Episode 156. Six Weight Loss Approaches to Avoid, and How

Show Notes

Scott outlines six approaches that consistently lead to weight loss failure, offers alternatives that work, and answers questions from his live audience.

A Goal, or a Wish?

• Achieving a goal requires following a process.
• Goals and deadlines to meet them aren’t for everyone.
• Let go of the pressure to perform.

Approaches destined to fail:

1

Numbers goals

• Starting a body transformation goal with numbers in mind
• Examples of numbers-related goals: weight, dress size.
• No numbers goal tells you what’s going on inside the body.
• The scale can’t tell you if the weight gain or loss is from fat, muscle, or water.

2

Deadline goals: high school reunions, weddings, beach vacations

• Imposes unnecessary pressure to achieve within an arbitrary time frame.
• Doesn’t consider what happens once the deadline has been passed, whether the goal is attained or not.

“Deadlines are dead ends.”

3

Absolutes

• The absolute mindset: Lose weight or die trying.
• Ask:
     -“Then what?”
     -Is the diet sustainable?
     -What happens if you achieve the goal?
     -Or, what happens if you don’t?

4

Expecting an obstacle-free path

• Life gets in the way.
• Real people with everyday lives sometimes compare themselves to others who make their living by looking good, with hours to spend in the gym.
• Don’t let setbacks set you back.

5

Belief that success follows a linear process

• Achieving a goal is more like walking through a maze.
• Be realistic about how the process will actually progress.
• Commit to the process and resolve to enjoy the process itself.
• Aim for habit goals. Establishing a good habits should be the goal.
• What three or four “habit” goals can you create and aim for that will lead to success.
• One good example: Early to bed and early to rise.
• A good habit: automatic, non-draining behavior, like brushing your teeth.
• Replace a current destructive habit with a new productive habit.

6

Believing in the outliers

• Beware the exceptions.
• Exceptions are held out by fitness and supplement industry to be the rule.

From the Audience

• “People who obsess over numbers drain their emotional battery and it frequently negatively impacts their personal relationships.”
• “I can’t stand it when people ask how long it took me…doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
• “Last week I weighed the same as the week before but I lost two inches on my waist. The scale lies sometime.”
• “The best thing I ever did was throw out my scale.”
• “How I feel is the best judge for me.”
• “Invariably the scale becomes a mood ir-regulator than just a tool.”
• “How does one properly get off the keto diet?”

Diet Resources by Scott

The Cycle Diet course  |  Lean Without Trying  |  Metabolic Damage and the Dangers of Dieting