Here is the dirty little secret of fat loss (and athletic success, incidentally):

Nobody likes doing it.

That’s right - those fitness models with perfect 6-pack abs? They still say to themselves, “I’d rather have a waffle” every time they get up in the morning, open up yet another package of cottage cheese and sprinkle on exactly 3 oz of blueberries.

I’m sure David Beckham is pretty damn tired of doing his sprint intervals.

The truth is, it’s not any easier to for the best in the world to bring themselves do what it is you’re doing, and there are days where even they feel like throwing in the towel and indulging.

But they don’t. Unless they’ve planned it (but that’s a topic for another post).

Now, the corollary to that truth is this:

What’s hard is not the doing. What’s hard is the pre-doing.

It’s not eating the poached egg or lifting the weight or trying to throw that 200 pound guy with yoko tomoe nage, it’s that little voice inside your head telling you “I can’t do this” before you’ve even tried.

There’s a really easy way to shut that voice down. Just start doing it. You’ll find that 99.7% of the time, it won’t be so bad.

The other 0.3% of the time? You get a pass.

Just a quick note to clear up any confusion -

When on a fat loss program, it’s the diet that causes you to lose fat.

Primarily, exercise (strength training) prevents the loss of muscle tissue while your body is burning fat tissue for energy.  If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably even gain muscle while losing fat.

Exercise can contribute towards creating an energy deficit (i.e., burn more calories), but this is at best a secondary role.  Exercising in order to burn calories for fat loss purposes is a fool’s game.  You haven’t a chance.

Unless, of course, you modify diet accordingly.  And if you do modify diet accordingly, then you don’t need to “burn extra calories by exercising.”

So, to summarize:

Exercise to prevent muscle loss.  Eat to enable fat loss.

Hope that clears things up.

Tip of the day:

My client Joanne passed along a neat-o Jedi magic trick for defeating the night time leg cramps so prevalent in older folks (I’ve no doubt many of you out there over the age of 50 know what I’m talking about).

The Cure:

Press your thumb into the little divot under your nose (the infranasal depression) as hard as you can stand for about a minute or so.  Amazingly, this should bring you instant relief.

What’s the science behind it?  I’m afraid I’ll have to content you with an Eastern Medicine explanation.  There’s an acupressure point located right smack dab in the infranasal depression called “Ren Zhong“.  It’s used (not surprisingly) to relieve cramping, as well as treat shock and abdominal conditions.  According to a bibliography review on the Medical Acupuncture page, it’s the most widely used emergency point in acupuncture.

Hope this helps.  Post stories to comments.

edit 6/26: I just realized Ren Zhong means “person center” (your center).  Heh.

Congratulations to Australia; you’ve outdone us Americans.

Australia Now World’s Fattest Nation.

Barely nudged out the win - by one percent!  Australia also sadly holds the distinction of having the fastest growing rate of childhood obesity in the world.

Some stats for your perusal (from the article):

• About 4 million adult Australians are obese.
• The “fat bomb” is ticking loudly, with 72% of middle-aged males and 58% of middle-aged females overweight or obese.
• About 1.5 million middle-aged Australians are obese and therefore at high risk of a heart attack or stroke in the longer term.
• Based on the best available evidence, our (Australians’) expanded middle-aged waistlines will result in an extra 700,000 cardiovascular-related hospital admissions in the next 20 years.
• These highly preventable admissions will cost Australia, conservatively, an extra $3 billion in health expenditure and $6 billion overall.
• An estimated 122,500 men and women will die, many prematurely, from heart problems related to their excess weight in the next 20 years.

Let’s examine the diet of your typical Australian (courtesy of foodbycountry.com) and see if we can find any clues as to why the obesity rate is so high:

A typical breakfast may consist of fruit, toast with Vegemite (a salty yeast spread), fried eggs and bacon, and juice. Lunch may be an apple or a salad (such as Grated Carrot, Apple, and Raisin salad), a sandwich filled with tuna or deli meats, and an ANZAC biscuit for a treat. (ANZAC is the acronym for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. No one knows for sure, but many people think these biscuits were first prepared for troops—and for Australian and New Zealand families—around 1915 during World War I.) Dinnertime often brings leg of lamb or barbecued prawns (shrimp), roasted vegetables, a salad, and a custard or tart for dessert. Damper, a simple homemade bread, and billy tea, named for the pot it is heated in, both remain a staple for any meal.

Australians, like the English, call cookies “biscuits.”  Every household has a biscuit tin, a decorative round tin with a lid, to keep the supply of biscuits handy. (emphases mine)

It sounds like the Aussies eat a lot like us Yanks.  And since we’re having an obesity epidemic…

And the childhood obesity problem?

Children normally enjoy snacks during the day, such as fruit, a beverage, or a small sandwich. Milo, similar to instant hot chocolate mix, is often used as an ingredient in snacks or drunk alone. Lamingtons, Chocolate Crackles (similar to crispy rice cereal treats in North America), ANZAC biscuits, or just a simple fruit salad, are also popular among children.

I’m betting that the problem isn’t in the fruit salad.

The obesity problem in Australia (and the US, for that matter) is a crying shame.  But the way authorities choose to deal with it (similar to US public health policy) is worse still.

Beginning in the 1980s, Australian adults (like adults in many developed countries) began to improve their eating habits, according to a 1995 Australian Bureau of Statistics study. Meat, a source of saturated fat, is being consumed less. Chicken and seafood are eaten more frequently. Fruits, vegetables, and grains (emphasis mine) are also consumed more often. There is, however, also an increase in the purchase and consumption outside of the home of foods and beverages that are generally higher in fat.

Note the writer’s bias towards blaming obesity on high fat consumption. 

“…an increase in the purchase and consumption outside of the home of foods and beverages that are generally higher in fat…”

Beverages that are higher in fat?  Like a 16 oz bottle of veal gravy, perhaps?  Ahh, you protest that a milkshake is high in fat - and indeed it is, but fat is not all a milkshake contains.  There’s fruit, and milk, and…

…oh yeah (although it would more likely be high fructose corn syrup).

My advice for Australia would be the same as is for any other human:

1. Minimize grains, sugars, and starches
2. Eat meat, leaves, berries, nuts, and seeds
3. Drink non-caloric beverages
4. Lift heavy things once in awhile

How’s about it?  Any Aussies out there?  What do you typically eat?  Post to comments.

Another great tool in fat loss is being able to guesstimate the number of calories in a given portion size of food.  For some individuals, counting calories and portioning food is a must, but I think it’s helpful for most people to have at least some idea of how much they’re eating. 

Some time ago I posted a link to 200 calorie portions of foods.  In that same vein, here’s a link to 300 calorie food pictures.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I still firmly contend that if you’re following a controlled-carb diet, your hunger will regulate your intake appropriately.  But in individuals whose metabolisms have been damaged by years of overstimulating insulin, hunger regulation may be impaired.  In this case, it’s handy to be able to quickly assess calorie values in case the traditional methods fail you or you’re not close to a computer and are unable to log into Fitday or The Daily Plate.

300 calories won’t get you a lot of french fries. But it’ll get you an awful lot of broccoli.