It’s human nature, I think, to tweak.
My weight loss, by most standards, held a smooth stride. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t punish myself with hours in the gym, and I generally spent my time as simply and plainly as possible: eat when I’m hungry, move around when I’m not.
That served me well. December and early January saw me at my leanest yet, but still just shy of where I ultimately wanted to be. I have a goal. Call it vain, self-centered, and all sorts of unfriendly words, but that goal doesn’t change: I want a set of abs, the kind this formerly chubby kid never thought he would see.
And so I started to tweak. I took a simple way of life and made a few changes, altering a pretty easy formula, and for about a month, there, lived a bit more complicated than I was accustomed to.
Here’s the obvious punchline: it didn’t help.
And here’s the equally obvious motto of this story: keep it simple!
Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t count calories. I’m not convinced you need to on a Paleo/Primal diet, and while doing so can still have its uses, I generally have a good feel for my daily intake without needing to weigh and measure.
That said, I did count macronutrients, which is something I haven’t done in almost a year. I kept a running tally of how many grams of protein, fat, and carbohydrates I consumed each day, with the intention of going high-carb, high-protein, low-fat on workout days, and then high-fat, high-protein, moderate-carb on rest days. That’s carb cycling, essentially, with carb ‘refeeds’ timed right after workouts — not the most complicated method around, but still a far cry from what I’d been doing before.
Why? Why bother with the technical details when living simply was working just fine?
Like I said: humans like to tweak. Even those that leap up on a pedestal and preach the virtues of patience — guilty! — can get a little impatient and more than a little frustrated at what is perceived as a stall in otherwise steady weight loss. Carb cycling and other strategies have been promoted as a way to help shed excess body fat, which seemed — to my vain, slightly impatient self — a perfect way to make the push into a single-digit body fat percentage.
Again: I want abs.
Lesson learned, in any case: I complicated things for about a month, there, and it didn’t help in any perceivable way. That’s no fault of the ‘program’, though, as it’s entirely possible I didn’t do it right, and it’s entirely possible the variations I incorporated were just enough to negate the advantages of doing it.
Come the end of the month, accordingly, I was right where I’d started, weight-wise, and more than a tiny bit frustrated at the lack of change. Why hadn’t it worked? Why wasn’t I any leaner? More importantly, though, why had I decided to mess with the good thing I had going?
My notorious Ab Quest is the obvious answer. Digging a little deeper, now, I think there’s another side of the story, and I think it’s one that anyone — and everyone! — on a journey to strong, vibrant health can understand.
Waiting For Tomorrow
We’re forward-looking people. It’s in our blood, I suspect, or at least in our upbringing. We plan for the future, fantasize about what the next day may bring, and generally try and direct the course of our lives as much as possible.
That extends to our health, too. I do something funny, I’ve realized, when I check the mirror: I don’t see me. I see the me of six months from now, the me that I genuinely want to be, the image of this muscular Matt overriding the one that’s directly in front of my eyes. I can see through the image, bit by bit, but I’m not so sure that’s a good thing. Why? I end up comparing the future me and the real me, and — no surprise there! — the real me is rarely up to snuff.
I don’t have a six-pack yet? I need to try harder.
That’s an unhealthy perspective, to be sure. More than that, though, it’s not fair. It’s not fair to the progress I’ve made, and it’s certainly not respectful of just how far I’ve come in the last 11 or 12 months of Primal eating.
I bet I’m not alone in this. And I bet, too, that you know the feeling I just described — a realization, sure, that you’ve lost weight, but a little voice in the back of your mind that says “but not enough.” You need to keep going. You’re not where you want to be, in other words, and the mind offers some mental image of where you’ll ideally end up.
We need to stop. We need to open our eyes a little wider and really, truly, ground ourselves in the present — in the me (or you!) that is staring back at you now, not the one who you’ll be looking at six months down the line.
How can we do that? I’ve given it some thought, like I said, and my month-long experiment in carb-cycling really drove home how obvious the answer was all along.
There’s only one thing left to do, then: simplify.
The Simplicity of Intermittent Fasting
Stop looking forward.
That’s strange, I know, in the context of how we normally operate. Of all changes I’ve made in my life, however, the incorporation of IF has been one of — if not the — strongest forces in helping me stop and focus on the now.
When I sit down to eat, I don’t worry about how many grams of whatever that I’m getting, and likewise my brain isn’t thinking “Oh, I’ll need to have more protein at dinner tonight to make up for it.” I’m focusing, instead, on just a few simple things: the flavors as they cross my palate, the sights and sounds of the dish, and the utterly ridiculous amount of water I get all over the place when I do dishes afterwards.
