Whenever I talk to clients about why they are over
weight most of them never say it is because they over eat. They usually make
excuses for why they weigh so much. The truth is for you to be over weight
you have to be taking in more calories than what your body is burning off.
The hardest thing to accept is that we have to take responsibility for our
body weight and size otherwise we are setting ourselves up for weight gain.
If you do not exercise
enough and the amount of food you consume is too much you will get fat, it’s
as simple as that. Even if you truthfully think you don’t eat that much but
you are still fat you are still taking in more calories than your body can
burn up as fuel and it therefore it storing that excess as fat.
The way I look at it
is this; if I want to eat what I do and I admit I do eat a large amount of
food I have to go to the gym to burn off the excess otherwise I will get
fat. I don’t whine or bitch about it, I don’t complain. I accept it as a
trade off for eating what I want. If I want to eat what I want I have to
train it’s a fact. I can’t have it always. The same applies to you.
I find
overweight people are experts at making excuses for why they are over
weight.
Here
are some of the classics:
1. Time:
I don’t have time to exercise
If you have time to
over eat you have time to go to the gym period. You have to make a time in
your diary every week for some form of aerobic exercise so that you can burn
off the excess calories or you must simply cut back on your food instead.
There are no if’s or but’s about this.
If you want to lose
weight and still eat what you do, you have to exercise more so that the
calories you are burning off are more than the ones you are taking in. So if
you are eating 4000 calories a day and won’t change your diet you must work
off at least 4000 calories a day just to maintain your current body weight.
You probably couldn’t burn that off just by being at work so you will have
to do it in the gym instead or with jogging / boxercise etc.
If you want to lose
weight and you eat 4000 calories a day and you don’t want to give up your
eating habits then you must burn off around 5000 calories a day to do it.
Don’t bitch about it accept it as the reality unless you don’t mind getting
fat (which I know you do).
If you are going to
eat the same amount of calories as an Olympic weight lifting champion you
had better train like a champion to stop yourself getting fat. If you won’t
train then you had better cut back on the food and stop whining or you will
get fat. You really have to weigh it up. I either eat what I do and train 5
days a week or I cut back on the calories. That is the choice.
2. I don’t have
time to eat proper meals.
Sure you do, you
just prepare them the night before. Spend 15 minutes a night making a packed
lunch for yourself with good food the night before so you don’t have to eat
the bad convenience foods that you were eating at work. Simple isn’t it when
you think about it?
3. It's my
genetics : I come from a big built family
When people say they come
from a big built family it is often true but what does that really mean? It
means their family has the same tendency to over eat, eat bad foods and not
take in enough exercise that’s all. You’ve learned their bad habits and
grown up with them and incorporated them into your life that’s all.
Now I’m not saying that
some people aren’t predisposed to weight gain as I know that they are but
what I have also seen is the same people who say their being overweight is
genetic are also overeating too. Like I said in point one if your gonna over
eat you must train hard or face the consequences.
You must stop blaming
your genetics and accept responsibility for your lifestyle and eating habits
for your being overweight. Most overeating is not caused because of the love
of food but rather as away of coping with emotional problems. It is mostly
used as a crutch or distraction from life’s worries.
Do this sound familiar to
you? Lets look at the reality. If you really don’t want to weigh the weight
you do you must accept what I have said in above. If you do not you will
endure a life with mental frustration. When we take full responsibility for
ourselves we don’t blame our genetics for our being over weight we are on
the right path to success. Lets not make excuses for ourselves as we are
only kidding ourselves if we do.
We are overweight because
of the way we live. If you have emotional problems that are causing you to
seek comfort from food there are strategies to help you in my book, The
Principles of Life. If you think you need one to one help there are many
people in my profession that can help also. There is no possible reason to
stop you from succeeding at controlling your weight unless you make one.
Lets make today the start
of a whole new you!
