These are in no particular order by the way. 

Mindset Stuff

Manage Your Expectations.

Your results will match your effort. Adjust your expectations accordingly. 

What do I mean?

First, you can’t compare yourself to anybody else.

You don’t know where they started. You don’t know what they did.

Only measure your results compared to you.

Secondly, your results will be a direct representation of your effort.

If you eat out multiple times a week and are okay with missing a workout every other week…your results will be very different than if you make it a priority to eat home cooked meals and not miss any workouts.

You’ll Want To Quit

It will take longer than you want it to. It will go slower than you want it to.

You will want to quit. You will want to give up.

And that’s okay to want that sometimes. The key is to not actually do it.

If you just need a quick vent session, do it. Let it out. 

Then get right back on track with your mindset by reminding yourself of all the awesome things you’re accomplishing.

Willpower, Grit, & Determination Are Needed

Determination over motivation.

You will need to bust out your willpower sometimes. 

You can’t control all situations and when you’re in a situation that isn’t going to help with your weight loss goals, you’ll have to call upon willpower to help you stay on track.

Relying on willpower all of the time isn’t ideal though. You should set up your environment to help you reach your goals.  That way when you’re chilling at home you don’t have to use willpower.

But just because you shouldn’t rely on it all the time doesn’t mean you should never have to use it. 

It’s popular lately to say…do what makes you happy… listen to your body…  Yes, but do what truly makes you happy, not what makes you happy for .3 seconds and then hinders your long term true happiness. 

That isn’t the same thing. Sure maybe eating anything and everything you want all the time will make you feel pleasure while you’re eating it…but will that bring you true happiness long term? 

Probably not.

You gotta want it. You gotta decide you will be successful. Determination to reach your goal. You won’t change your mind. You will get there. You will do what it takes. 

Leaner Doesn’t Necessarily Equal Happier

Am I saying don’t lose weight because it won’t make you happier? No.

It very well could. 

If you’re unhappy with how you feel, how you look, and how your body functions and all of that improves as you get leaner and get healthier then you’ll feel happy about that. 

Weight loss, getting fit, improving your health ideally should be coming from a place of happiness and self love. 

Changing your body because you actually like your body and you want to make it stronger and healthier is awesome. 

But getting a 6 pack doesn’t automatically bring happiness.

Working Toward & Achieving A Hard Goal Can Equal Happiness

While simply being lean doesn’t make you a happy person, working toward a goal that is a challenge and pushes you can be super rewarding!

Living the life you want to live makes you happy.

There is a sense of pride when you reach a goal that you’ve been putting in work to get to and that can’t be matched.

Getting Stage Lean Isn’t Easy

Stage lean is not easy to get to.

Stage lean is not maintainable.

Stage lean is for one weekend.

If you are looking at bikini ladies on stage and thinking #bodygoals you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. 

It is hard to get there and it isn’t even really healthy to be there indefinitely. And if you’re looking at pro athletes…they are PRO ATHLETES. Literally being lean on stage  is their job.

And they only look like that for a limited amount of time.

There are years and years and years of work behind that one photo. Years of lifting. Years of perfecting posing (dude you have no idea how important posing is). And years of eating a particular way.

Not 6 months of work, not 1 year of work.

The trade offs for being super lean are high. And to be that lean you gotta be willing to make those tradeoffs.

No happy hour drinks. No weekley out to eat meals. No booze. No chips, candy, or treats.

This goes back to managing expectations. To look like a bikini athlete you’d have to train and eat like one.

Food

You Will Feel Hungry

Yes. I know. Not what you wanted to hear. But you must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight and being in a deficit for an extended amount of time leads to feeling hungry.

You don’t have to feel ravenous at all hours, but you will experience hunger now and then. And the leaner you want to get…the more that will happen.

Why?

Your body likes to keep body fat. So when you start to lose it, it ramps up the hormones that make you hungry. 

But you aren’t going to die from hunger. 

You’ll Have Cravings

Yes. Cravings are always a thing. They don’t magically disappear. 

If you aren’t eating a lot of  highly processed food, you will crave it less often and they will be less intense. 

Basically, don’t eat something every single time you’re craving something. Sometimes. Sure. No biggie. But every other day…depending what it is…might be a biggie.

Once you get to a certain amount of lean though, like stage lean…cravings will sky rocket. Especially if you are following a super restrictive meal plan.

I had dreams about eating cheetos. I followed so many food accounts on Instagram and would save all the posts so I could try them after prep. 

How did I deal with the cravings? I just dealt with them. And didn’t act. Simple as that.