I’m in the present, in other words, and quite happily not thinking about tomorrow. I’m not thinking about how many more meals I need to fit in during the rest of the day, and I’m definitely not thinking about attaching any numbers to one of the most basic and greatest pleasures of life: eating.
I’m eating when I’m hungry, and I’m not worrying about food when I’m not.
And I’m losing weight. Maybe that’s the real punchline here: after a month of stalling, I’ve done maybe a week of my ‘old’ style of eating and already seem leaner than before. Again, let me stress that I’m not saying carb cycling doesn’t work — Leangains is perfect proof that it does. For me, though, a simple take on Intermittent Fasting works best, mainly for the reasons I mentioned above.
What does that simple take look like? It’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned it here on 3NL, so let me reiterate what I do:
1. Eat when I’m hungry, and don’t eat when I’m not. I shoot for two meals a day (one around noon, the other around 6pm) but don’t stress if the meal times vary, and nor do I stress if I end up eating just one large meal either. When I do sit down for a meal, I keep it simple: I eat what I’m hungry for and don’t worry about any particular combination of macronutrients.
This means, more practically speaking, that some days I could come in well under the average daily intake of fat, protein, or carbs — but that’s fine. Remember a core principle of Intermittent Fasting: focus less on your daily intake and think more on what you average over time.
I come in well under 100 grams of protein on some days, but that’s not a cause for stress. I’ll get a craving for protein a day or two later, eat more of it as a result, and suddenly my weekly intake is just as it should be: normal, easy, and by all appearances effortless.
2. Walk when possible. Stand instead of sitting when not.
And that’s it. Call it the antithesis of calorie counting, if you like, and I’d be hard-pressed to disagree.
Humans like to tweak. We like to overcomplicate things, too, even with otherwise golden intentions. I took a routine — Intermittent Fasting, as advocated by John Nguyen of the Lean Saloon — and decided to complicate it with the hope of advancing my march towards sweet, glorious abs.
Was it a mistake? I wouldn’t call it that, especially since I didn’t gain any weight during the period. If nothing else, it served a nice reminder of just how simple our diet can be, and it has helped renew my love for things I’d otherwise restricted during the carb cycling: the rich taste of heavy cream in my coffee, or the subtle sweetness of raw cashews. I bake sweet potatoes when I feel like it, I eat (probably too many) carrots whenever you put them in front of me, and I know, each and every day, that I’m going to do just one thing: eat when I’m hungry and not stress about food when I’m not.
Intermittent Fasting keeps me grounded. It keeps me in the moment, even, and reminds me to respect each one that I’ve been given — including the body I have now. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a goal for my body, but there’s just as much value in liking what I have now.
Keep it simple. Take a moment to admire the person you are — and the body you have — today. Realize, further, that there’s likely some future version clouding your mind, so take whatever steps necessary to go easy on yourself and start greeting yourself with a smile. Me? I’m going to stick with Intermittent Fasting. There’s the physical advantages, sure, but some pretty powerful mental ones too. I’m grateful, in any case, for how it encourages to me to stop, slow down, and enjoy what I’m doing — eating or otherwise.
And at the end of the day, you have plenty of time to get where you’re going. Why not try and enjoy the person you are today?
Intermittent Fasting can help.
32 Comments
I'm a writer, minimalist, and health dork with three goals in mind: to teach you how to lose weight, move more, and be happier by living a simple, natural life. It works. Like what you read here? Get 3NL delivered straight to your inbox!
I have considered intermittent fasting before. I don’t feel my diet is quite where it needs to be in order to tolerate it though. It may be an excuse but being in class all day makes packing a lunch difficult, and lets just say the on campus choices are less than primal.
Hope you get your abs. I to aspire to the lofty goal of a having a six pack, not just drinking one.
Haha! I loved that last line, man.
Regarding IF, just give it time.
The more Primal you go, the better your body will adjust to burning stored fat, which makes periods without food — fasting, in other words — infinitely more tolerable. It’s remarkable, really, how easy it is to go a few days without food now that my body knows to just ‘chow down’ on stored fat instead.
When you feel up to it, just give it a shot! Skip lunch one day and stay away from the on-campus eateries so you can keep your mind off food. I think you’ll find it’s not as difficult as you might think.
Oh. Man. Matt, I think you might be a genius.
Because I totally can see what you mean about the food. Having started to *actually* think critically about my diet, there are totally times when I overcomplicate it. Point about taking it intuitively one meal at a take well taken!
