Weight loss, weight management, calorie control, fad dieting, battle of the bulge, fat loss, body composition management, and fat manipulation; whatever your bent or take, I propose a new approach.
Rather than manipulating the deficit, why don't we fuel the lifestyle? Increase the quality of your intake, increase the quality of your output and increase the quality of your life.
The health and fitness space now is littered with throw away one-liners, all targetting the pain pathways to the brain because if you're in pain, you purchase. It's meant the marketing messages, comparison campaigns and fake flash sales dominate the news feeds of the decision-maker interested in improving their health.
The deficit model has become the norm! Rather than focus on strengths and orientate our strategies to those, the individual is made very aware of their lack. The heroic uphill battle against the goliath of the environment to make any change at all.
Imagine just for a second if we flipped the script. Removed comparison, removed your lack and pulled the deficit. No quick fixes, no flashy one-liners but we invested in quality. We proactively nourished, we designed your week so that exercise wasn't such an uphill battle every time and instead became the cornerstone habit to building self-trust. There is a novel concept, isn't it? Self-trust! Suddenly with 1-2 weeks of regular activity and a bit of self-trust under your belt, the world looks different. You're not skipping meals because you felt guilty for eating half a block of chocolate last night; you're looking forward to breakfast because it's nutritious and tasty, and you know how much better a person you are when you eat something.
In the early 2000s, Jim Loehr proposed a theory of full engagement based on focus points and managing energy, not time. Harvard continued this work closer to the 10's and found in all walks of life; we see significant shifts in performance. I have seen the same in my career; once I started proactively managing energy (input, output and recovery), I no longer had to worry about counting someone's calories or worrying about their weight. Of course, your body will end up where it does, but the newfound respect you have for yourself, your body, and its performance in the office, at home and in fitness carries with it a completely different outcome. For the individual currently weighing their self-esteem every morning playing some dodgy calorie counting silver bullet game, all that mental energy could be so much better invested. Perhaps it's time for a new approach?
Yours in health
Sean Cornish
Hat tip HBR for this: https://hbr.org/2007/10/manage-your-energy-not-your-time
Second hat tip and a great read: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-power-of-full-engagement-jim-loehr/book/9780743226752.html?source=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhMOMBhDhARIsAPVml-GG5enUJdXrQcGV3kEKr_bd4IfzrdQtJIluhTWZgZyJ4dfpkZU28uMaAtdWEALw_wcB
