And if that’s not enough pressure, Weight Watchers keeps a laser shining on the weight number every time you see that name. In magazines, in the grocery store, on tv.
In fact, if I could change one thing in the Fitness and Health Industry, I would turn back the clock and change Weight Watchers. I believe Weight Watchers has single-handedly done more physical damage to peoples’ bodies than fast food. I would ask the current CEO to get an education in how the body really works. Something based in scientific method, not group hugs. So, twenty-something years later, the organization is beginning to see the light and encourage healthier eating and exercise, but can we really say that a calorie of ice cream is the equivalent to a calorie of steak?
Hell no. One is a calorie of composed mostly of fat and sugar. The other is a calorie of mostly essential amino acids. What the body does with those two calories is as different as night and day. One gets stored, and the other gets used to build tissue. They can’t be more different!
So why shouldn’t you watch your weight? Because it’s the wrong bloody number. What we should be watching is the ratio between our fat content and our lean mass (the rest of the body). We want more muscle and less fat. Why? Muscle is metabolically active tissue. That means when you’re sitting at your desk, muscle tissue is burning calories. Fat is not and it never will.
When you follow a diet that deprives your body of useful nutrition (real food) and necessary calories, your brain will message your thyroid to conserve energy, essentially to slow your metabolism, and to dip into your tissue stores for fuel. (Contact me if you want the science behind that.) So you’ll drop pounds alright. But not fat. You’ll lose metabolically active tissue. You’ll end up with a slower metabolism. So when you rebound eat, you’ll pack on even more pounds. On top of that, you’ve messed with your endocrine system (your thyroid is a small part of that), so you’ve unleashed a monster. (More science. Contact me.) Either way, hormones are getting screwed up which will sabotage future efforts.
When you eat food with huge marketing machines behind it, you’re not getting enough real nutrition per bite. (In other words, it’s full of crap. Gotta pay for that marketing somehow!) Let’s get a better ROI on time, money, and effort invested. How? You don’t need a plan or a calorie counter. Save your money. Be very simple. Eat real food. Food made of one ingredient. Water. Chicken. Cauliflower. Beef. Spinach. Apple. Eat when you’re hungry. Never starve. Eat only until full. It’s really that simple. (If you want it done for you, go to ourcorematters.com and look at What Do I Eat?)
You can do this for a month. Throw your scale away. (In fact, we should all mail them to WW headquarters in protest!) Eat as simply as possible for a month, and I guarantee your body will change–because you’ll lose fat. Want to magnify this change? Add muscle. Will you lose weight? Dunno. Don’t care! You’ll simply look and feel better. Less fat and more muscle means more health. Give it a shot. Uncomplicate your life. What have you got to lose?
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