But here’s the thing- point ALSO taken…as it applies to my work. Oof. That was unexpected!
“Keep it simple. Take a moment to admire the person you are — and the body you have — today. Realize, further, that there’s likely some future version clouding your mind, so take whatever steps necessary to go easy on yourself and start greeting yourself with a smile.”
Replace “person you are” with “work you’re doing” and “body” with “results” or something similar….and damn.
Every time I read what you write about food I think about what I try to do with fashion- with using the familiar to provoke thinking in other, less explored areas. Whether it’s intentional or not, it’s damn effective.
Because this post about food, for some reason, was a clearer reminder than any “begin small and take your work one day at a time!” inspirational biz article I’ve ever read. Truth!
Keep crossing these boundaries. Because they’re killer and so necessary.
*one meal at a TIME
Thank you so much, Tessa.
That’s a fascinating line you drew there, and I’m hella impressed at how cleanly it works. I love the synergy here: whether it’s food, fashion, or self-employment, the idea of appreciating the journey and the destination still holds true. That might be the most difficult part, too, given how forward-looking we tend to be, so taking a second to admire your current situation might be even more relevant than I had thought!
I hadn’t thought about it like that, so thank you for pointing it out!
Great article. I’ve attempted IF a couple of times and tend to be a perfectionist with things. IF does not lend itself to perfectionism. lol Definately good advice – eat when you’re hungry, don’t when you arn’t. And don’t stress with everything that goes in your mouth even when you do eat.
I’m on that ab journey myself, and after losing a significant amount of weight I seem to of plateaued. So, I ‘ll just keep doing what I am doing, not stress, and hopefully something will pop out soon enough!
~ JW
Thanks, JW!
Just keep going.
I know the feeling, and I know how frustrating it can be when the scale doesn’t seem to budge. The body is a complex, incredible thing, however, and sometimes it’s better to just let it figure things out on its own. 
Thanks Matt… always inspiring.
That said, IF is something I’m afraid of. Or I shoudl say I’m afraid it might slow my metabolism, and then make things worst. I know that the weekends are the times when I slip, sometimes badly… I have a daughter who loves to cook and bake! That is the hard time for me.
We are also getting ready to go on a vacation – that too is scary. Restaurants, tempted by carbs I like, etc. It’s only a bit over a couple months, and I guess I’m still nto quite completely in the Primal mode.
It’s a learning process.
Thank you!
You’re absolutely right: it’s a learning process, so don’t stress too much during your transition.
That said, any fears about IF affecting your metabolism can be put to rest, as it absolutely doesn’t harm it in the way that conventional wisdom might suggest. If you’d like more information, check here:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html
So give it a try sometime! No need to make it a daily thing in the beginning. Try skipping breakfast once or twice a week and I think (especially as you go further into Primal) you’ll find that fasting is far easier than you might think.
Great post, and very timely with what I am struggling with right now, which is tremendous amounts of impatience. I’m gonna try to be a little kinder to myself as you suggest… Still keeping myself on track towards my goal though!
Thanks for a great inspirational post with an important message about self acceptence and patience.
Philip
Thanks, Philip! Just remember to go easy on yourself right now and I think you’ll do just fine in the long run.
Clicked over from MDA – great post! I look forward to reading through your blog!
Thanks, Erin! Hope you like it.
Great post. I agree that enjoying ‘the moment’ is a less stressful means of existence .. but somehow I enjoy projecting into the future. My personality is very future-oriented, I don’t think that will ever change. But, like you have mentioned about, I do take ‘breaks’ where I’ll just ‘be’. When I eat (though not always), I just sit by the window and am mindful about what I am consuming. I go for long walks and just feel the breeze and look at my surroundings. It helps … I think.
And for some reason, your post made me think of: http://healthymindfitbody.com/; they have a podcast I recently started to listen too. Perhaps you’d like it. (This is the second time I’ve linked something … I hope you don’t mind … )
I don’t mind at all! So long as it’s relevant or interesting, I’m always happy to find new sites.
There’s nothing wrong, I think, with being a future-oriented person. The real challenge, though, lays in balance, where you keep your sight firmly somewhere between now and then.
It sounds like you do that already, though, which is a fantastic place to be in, so keep it up!
Thanks for the reminder with this post. I’ve been using this method for the past three years and it helped me go down three dress sizes to my target size really easily. I’ve got into bad eating habits this month as I’ve had a lot of events to go to and I’ve just quit smoking, so I can feel my weight creeping back up. I went back today to just eating when I was hungry and ended up only having one small meal at 6pm! It is true what you say about your body developing cravings for what it needs; when I’m in the swing of it, I can really feel that I need green vegetables/fish/red meat etc.
