. It may not be exactly like me...but you can always aim to try your best to do as much as you can..."

But, implied in that line of reasoning is the belief that "doing as much as you can" and "doing your best" are clearly defined concepts that the fitness industry gets to outline. And ultimately, that's just a load more bs.

Here's the deal- just as every body is unique, every life is unique. Which means that not everyone has the time, effort, money, energy, knowledge, or physical capacity to undertake the project of totally renovating their physical appearance. Beyond that, not everyone wants to. And they should not be made to feel like they should.

And, even if they do want to look/feel a certain way, not every body will respond in ways that allow this virtual reality to come to life.

As a formerly very fat woman, I can tell you that my fat cells sure haven't gone away. And my loose skin...it's still there. So unless I want a very expensive date with a scapel, there is LITERALLY no way that I can look like those after models that they keep shoving in your face. And this is coming from a person who spends upwards of 15 hours at the gym every single week.

Here's the truth: If you have the desire to make changes to your life that include more activity, exercise, nutritional adjustments, or any other number of things, then I believe that there are ways for these changes to be made accessible and possible to you. But they will need to be tailored to you, to your body, to your goals and to your life.

Text, on a yellow background, reads: "Surround yourself with others who are more interested in helping
become a better you than they are in telling you that you should be like them.
- Coach Zita, Shame Free Wellness"

Don't define what you can and can't do based on someone else's achievements. Define them by how you feel in your own skin, and how you live in your life. And surround yourself by others who are more interested in helping you be a better you than they are in telling you that you should be like them.

Anyone who tells you to base your personal goals on their personal achievements is nothing better than a #fitnessfraud.

Discover your own action potential,

Coach Zita