Lose Weight Without Starving Yourself: The Simple Secret to Sustainable Fat Loss (Plus Battling Internet Trolls)
Article Round-Up: 5.7.23
Enjoy this week’s curated round-up of articles, podcasts, and more from the web to help you live a healthier, more fulfilled life.
Featured Thoughts: Fat Loss Diets & Internet Trolls
I recently posted a video on my social media channels showing a breakfast I've been really enjoying lately, as someone who has a tremendous sweet tooth.
This breakfast contained four ingredients: Greek yogurt, bananas, chocolate chips, and sugar-free chocolate syrup.
It's low calories, high protein, filling and satisfying. Great for right before I hit the gym. I posted this video on Youtube, and got the following comment:
"That's massive, and chocolate? Not to mention artificial chocolate. I'm sorry, but this is not it."
Massive? Well yes, for under 500cals it is quite massive. This is because I don't like to be hungry, and a fat loss diet doesn't (and shouldn't) leave you feeling ravenous all day.
Chocolate? Well yeah. Have you ever tasted chocolate? Why wouldn't I add chocolate?
Artificial? Broadly demonizing artificial only results in overcomplicating the entire process. It might surprise some folks to learn that that Honeycrisp apple you love so much isn't a naturally occurring fruit, but that doesn't make it unhealthy.
Obesity rates continue to rise despite the fitness industry basically printing cash from consumers. Demonizing foods or diets that don't fit the mold of non-GMO, organic, all-natural is clearly not the solution.
The truth is that weight loss does not have to be complicated. You can live a healthy life while drizzling sugar-free "artificial" chocolate on your organic ice cream.
You can lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle without being hungry all the time.
You do not have to suffer in the name of good health. In fact, isn't the goal of being healthy to achieve the opposite? To suffer less?
If you have questions about food beliefs that might be making your life more complicated, or reaching your goals more difficult, click the button below to book a free health consult. I'd be happy to sit with you and answer all of your questions so you have more clarity on how to live a sustainably healthy life.
Seriously, click the button, book a call, and let’s chat.
~ Coach Alex
“The Surprising Link Between Luck and Success: How to Increase Your Chances of Both”
Takeaway: This article is about how to create more "lucky breaks" for yourself. Author Sahil Bloom refers to it as, "increasing your luck surface area."
One reader, who is currently traveling Europe, sent me a message from Greece sharing how the article inspired them to get out and try new things during their day.
They had an amazing day because they pushed themselves to expand their luck surface area. (This day included a Greek cooking class, yum!)
P.S. I love receiving messages like this. It warms my heart to know that readers in our community are applying the insights and ideas we discuss and it's making their life better. Do you have a story of how an article or insight shifted your world—even just a little? I’d love to hear about it. Will you reply to this email and send me a quick message sharing your story? It’ll really pump me up.
“Don’t Pin The Butterfly: Not All Hobbies Need To Become Hustles”
Takeaway: Hobbies are not only a source of happiness but also scientifically proven to make you healthier: With lower blood pressure, lower BMI, and better heart functions. Hobbies can also shape your identity and increase self-complexity, making you more resilient to negative feedback. However, turning hobbies into side hustles can potentially ruin the passion. The main difference between a hobby and a hustle is whether you have to do it even when you don't want to. It’s essential to keep some hobbies as just that—spaces of self-expression where you can experiment and play whenever you feel like it.
“How To Be Resilient: 5 Steps To Success When Life Gets Hard”
Takeaway: From the author—Be more resilient by developing the following qualities:
Emotional Regulation: When feelings overwhelm you, you can’t make good decisions. You’re an emotional crash test dummy. Slow down and get some distance.
Optimism: When we can’t see a potential positive outcome, it’s rational to give up. See difficulty as transient, local, and controllable so you stop feeling like a pigeon in life’s shooting gallery.
Cognitive Agility: When you immediately jump to the worst-case scenario, you’re going to want to quit. Take the time to consider more possibilities.
Self-Compassion: You’re letting someone walk all over you. But the person doing the walking is also you. Take that compassion you usually extend to others and offer some of it to yourself.
Self-Efficacy: You build confidence and agency by accomplishing things often enough that it changes how you see yourself. Start small and achieve goals until you start to see yourself as “the kind of person who achieves their goals.”
“Respecting Other People’s Time”
Takeaway: Time is the most precious commodity you have. I bet you hate when others disrespect your time—showing up late for meetings, giving you useless work to do, not providing clarity on tasks that then take longer than is necessary.
The first step in having your time respected, is being respectful of other people’s time. This article lays out some concrete examples in the work environment where you can improve efficiency and stop wasting time. Many of these examples can be extended beyond the workplace.
Will others magically start respecting your time once you set the example? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you develop some ground to stand on when you draw your line in the sand.