It can strike anywhere.
Getting ready for work in the morning. Changing in a dressing room.
Laying by the pool. It knows no boundaries. It can happen in an
instant, but once it happens, everything changes.
“I feel
fat”.
At one
time or another, this is something a lot of us have dealt with. It ruins
moods, kills motivation, and perhaps worst of all, leaves you with a very
negative (and often times) very unreal perception of yourself – all things I
want to help you avoid. So let’s figure out how we can change that,
improve your self-perception, and put you in a place where a quick glance in
the mirror has you thinking, “DAMN, I look HOT!” rather than…”Ugh…another fat
day”.
With that
in mind, I’ve put together a 10-step plan to help curb those “I feel fat”
feelings from entering your thought process AND getting you living the life and
owning the body you want and deserve. Things are broken down into two groups of
five. The first five steps are very much practical, physical changes you
can make to your workouts and overall lifestyle. The second group of five
are concerned with helping improve the functioning of that thing between your
ears. In other words, I’m going to show you how to make your mind work
FOR you, instead of against you. By taking a physical AND mental approach
to this improving your self-perception, we’re going to instantly put you onto
the track for long-term success.
1. Own
your diet. If you’ve been feeling bad about your weight,
your diet is the first place you need to examine. Getting yourself on a
solid diet plan, or at the very least, eliminating the foods you know you
shouldn’t be eating is a great first step. The impact healthy, nutritious
foods can have on your mind is simply astounding. After a few weeks of
eating well, your entire mindset will shift and you’ll start feeling, and
looking, much better.
2. Bump
the intensity. Often times, our negative thoughts are
preceded by our inability to make a meaningful change in your physical
appearance. To jump-start that physical transformation, considerbumping the
intensity of your workouts by using finishers, timed circuits, or
other techniques to push yourself harder. For specific examples, just
browse around the blog for our best fat burning workouts.
3. Metabolic
conditioning. Speaking from personal experience, metcon
workouts have been incredibly beneficial to myself and my clients for
years. It’s something I prescribe to anyone trying to increase their fat
burn and slim down. If you really want to slim out and get rid of those
“fat feelings”, you’ve got to start doing metabolic conditioning
workouts, which will help increase your metabolism and turn you into
a fat burning machine
4. End
the steady state cardio. Steady state cardio isn’t going
to help you burn through fat in a meaningful way. If you’re sick of the
way you look, step it up by including some HIIT cardio drills 1-3 times per
week. When combined with metcon workouts, the HIIT drills are
going to further increase your metabolic rate and help you lean out faster than
steady state cardio will ever allow.
5. Lift
heavy. One of the
biggest problems I see, mainly amongst females, is their avoidance of heavy
weights. They think lifting heavy will make them “bulky”, when in
reality, just the opposite is true. By adding lean muscle mass, you’re
going to stoke that metabolic fire (see a common theme here?) and really turn
up the dial on your fat burning potential. A serious weight lifting
routine is going to improve your physique by adding curves and definition in
all the right places…putting “fat days” in your rear view mirror.
Now we’re
getting into the mental training I want you to think about. Conditioning
your mind is just as important as your body when it comes to self-perception,
so take these next five tips to heart and allow yourself to find acceptance for
yourself along the way.
6. Stop comparing. It’s easy to fall into the game of
comparing yourself to people in the gym, or pictures you see online.
Remember, just because you aren’t 8% body fat with rippling abs doesn’t mean
you’re fat. It just means you aren’t a fitness model…which 99.9% of us
aren’t. Comparing yourself to others is a sure-fire way kill your
motivating and make sure your workouts start sucking. It’s going to take
mindful practice, but whenever you start comparing, just STOP…let the thought
enter and exit your mind, and move on to something positive.
7. Maximize YOUR potential. Going hand-in-hand
with the previous point, I want you to focus on maximizing your OWN
potential. Just because someone else is blessed with great genetics that
allows them to carry tons of muscle and very little fat, doesn’t mean you
should expect the same. Your goal is to be the best you can personally
be. Only you know what means, but if you’re putting in the effort,
there’s no doubt you’re going to achieve your own personal best. Keep
your mind focused on that, not some preconceived notion of what you “should” be
looking like.
8. Learn what reality is. Our idea of fat/skinny
has been so warped by creative ad designs over the years, that we’re not even
sure what realistic is any more. Seriously, do a simple google search of
“photoshoppped models” and you’ll be hit with a barrage of results showing just
how much those “perfect” people are really morphed. It’s to the point
that many of these models aren’t even remotely close to what their true
proportions are. Keep this in the back of your mind and realize
perfection is seldom what it seems.
9. The critic. Understand you often see yourself from a
slanted view-point; often viewing yourself in a far more negative light than
others see you in. This is common for even the most positive and
self-assured among us. Things are very rarely as bad as you make them out
to be in your mind. That little roll or excess pocket of fat may be very
noticeable to you, but to the rest of the world, you just look normal.
Understand you’re always going to be your own biggest critic and start working
on cutting yourself some slack.
10. Acceptance. No matter how hard you work, and
how many changes you make to your body, you will never be happy or feel
fulfilled until you learn to accept yourself for who you are. Understand
there are always going to be things about yourself you do not like. Even
the most beautiful models in the world will complain about some aspect of their
bodies if given the opportunity; this is human nature. I want you to
start working to break free from this bad habit, and learn to accept yourself
for who you are. When you feel good about yourself, regardless of how you
look, you’ll successful eliminate those “I feel fat” thoughts and free yourself
from the perpetual mood swings that come with it. You are an individual,
you are unique, and you are amazing. Be good to yourself, be good to
others, and without a doubt, good things will come back to you.
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