In the lead-up to summer, far too many people are jumping on fad diets, which puts them into a vicious cycle. Not everyone is a fan of tracking calories, yet a calorie deficit is essential for weight loss. Fortunately, to create this deficit, you don’t need to obsessively track calories. Instead, establishing some boundaries and rules can achieve the same effect. Here are five rules I follow personally, but feel free to adjust them to fit your needs and lifestyle, ensuring you can maintain a calorie deficit without tracking a single calorie. If you’re curious about personalizing these rules, just DM me with “What’s my five rules?” and I’ll help you tailor them to your starting point.

 

 

The effectiveness of this approach isn’t just about the extra movement from walks and workouts; it’s also about the nutritional aspect. Increasing your intake of protein, fruits, and vegetables is beneficial as it is from a place of abundance and not restriction. As a result of the lack of restriction, this makes the process more enjoyable. When it comes to meals out and drinking, the approach is gamified, allowing for good habits without completely cutting out enjoyable activities. It gives a dopamine boost to say no to that third drink, for example.

 

If there’s an event within the next five weeks where you decide to ignore these rules, remember: you are what you do on average. One day out of 35 won’t significantly impact your progress, but frequent deviations might. The aim here is simplicity: create five easy-to-follow rules that promote a healthy lifestyle, which wouldn’t embarrass you if your family were watching. This is important because disordered eating often starts in childhood, and I wanted to create a framework that could help embed healthier habits for those interested.

 

Hope you find this helpful, and I’ll see you in the next one.

 

p.s. join the mailing list and i’ll send your version across week!