Yesterday, I was running outside as the sun sat (beautiful time of day to run btw). I got super in the zone: stride was fast, music was blasting, and my thoughts were clear...And I realized that there was something I did last summer that helped me lose 15 pounds that I haven’t mentioned yet. It wasn’t physical or dietary...it was mental.
This past summer (May 1 to October 1 2019) I focused on caloric deficit & increasing my calorie expenditure. But I also subconsciously focused on something else: AN END DATE!!!
It was important to me that I didn’t diet for longer than 6 months. I know the effects dieting has on the metabolism (less strength, cravings, bad mood, plateaus, etc) and I wanted to avoid any metabolic slow-downs.
I knew I wanted to start reverse dieting at the start of October. I knew the holidays would be hectic so I wanted to back off the diet and slide into maintenance mode [More food, less cardio. Isn't that what we all dream of?]
This feeling of knowing that I only had a few months to reach my goal kept me on track everyday last summer.
Did I want to hustle hard for 6 months, or dilly dally and half-ass it for 12 months? The answer was clear.
So for those 6 months I worked my butt off because I knew there was an end date. The idea of dieting & working super hard forever wasn’t bogging me down - I had a plan - and I hope you do too.
I think an end date is so important when it comes to weight loss. Map out your year in phases: diet, reverse diet, maintenance, and if you want, a muscle-building phase.
Your year could look like this: