There’s a fantastic tweet by Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson that I saw a couple of years ago. He wrote:

A weight loss book written by Physicists would be one sentence long: “Consume calories at a lower rate than your body burns them.”

Brilliant! Yet, despite the fairly straight forward process that is weight loss, many people still complicate it. So if you want to make dieting really, really hard and end up crying among a pile of the wrappers from all the chocolate bars you ate out of frustration, make sure to do the following.

Have no flexibility whatsoever

Eat the same six meals every day and never allow yourself to have treats. Except for once a week when you eat all of the foods you wish you were eating in one sitting and wonder why your weight loss is stalling.

Why shouldn’t you do this? Because variety is not only necessary for good nutrition but it’s also necessary for a healthy mind. No matter what you’re dieting for, you don’t need to eat the same thing every day, you can eat things that aren’t chicken and broccoli and you can have a treat every day. Additionally, cheat days or cheat meals are really just an opportunity for over eating and in my opinion, support an unhealthy relationship with food.

 

Avoid food groups

If you’re looking to make dieting a bit more difficult, cut out food groups. Avoid dairy, fruit, sugar and nightshades because a bodybuilder told you they impact weight loss.

Why is this ridiculous? Because outside of allergy or intolerance you really don’t need to avoid any food or food groups in order to lose weight. On top of that, cutting out a certain food is like me telling you not to think about pink unicorns. I bet you I can guess what you’re thinking about.

 

Don’t track your macros

Just eat clean. If weight loss stalls, eat cleaner.

Why not? This one is pretty self explanatory. How do you know you’re on track with your goals if you aren’t actually tracking your intake? Tracking your macros makes reducing your calories when weight loss slows down a simple process. If weight loss comes to a halt, simply reduce carbs and/or fats. Plus, what even is eating clean and how do I eat cleaner? The definition is hazy.

 

Make sure to do lots of unenjoyable weight loss rituals

Drink lemon in water first thing in the morning to get the metabolism revving, hit up infrared saunas, do fasted cardio, eat tilapia to thin the skin, avoid salt altogether, don’t drink too much water.

Why not? Because all of these are myths and completely unnecessary for weight loss.

 

Do lots and lots of cardio

Preferably steady state, preferably for hours and hours everyday. Keep adding more and more cardio and feel really tired.

Why not? Because it isn’t necessary. Eat in a calorie deficit. Use cardio as a tool to aid weight loss. Introduce it bit by bit and favour HIIT over low intensity steady state. Hours and hours of slugging it out on a cross trainer is a serious waste of time.