Are You Making 1 Of These 2 Caloric 'Mistakes'?

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Three weeks ago, I wrote “How Many Calories Should I Eat Per Day?” as the first of an ongoing series about caloric intake.

The topic of caloric intake is highly personal and multi-layered.

I will do my best to give you practical, actionable guidance.

Today, let’s explore 2 of the most common mistakes I see with caloric intake:

1. A Tale Of 2 Caloric Approaches 📖

2. Explain It To Me It Like I’m 5 🧒

3. Life Is Fluid 🌊

4. The 2 Missteps & Adjustments 🧠

5. Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

A Tale Of 2 Caloric Approaches

Meet Mary:

Mary wants to lose those elusive last five pounds. She’s been trying hard to do so for years. She’s tried just about everything: fasting, keto, counting macros, and more. She works out at OrangeTheory religiously four times a week and doesn’t drink alcohol.

But Mary is exhausted and frustrated. The constant mode of restriction, cutting out large groups of food, avoiding specific ingredients, and confusion from conflicting advice online have got her so stressed that it’s started to affect her family and professional life.

Meet John:

John was forty pounds lighter once, but that feels like long ago. He eats healthy most of the time but hasn’t seen his weight drop. He does his best to make good choices and eats out about five or six times weekly.

John has lost the weight a few times but has never been able to keep it off. He always seems to fall off the wagon within two or three months. He believes that if he could cut the weight one more time, he could keep it off once and for all …

What mistakes are Mary & John making?

Explain It To Me Like I’m 5 👦

Today’s topic, as simply as possible:

“You have to see a new path to walk it.”

Life Is Fluid 🌊

I’ll spare you the metaphysical rant, but life does not move in hard, straight lines:

The degree of difference between the peaks and crests should not be more than 20% above or below your baseline regularly.

But you absolutely can - and probably should - have a daily or weekly degree of variance away from your ideal, roughly between 5 and 20%, depending on you and your goals.

The 2 Missteps & Adjustments 🧠

You Can’t Always Eat Less

Mary mistakenly believes that she needs to keep eating less to lose weight.

That’s not always true, especially if you’ve been eating less for a long time and it’s no longer working.

At some point, continually restricting food will backfire mentally and physically.

Mary’s adjustment?

She needs to slowly eat more of the right foods, even if that has to be done step-by-step, giving her mind and body time to adjust periodically until she learns to trust that her body can handle it.

You Don’t Always Need Big Changes

John mistakenly believes an ‘all or nothing’ approach is the only way to achieve his goals.

I commonly see this with big, passionate men. But sometimes, a more subtle approach is needed.

John’s adjustment?

He needs to surrender and be a bit more patient. A sustainable rate of fat loss for large men is about half or maybe one whole pound per week. Not one pound per day.

There are both mindset shifts.

If you’d like some help working through this or anything else on a personal level, hit reply or click here to book a chat with me.

Parting Zen 🧘‍♂️

A simple word, phrase, or thought to take with you:

Be well,

Coach Matt

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