Why We Stay Fat.

Good morning (afternoon, evening) Team. Yeah I know, the title is a little blunt but hey, maybe that’s what we need today. If not you personally, then perhaps someone you know. You might wanna anonymously slip this post into their pigeon hole or letter box. Or be brave and simply put it in their hand. Staple it to their forehead maybe. Anyway, try not to use the words “hereyago Fatty” as you hand it over. I was gonna come up with some wacky, clever, creative name for today’s installment on me-dot-com but sometimes blunt and clear is more effective and productive than witty and amusing.

So why this post? To be honest, I have written way too many posts (magazine articles etc.) over the years on this topic or similar but the truth is:

1. We (the society) still miss the point.
2. We still make the same stupid mistakes.
3. We’re still frickin‘ fat (take a look around).
4. I still get asked (emailed) all the same questions. Constantly.

While I would prefer to be writing something a little more philosophical and thought-provoking today, I thought it timely and appropriate for me to share the top ten reasons why we don’t get in shape and stay that way (according to me). My observations and recent experiences tell me that plenty of us still need this lesson. Each of the following ten points will be self-explanatory and brief. There should be no need for lengthy discussion or further explanation. Just compliance. The whole fat thing ain’t that complex but we seem to have made it that way. It’s in some people’s best (financial) interest to do so.

It amuses and amazes me that with the wealth of information, education, inspiration and research we all have available at our finger tips, we still find new and creative ways to be fat. As I’ve said many times, the difference between fat and fit ain’t information or education (not a popular thing for an educator to say!) – it’s you. You’re the answer and the problem. Always have been, always will be. Your attitude, your behaviour and your choices will determine your results.

Here we go:

1. We start things we won’t maintain. Yep, we are models of inconsistency. We have almost been doing things for years. We have an amazing ability to start and stop fifteen new programs/diets (etc.) every year. For many of us the biggest barrier to permanent results is simply the reality that we don’t finish what we start. It’s that complex. Gyms owners can rely on the fact that the vast majority of people who sign up for a twelve month membership won’t turn up too often, if at all.

2. We react emotionally rather than plan and behave logically. When it comes to exercise, diet, lifestyle and our body in general, we are reactive, emotional creatures. But you know that. If only we’d throw a little logic into the picture, we might see some better results.

3. Generic exercise programs. If we all had the same genetics, the same goals, the same medical issues, the same (current) fitness level and were all the same age, then generic exercise programs would be fabbo. Fortunately we’re all different. Our exercise programs should be too. The program you ripped out of the fitness mag ain’t gonna be your best chance of success – no matter what the beefcake or the bimbo in the advertisement said.

4. We’re soft. Yep, we’re big babies. Many of us simply don’t train hard enough to get results. We go through the motions and have been for a long time. We’re maintaining rather than progressing. The objective of exercise is to stimulate our body physically (stress it) so that it will need to adapt (get fitter, leaner, bigger, smaller, faster, more flexible). The problem is that we need to get uncomfortable to adapt and many of us have an aversion to discomfort. Bummer. Don’t do what’s comfortable, do what works. Look for effective not easy.

5. No variety in our workouts. If we always train the same, we’ll always look the same. And we do. On both accounts. So many of us are creatures of habit. When it comes to our exercise program we should be creatures of variety if we want to keep our body changing and the results coming. Try a completely different workout and you’ll discover how fit you aren’t (if you know what I mean).

6. Too much fuel in the tank. I know we all know this but it would be remiss of me not too mention the fact that we simply eat too much. Waaaaaaaaaaay too much. We’re fat because we eat food we don’t need. Constantly. If the only piece of dietary advice we took any notice of was to reduce our food intake by 30%(ish) we’d have next to zero obesity. Sadly, that seems too complex for some people. Better try another five hundred-page diet book.

7. We get in shape for events. Yep, we get in shape for weddings, birthdays, parties, reunions and even seasons (summer), if only we’d get in shape for life. We’re good at getting our head around behavioural change for four to six weeks, now we need to try four to six decades. How dare I be so practical.

8. We talk crap. When it comes to the state of our body, we talk crap. We just do. We constantly rationalise, justify, explain and blame away our fat selves. If only we’d be honest, responsible, accountable, proactive and consistent – then we’d get in shape and stay that way. Again, this stuff ain’t rocket science.

9. Optional behaviours. As I said recently in The Non-Optional Stuff as long as we make certain behaviours (optimal eating, exercising and living) optional then we’ll never reach our goals and we’ll forever be on and off the weight-loss merry-go-round.

10. Attitude. Yeah I know, this is a very Craig Harper thing to say but I can’t help myself. It’s a fact Jack – it is what it is. Some people simply make the getting-in-shape process a nightmare because they are nightmares themselves. When I talk to people in my role as an exercise science bloke, I’m actually more interested in their attitude than I am their genetics or their physical potential. Experience has taught me that when it comes to creating life-long change, psychology plays much more of a role than physiology.

See you (interested and willing) Sydneysiders at the Novotel (Darling Harbour) tonight at 7.30 for some chat, a few laughs and possibly some cheesecake. We’ll meet in the foyer and figure it out from there. Too easy. Enjoy your day.

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