I stumbled Thea reddit threadThe that really caught my attention.

Someone asked “What was the ‘one thing’ that finally got the weight off for you?”

And this question has 5,400 responses (and counting).

Some of the answers had to do with changes in the environment or changes in how they prepared their food:

“Pouring snacks into small ramekins to eat them. I suddenly ate a normal amount of snacks.”

“I meal prepared my usual amount of food and instead of putting it in 2 containers, I divided it evenly among 4 containers. I forced myself to only eat 1 container per meal and tricked my brain into thinking this was my normal amount.”

Others changed what they ate:

“Found a salad that I really like. Sounds dumb, but I never crave a salad, and having one that I really like means that I put together a solid few weeks of eating lots of lettuce – did- It snowballed from there, because I felt really good and then started feeling good.”

Some take a more holistic approach that involves reexamining their relationship with food, hunger, and discomfort:

“Realizing this is a lifestyle change NOT a diet.”

“Embrace the suffering. Expect to be short of breath and uncomfortable when you do cardio, expect to be sore after you get up, and expect to be hungry when you’re restricting your intake.”

Others used apps to track their calorie intake, which made them aware of how much they were eating:

“Using an app to track everything I eat. I realized a lot of the “healthy” things I was eating, in the amount I was eating, had more calories than I thought. Just cutting back on a few foods has done it.”

And some succeed thanks to an initial push with medicine:

“Saw a doctor about my type 2 diabetes. I weighed over 300 lbs and also had coronary artery disease. I qualified for diabetes medication which also helps with appetite control. Started tracking calories and exercising .”

“Semaglutide”

Some prioritize physical activity instead of focusing on food:

“Finding entertainment. I ate early because I was bored. Coming home from work to sit on the couch makes eating like sh*t easier… now I just go and do something I like so I don’t find food a distraction.”

“Walking. Proving that I lost 45 lb in 7 months just by walking every night around my neighborhood. It’s free and low impact, I walk rain or shine even through snow storms. Now I have a treadmill and walk indoors but it still feels as good as before.

As we look at this list, read the thousands of comments of people thinking about ‘something’ that changed their life, and how different some of them are, we can draw some amazing conclusions.

3 Short Lessons We Can Learn

LESSON 1: “Success is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill.

The hardest part of being healthy is no losing hope when several strategies you have tried have failed. I bet for every person who shared their answer above, they tried dozens of different techniques to try and fit. Hell, I bet they tried most of the things that worked for other people, until they found one that worked. for them.

What we can learn here: “Hope is the Thewarrior sentiment that wastes cynicismThe,” and it’s okay to have the hope that each failed attempt means that’s one less strategy to try in the future.

For example, if you’ve tried Keto 5 times and can’t stand it, congrats! You’ve found a diet that doesn’t work for you

If you can hide it The‘beta test’ mentalityThe of “I’ll see if it works for me,” you might just find the first domino to fall your travel!

LESSON 2: Beware the Charlatan.

Spend enough time on social media, and you’ll eventually run into health and wellness charlatans. These are the people who tell you that they are the only ones who have it a solution to all your problems. They often have a villain for all the evil in the world (“the sugar! It’s carbs! It’s X ingredient!”).

And sure enough, when they get scared and intimidated by your bullshit, they give you hope with their expensive unregulated supplement or foolproof system.

As you can see from the examples above, there is no “one size fits all” solution to this matter. Everyone is a unique weirdo with different baggage and triggers and traumas and experiences that make certain solutions a homerun and other solutions a nonstarter.

You can read more about how to spot and avoid charlatans in my previous essay here: “TheHow not to go crazy on the internetThe.”

Which brings me to my third point!

LESSON THREE: All fitness stories have 3 boring similarities!

Although all of these “one thing” solutions to getting in shape are different, they all have some similarities.

The good news? None of these things are revolutionary, proprietary, or fancy.

Being fit in literally 3 things:

• Eating the right number of calories for your goal weight
• Taking some form of physical movement
• Doing these two things is part of a lifelong lifestyle adjustment.

Weight loss is not magic. It’s math and behavior change.

As I cover my Theweight loss guideThescience is good about it.

Any diet can work, if it puts us in a caloric deficit. we have Theinstructing clientsThe who are vegan, some are doing Keto, some are counting calories and others are doing intermittent fasting.

Our ability to make dietary changes a lifestyle we can live with is how we find success, and that looks different for everyone.

Speaking of lifestyle changes, most of the answers above also include finding ways to make exercise a regular part of life.

Remember: it’s okay not to like exercise. We weren’t designed to love exercise! Especially if it’s an activity we don’t really enjoy! We were designed to live in times of scarcity, NOT to thrive in times of unlimited abundance.

So how do we make exercise a part of our lifestyle?

We have to find ways Themake exercise fun, useful, or necessaryThe:

• happy: join a walking/running club with friends, try Thebundling temptationThe.
• Useful: fall in love with Thegetting strongerThe and more confidence and how great you feel after exercising.
• need: pre-pay for a trainer, park at the end of the parking lot, bike to work.

Remember that hope is the warrior emotion.

We humans are incredibly adaptable creatures capable of change.

Keep trying different techniques, beware of charlatans, and don’t forget the basics!

And soon one day, you too can share the first domino that fell that changed things for you.

-Steve

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