Cut it out

OK, raise your hand if this describes you:

• you truly want to lose weight
• you’re sick of yourself complaining that you’re not losing weight
• you’re doing all the things – workouts, meal tracking, a little bit of self-pitying
• when you are honest with yourself, you admit you’re kind of phoning in your workouts and spending lots of mental energy figuring out how to eat your cake and have it too (watch Manhunt Unabomber for details on why this maxim is reversed)

ATTENTION: People who are frustrated with their lack of results…here’s what to STOP eating if you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired! This is your wake up call.

1. SWEETS – Dessert. Stop. Eating. Dessert. Just stop.
2. SUGAR – By the spoonful or the packet. Honey, molasses, agave. Enough already. This crap increases your appetite and sabotages your calorie restriction. It’s also terrible for you, will age you prematurely and make your joints hurt. Do I have to tell you to stop drinking juice and soda? Those are sugar. Come on already.
3. SPIRITS – Booze actually stops your body’s ability to burn fat. Say what? IT STOPS YOUR BODY’S ABILITY TO BURN FAT. Did I just rain on your parade? I know, it sucks. Do it anyway. Alcohol can also stealthily cause you to lose sight of your goals and crush your inhibition, thus finding you scarfing everything in sight. So put the bottle down. DOWN, I say!
4. SECONDS – One plate with your meal on it. That’s it. This includes finishing your kids’ meals. No grazing, no picking. When you finish your meal, leave the table.
5. STARCHES (dry) – This is the white processed flour section. You don’t need non-nutritive pasta, bread, cereal, pizza, crackers ETCETERA. If you’re already restricting your calories, you better make sure your food is nutrient-dense. This is NOT to say cut all carbs. No, I did not say that. Eat carbs in the forms of potatoes, rice and cooked oatmeal. Sprouted toast. Fruit. Eat the carbs.
6. SNACKS – I don’t care if they came from Whole Foods and they’re wrapped in seaweed. It doesn’t matter if they’re organic or paleo-friendly, vegan or gluten-free. STOP SNACKING. If you’re hungry, eat a REAL meal. A real meal has 300-500 calories in it and is packed with protein. Chicken with broccoli and a sweet potato. Remember square meals? Eat them. Stop trying to make your meals equal 200 calories. Just stop it.
7. SUPER SAVORY SAUCES – When you douse your food in ketchup, barbecue sauce, teriyaki sauce and the like, you increase your capacity for eating more. That sweet, salty, super-flavored flavor is an appetite enhancer that will only work to thwart your goals. Sure, use spices to flavor your foods. Things like garlic, rosemary and paprika. Cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper. But stay away from the sauce.

Notice there’s no food group elimination here. Well, except booze. But you CAN eat gluten and dairy if you tolerate them. Dairy can actually help you lose weight. Read THIS great article for more on that.

If you do NOTHING else to try to lose weight—tracking calories comes to mind—follow the No “S” logic. Do you see how it all adds up to common sense? Do you remember when things were simple and logical and not complicated to high heaven with the internet’s exhausting and infinite amount of dietary advice? Wasn’t that lovely? Let’s bring those days back and achieve our goals.

This post would not exist if it weren’t for Scott Abel. His original “No S” article can be found HERE. Read it in its entirety. You might just have a revelation.