Let’s talk about how to improve your discipline during fat loss.
We have all been there.
After a weekend of slugging beers, dancing on the top of the bar, and crushing $30 worth of McDonald’s (true story), we return to Monday and tell ourselves, “ok, this week I just need to be more disciplined”. We think it will happen overnight, like in FRIENDS when Joey's Lazy-Boy Chair “Rosita” magically fixes itself after Rachel broke it. It doesn't work like that.
Discipline is like a muscle. With the right approach, it can be improved and get stronger.
You CAN get more disciplined over time.
But the most significant difference between you and someone you look up to who “seems” so disciplined with their nutrition and workouts is that they are just really good at planning ahead in order to set themselves up for success.
What they are really doing is making fewer and easier decisions each day.
Let me explain…
*puts glasses and white rob on to nerd out a bit about the brain*
Mental fatigue is a real thing! We make roughly 35,000+ decisions a day. After making so many freaking decisions, it is hard to make the best choice, pay attention, or stay focused.
This is why it's easy to skip the workout that you were waiting to see how you feel after a long day of work. Or why it's so common to have a nutritious and healthy meal for breakfast, but by dinner, we tend to fall off the wagon.
“No wonder every time I wait and see if I want to work out after work, I end up on the couch watching multiple episodes of Vanderpump Rules.”
Or, “When I don’t have dinner planned ahead of time, you're damn right I’m ordering some pizza and enjoying a glass of wine to watch the Queen, Lisa Vanderpump, do her thing.”
This mental fatigue increases your chances of making easier, more convenient choices.
Your goal is to figure out how to make decisions ahead of time (create a plan) and make decisions easier for yourself (set up your environment) to give you the best chance to succeed.
Let me help you here!
First, we will start with planning…
Improve Your Planning for Fat Loss.
Do you get stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious when trying to lose weight?
This is where creating a plan comes into play!
When you don’t create any sort of plan, that is where you end up making these impulsive, emotional decisions that throw you off your nutrition and training.
Think about it; if you didn’t create a plan on how you will go about your weekend, it would be much easier to say “fuck it” and give in to temptations.
Or if you don't plan what you will do at the gym, it will be easier to walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes, take a lap around the gym, just call it a day, and go home.
Planning will help reduce stress, increase motivation, and keep you on track. In addition, it will play a massive role in your confidence because you will be consistent.
When you create a plan, you make choices ahead of time. You don’t have to rely on being disciplined at all times, relying on willpower to follow through.
Plus, it can save your discipline and willpower for a scenario when you need it more during fat loss.
How to Plan your Nutrition and Training.
Nutrition:
Plan out your meals for the day.
A way to stay ahead of the game is to aim for your nutrition planned out a least 24 hours in advance.
You can go as far as meal prepping for a couple of days or even the entire week. My favorite thing is to have at least all the ingredients available for the week. If I know I have Taco Tuesday, I may not prep it all, but I know I have ground meat, taco seasoning, tortillas, some chopped-up peppers and onions, salsa, and fat-free greek yogurt.
If you want to take that a step further, do some ingredient/food prep so you can quickly put things together as needed, like cooking up a bunch of chicken and vegetables on hand that you can quickly put together, add a bit of seasoning, and boom! You are good to go!
Training:
Plan out your workout schedule for the entire week.
Here is what you should know by the end of planning out your workouts:
- What days are you going to workout
- What time will you work out
- What workout you are doing each day.
AND
- If you take classes, sign up for them ahead of time!
When you plan ahead, you are more accountable for your actions. So stay focused and increase your chances of staying on track to crush your goals!
What about Planning for Specific Things like Social Events, Weekends, Going Out to Eat, etc.?
Create a plan that works for you, but here are a few examples of what my clients have been able to implement successfully:
Work Backwards:
This is great for going out to dinner, for drinks, or for a social event. What you are going to do it plan to save about 50-60% of your calories for that dinner or event and work backward for the rest of the day. I would recommend focusing on a lot of lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables to help get nutrients in, and also, they will be a great bang for your back, meaning you can have a higher volume of food for less calories, helping fill you up!
Calorie Cycle:
Adjust your calories ahead of time to save some for the weekend. If on average, my target is 2,000 calories a day, that is 14,000 calories for the week. With calorie cycling, you can cycle through your calories for the week however you want.
Something like this:
Have 1 - 2 Days at Maintenance:
This works well because some individuals see that once they go over their calorie target for the day, they freak out and say, "f*ck it," and go banana pants. So what this does is allows them a bit more flexibility without feeling like they failed to enjoy themselves.
AND think about it like this, even though you are not in a deficit for a day or 2, it doesn't mean you are not in a deficit for the week. So yes, you would be in a more significant deficit if you were to stay in one for those 1-2 days, but this makes you way more consistent, and the journey is way more sustainable in the long run.
As these strategies have worked great for my clients, the goal is to find what works best for you.
Now, heres the deal.
When Bill Bellicheck prepares for his games every Sunday, he puts a game plan together, right?
He puts a plan together that he believes will set his team up with the best chances of winning the game.
Now, whether the plan works or not, he at least has the plan to work off of.
If it does work, great. He knows that was a great plan for his team to win.
If the plan doesn’t work...
Does he quit and give up?
No.
He analyzes it afterward and looks at what worked, what didn’t work, and how to improve for next time.
The same goes for you.
When it comes to getting a plan together for social events, weekends, and going out to dinner, put a plan together that will set you up to stay on track.
If the plan works, great!
If it doesn’t, that’s ok, but what adjustments can you make for the next time the scenario comes about to better set yourself up for success? (PS this is how you grow and develop with your training and nutrition habits)
Conclusion
So, there you have it!
When it comes to fat loss (or any goal you are striving towards), planning and discipline go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Planning is going to be a key part of improving your discipline during fat loss.
Kevin
As I Am
Click here for How to Improve Your Discipline During Fat Loss Part 2
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