Agreed! Also, one thing I’ve noticed is that those who do get ripped counting calories are often the same ones who spend half the year kinda chubby. It’s like they do micromanaged long-term yo-yo diets, but call it bulking and cutting. Not always the case, but I’ve seen it enough to notice a pattern.
Good for them if they enjoy those seasonal swings. I experience them to a lesser extent because cold weather makes me hungry, but I’d rather find a sustainable middle ground that errs on the side of looking conspicuously fit, year round if possible.
It’s such a cool coincidence that you bring this up. I was just thinking about general recommendations this morning because I’ve been visiting loved ones and couldn’t help but notice more patterns: namely, multiple sources of carbs at each meal and minimal protein if any. Like ever.
So my 10 biggest bits of wisdom would revolve around those, plus a few others:
- Make protein the main part of every meal.
- If you must have a carb source at a meal, just pick one. Dinner rolls aren’t necessary if you’re eating pasta. And neither of those are necessary if you’re planning to have dessert.
- Eat cheese, nuts, salad dressings, and the like sparingly or mindfully, if at all.
- Don’t fast if you know it causes binges.
- Be able to decipher between physical hunger and everything else, like cravings or filling an emotional need.
- Don’t eat when you’re upset, mad, anxious, etc.
- Allow yourself to experience true hunger on occasion. Life happens, you shouldn’t need to eat the trash pretzels they serve on airplanes.
- Learn to cook so you can strategically emphasize macros and limit sneaky calories from restaurant cooking oils.
- Marry a hottie who cares about body composition.
- Satisfy your sweet tooth with protein. This is where protein powders come in. It’s an advantage and I feel sorry for those who have a sweet tooth and can only satisfy it with conventional desserts.
Note: some people can improve their body comp without following all of this, but these are just what work for me. Number 6 was the hardest to learn and it made the biggest impact as a former emotional eater.