Solid advice from Steve Troutman.

getfitformeee

I copied this from a Facebook thread on Steve Troutman's page. There are so many good life changing truths in this that I wanted to share! Enjoy!


"Rather than feeding your feelings, try feeling them. Accept them as they are, good or bad, and figure out what they mean. Food blunts your feelings, which feels good in the heat of the moment. But I'll be [d@%ned] if it works long term. Long term you're left with a lot of unaddressed "open wounds" and 40 lbs of excess flab. " ~ Steve Troutman

"...I see so many people seeking the perfect program or diet. If only they realized that more often than not their problems stem from their minds - how they manage their emotions and perceptions."- Steve Troutman

"I've been getting bombarded by people with questions that can be summed up into, "Will this food make me fat." When talking about fat loss, as many of you well know, the greater context that must override all other variables... including food selection... is energy balance.

Without a calorie deficit, it really doesn't matter what you're eating... fat ain't budging! Our culture has such a concern over labeling foods "good" and "bad" that people are quick to overlook the importance of a LONG TERM calorie deficit.

I often see people impatiently jumping into and out of a calorie deficit - they never ride it long enough to actually make a difference. Let's face it, weight loss isn't a linear process and it generally requires a calorie deficit being in place for longer than people expect or for longer than they're comfortable with.

And when they go off plan, void their deficits, and realize their weight isn't budging... their first response is to look at their food selection and worry about which combination of foods is hindering their fat loss.

It's the calories. Get that through your head and don't let it skate past the forefront of your mind.

You need that deficit to be repeated day in and day out. Remember, you have 10s of thousands, if not 100s of thousands, of excess calories stored on your belly, *kitten*, and hips. Brief stints of calorie deficits aren't going to make a major dent when they're constantly interspersed with calorie maintenance and surplus periods.

Oh, and it doesn't help anyone if you are quick to forget about those excess calorie periods. I see it all the time, "But I eat 1,500 calories... I swear!" Really? REALLY!? A week here and a week there doesn't count. And eyeballing your portions when you've never actually invested some time in actually weighing your food and learning energy density doesn't count.

It requires dedicated effort and you need to be honest with yourself. It's easy to remember the periods of time you were "on" while pretending the periods of being "off" didn't happen. We tend to over-inflate our effort and hard work and write our indiscretions off.

You're only hurting yourself when you do that, though.

I don't mean to imply that food selection isn't important. It really is... from managing body composition to making calorie deficits more tolerable. But everything needs to be rooted in a consistent calorie deficit when it comes to fat loss."
-Steve Troutman

"It's simple, but it's not easy. Mostly because a lot of us medicate with food. It provides such a quick fix... albeit extremely temporary. But by and large most people suck as coping with life. Rather than learning to live in the moment, accept the present for what it is, and work through problems... they skirt around them by turning to food. And I won't lie... food doesn't only taste good... it feels good too. But if consistency is ever going to be maintained for long enough, we need to broaden and strengthen our coping strategies."

"I wanna know why is it so easy to pack on the weight but so hard to lose it!"

"Lots of reasons. Doesn't help that our bodies are biologically hardwired to store fat efficiently. In the grand scheme... wasn't that long ago where our ancestors had to efficiently fatten up for the long winter months when food died or migrated.

Modern day food production doesn't help either... food is hyper palatable and more energy dense than ever before. When you might burn 300-500 calories on the treadmill in an hour, you can turn around and eat double that amount in a matter of seconds.

On and on it goes.

Our bodies and our environments aren't really on "our sides." And this is exactly why going crazy rigid and trying to totally overhaul your life and habits with the flick of a switch with some fancy program is pretty much guaranteed to backfire. It's about sustainability - easing into small habits that can last a lifetime.

For most people, rather than building things up one brick at a time... they try and throw a skyscraper together in a day. It's really no wonder their plans come crashing down time and time again."

"Though I've encountered some diehard IIFYM folks who take nutrient counting to rigid extremes that wind up backfiring. Get your calories in check. Be reasonable, yet a bit flexible, with your nutrient targets. And build a plan that works for you, ya know?

A buddy of mine, Erik Ledin from leanbodiesconsulting, put it perfectly when he said, "The BEST approach is “If It Fits Your Calories and is REASONABLY Close To Your Macronutrient Goals”. That is the ultimate in dietary flexibility and is even MORE flexible than IIFYM. You do not have to obsess over perfectly hitting macronutrient goals for the day. It’s majoring in the minor. Whether you eat 225, 200, 250g carbs for example, doesn’t matter if at the end of the day you hit your caloric target. Same thing with protein and fat."

What's more, imo, is learning to forgive yourself for what amounts to small indiscretions. People have such crazy and complex food rules nowadays that they're in a constant state of tension and guard... it's as if they're walking the nutritional tight rope from morning to night without a safety net. So once they make a minor slip in the context of their rules, they tend to beat themselves up too damn much... to a point where they break and go ape**** with calories for a stint. That usually ends once enough guilt has amassed... and then it's back to inflexibility and setting things up for failure due to unrealistic expectations."

"...As a culture, we're astonishingly good at losing weight. That's what the statistics you referenced hide. It's just that we can't keep it off. People end up losing the same weight over and over again... it's no wonder they're so damn frustrated.

What I find though is that while they're not trying the same exact approach over and over again, the same general theme is always applied - and that's restriction and rigidity. Rather than focusing on what they can have, they're boxed into focusing on what they can't have. Restriction will always bite you in the *kitten* after a while... our brains are pretty much wired to rebel. The more you restrict, the more you want. Eventually you cave. And that's one of the primary reasons we see people gaining the same weight they lose time and time again."

sijomial

Bump (he talks sense!).

LilchookNZ

So so so very true. Thanks for this

gmhaggie06

that was an awesome post, thanks a bunch for sharing. It's amazing about the food medication, I never realized how much I was doing that. I'd get into a stressful situation and I'd honestly be like "okay, where's the swiss cake rolls and the oatmeal creme pies??"

I didn't realize how obvious it was until I was having a minor freak-out about some appointments and my wife said "oh, have a couple oatmeal creme pies and calm down" I've never had a drinking problem, never done drugs, never smoked, food was my weakness, still is! Handling your emotions without eating them has been a huge epiphany.

Also, eating what I want to is fun! I wanted a snickers bar the other day, and in the past I would have said "no, you can't have that, it's BAD" then I would have obsessed and eaten 10 later in the day. This time I had a snickers bar, saw that I could work it into my daily allotment, and ate half of it! I didn't want any more after the first few bites, I was satisfied!

JesterMFP

Thanks for sharing, the man talks a lot of sense.

msf74

That's because the dude is a professional. That is so sadly lacking in the fitness /diet industries.

EmmaNilsson77

Great advice! Saving to share with the next person who asks How I Did It.