And I used distraction!

I’d go for a walk. Or go to the beach. Read. Watch a movie. Trust me distraction works.

But if you aren’t following an insanely restrictive diet your cravings should, over time, decrease. They will never go away though and you do have to use some self control and restraint. 

Off limits foods will automatically make you crave them. No carbs. You’ll crave carbs. No candy. You’ll crave candy. So if you really really like something, don’t cut it out completely. Find a way to make it work.

Get Creative

There are a few points I want to make here.

Eat more high volume low calorie foods.

For me this was mushrooms, egg whites, cottage cheese, and oatmeal.

Foods that help fill you up without a ton of calories. Foods that take longer to prepare and eat are great because you get to look forward to eating it longer while you’re making it, and then you get to feel like you’re eating more because it takes longer to eat it.

Win win.

Find what high volume low calorie foods work for you.

Spices. Use spices.

A plain chicken breast is well…plain.

A chicken breast seasoned with garlic is d-lish. A chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper is also d-lish and tastes different than the garlic chicken.

Spices can make it feel like you are eating more variety than you really are AND they can make food taste great.

Different methods of cooking can make things seem different as well. Grilling vs baking. Skillet vs slow cooker. 

You can make a chicken breast a million different ways if you think a bit and are willing to put in a bit of effort.

Drink 0 calorie drinks. This leaves you more room to eat actual food. And when you’re dieting more food is usually better. 

Drink tea, coffee, water! You can add 0 calorie flavors if you need to.

Liquid calories, to me at least, seem like a waste and I’d rather eat my calories any day.

Eat More Minimally Processed Foods

Many prepackaged foods are dense and don’t take up much space in your stomach. 

Most whole foods, not all, but most, take up more space in your stomach making you feel fuller with less food.

Usually they are lower in calories, there are exceptions of course, but generally you can eat more food when you choose stuff like chicken, veggies, fruits, fish, salads, potatoes, oats, and eggs. 

Eat Food You Actually Like

When I was on prep I looked forward to egg whites, oats, and chicken sausage. The food I truly enjoyed eating made it easier to stick to plan. 

But almond milk, cod, rice cereal made it hard to even want to eat.

Stick to foods you actually like. Hate potatoes? Don’t have potatoes be part of your diet. Hate lettuce? Try spinach instead.

Find foods that help you with your weight loss goal AND you like how they taste.

Measure/Weigh Your Food

Knowing exactly how much you are eating is key when on prep. And it can help you with weight loss.

Do you have to weigh food and count calories? No. But it is super helpful and you learn a lot about food and portion sizes.

A serving of peanut butter is pretty small. And a serving of pasta is laughably small. It’s a cruel joke the world plays on us.

You don’t have to do it forever but it’s a great learning experience. 

Random Other Stuff

Sleep

Super important for weight loss and high quality workouts.

Don’t knock sleep. You aren’t cool if you get 4 hours a night. You just sound tired. 

Plus, if you don’t get enough sleep it’s harder to make adult choices.  

You’ll get cravings more often and give into them easier. You’ll be grumpier. And your workouts will suffer. 

You build muscle and get stronger during rest aka when you sleep. Not during the actual workout. You could be ruining your progress if you stay up until 2 a.m. watching YouTube.

Metabolism Will Slow

This is normal. It isn’t breaking.

Your body is getting smaller which means it needs fewer calories to function.

Your body is getting more efficient at using the calories you give it. It’s learning how to function on less energy.

Your nonexercise activity, stuff like tapping your foot, pacing, fidgeting, getting up and down, will drop. This is also natural. Your body wants to conserve energy. So it makes you not move around as much.

You probably won’t even notice!

One way to combat this is to keep your steps up, to make sure you are at least up and moving around a decent amount. 

If your calories get super low, which isn’t ideal, and if you get super lean, your energy levels could and probably will suffer. 

Your Workouts Don’t Change

Your workouts don’t need to change styles when you’re trying to lose weight.  You can keep or start lifting heavy.

If you aren’t in a severe deficit (and you shouldn’t be) you can totally gain strength and for sure maintain your strength.

There You Go

So there it is. Some stuff I learned on prep that you can use to help you on your weight loss journey. 

Remember trying to lose weight and starting a prep are two very different things. Don’t start a prep as your way of losing unwanted weight. It doesn’t teach you how to eat long term.

I adjusted these a bit so they can help you learn how to eat for long term results.

Which tips did you find most helpful? Any you already knew but haven’t applied yet? Any new ones you didn’t think of?