Your body is great at telling you what it needs. You just need to remember to listen. Thanks to your post, I’m listening again.
So glad to hear it, Lexie! Don’t let this last month of bad eating stress you — it’s as simple as telling yourself that you’re “starting over” today and not letting any past decisions weigh you down. I do that after eating particularly badly sometimes, as it helps remind me that starting anew on my fasting doesn’t have to be a punishment or anything like that.
Now this is the kind of eating plan I have been looking for, a real minimalist diet plan.
Thanks for sharing, I think I am going to try it.
Please do! And let me know how it works for you.
I love the keep it simple model. I work with people all the time and that is what I tell them too. Keep it simple. If your a fitness model or pro bodybuilder that is one thing. But if you need to lose 25 pounds or more, the little details are not what you need to be worried about.
Exactly, Jason! More specific goals might require more specific methods, but the average person really doesn’t need to obsess about numbers nearly as much as we’ve been lead to believe.
I found myself making the same connections to other things that Tessa made too. I am always looking at my blog and seeing the future blog I want it to be, and getting frustrated with it as it is now rather than appreciating how far I’ve come since November. So, thanks for unintentionally make me feel better about that.
But also, thanks for applying the simplicity message to fitness and health too because I’ve always been a lazy guy who never wanted to improve his body because it just looks like so much complicated work with so many numbers to watch – be it calories or exercise reps. But you make it seem so much, well, simpler!
Because it is!
I’m not convinced you need to track a whole lot of numbers if you just want to build a strong, functional physique. That said, I think you’ll find yourself keeping track of workouts whenever you start, if only to see how you improve over time. It seems less a burden, in that case, and more of an inspirational technique.
I fasted yesterday after I succumbed to birthday cake for a friend at work. Blech! I forget how awful even the smallest amount of sugary wheat is (and it was a VERY small piece!) after a complete stop to such dietary activities. Felt so ill I didnt eat anything for about 12 hours, then made a proper meal for myself. Funny enough, I get full from steak & veggies & my own Paleo-friendly cream sauce, but never to the point of feeling sick like from cake or processed stuff. It is interesting how if you feed the body REAL food, it just decides on its own when it’s had enough, and sends you all the proper signals. My little experiment yesterday seemed to agree with you Matt – eat good food when hungry, stop eating when you’re not, and your body will take care of the rest.
I also wanted to mention that you have created a nutritional monster in at least one of your readers.
Although I eagerly subscribe to a few blogs that mention nutrition, 3NL is one of the most fun and one of my favourites. I love the info and the inspiration, but didn’t realize how involved I had become in the subject until last night watching a yoghurt commercial (you know, those low-fat high-chemical high-fructose ones) and my partner turned to me automatically, expecting to hear a speech dissecting the misinformation in the ad! He was so disappointed when I didnt he asked for one, which I happily gave. Did I mention he is a personal trainer? But I am the diet Nazi in the house, apparently. ha ha!
That’s fantastic. Both parts! But especially that I’ve created another nutritional monster, as I’m pretty sure all of my friends and family are absolutely sick of me scoffing loudly at the latest nutritional studies or commercials pushing some heavily-processed nonsense.
I like how natural the progression is. Once you start reading Paleo/Primal information, you literally can’t help but gobble it up wherever you might find it. There’s the choice, sure, to take an interest in your health, but everything after seems almost involuntary — you never lose the love of knowing more and more about how the body works.
That’s how I feel, at least, and I suspect you feel the same.
It seems to all evolve organically, doesn’t it?
And bagging the life out of convential diet advice is just too much fun to give up.
I have tried to “just eat when I’m hungry” but I get bored easily and I find it really hard to tell boredom from hunger.
What I do is I found an amount of food that is right for me for each meal, and drink lots of water. I use little measuring scoops when I’m making oatmeal or something. I never eat while watching TV (sometimes I delude myself into thinking I can, then have to take a nap and wait for it to all digest.)
Whatever works, Layla.
I know the feeling of mixing up boredom and hunger, as I used to do that pretty often. Fasting has helped me zero in on exactly when I’m just hungry (or just bored, for that matter), but I know it’s not a problem easily solved for most people.
I’m glad you found a system that works for you! I don’t stress counting myself, but that’s with the full knowledge that some people want (or need) to have a better idea of what exactly they’re consuming.
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