{"id":35577,"date":"2024-10-15T14:49:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T14:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/?p=35577"},"modified":"2024-10-15T18:03:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T18:03:06","slug":"the-one-thing-that-finally-worked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestratefinders.com\/blog\/everything-else\/the-one-thing-that-finally-worked\/","title":{"rendered":"The ONE thing that finally worked\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

I stumbled across<\/b> \u200b<\/span>a reddit thread<\/b>\u200b<\/span><\/a> that really grabbed my attention.<\/b><\/p>\n

Somebody asked \u201cWhat was the \u2018one thing\u2019 that finally made weight loss work for you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And this question had 5,400 replies (and counting).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some of the answers involved environmental changes or changing how they prepared their food:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cPouring snacks into little ramekins to eat them. Suddenly I ate a normal amount of snacks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI meal prepped my typical amount of food and instead of putting it in 2 containers, I spread it evenly in 4 containers. I forced myself to only eat 1 container per meal and tricked my brain into thinking it was my normal amount.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Others changed what they ate:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFound a salad I actually really like. Sounds dumb, but I’d never craved a salad before, and having one I actually really liked meant I strung together a solid few weeks of eating a lot of lettuce – it snowballed from there, because I actually felt good and then started craving feeling good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some had a more holistic approach that involved reevaluating their relationship with food, hunger, and discomfort:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cRealizing it’s a lifestyle change NOT a diet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEmbrace the suffering. Expect that you\u2019ll be breathing hard and uncomfortable when you\u2019re doing cardio, expect that you\u2019ll be sore after you lift, and expect that you\u2019ll be hungry when you\u2019re restricting your intake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Others used apps to track their calorie intake, which made them realize just how much they were eating:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUsing an app to track everything I ate. I realized a lot of \u201chealthy\u201d things I was eating, in the quantities I was eating them, were a lot more calories than I thought. Just cutting down on certain foods did the trick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And some succeeded thanks to an initial push with medication:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cSaw a doctor about my type 2 diabetes. I weighed over 300 lbs and also had coronary artery disease. I qualified for diabetes medication that also helps control appetite. Started tracking calories and exercising.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSemaglutide\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Some prioritized physical activity instead of focusing on food:<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cFinding a hobby. I was binge eating because I was bored. Coming home from work to sit on the couch would make it way easier to eat like sh*t\u2026 now I just go and do something I like so I won\u2019t find distraction in eating.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

“Walking. Validation that I\u2019d lost 45 lb in 7 months by just walking every night around my neighborhood. It was free and low impact, I walked rain or shine even through snow storms. Now I have a treadmill and walk indoors but the feeling is still as great as it was in the beginning.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As we look through this list, reading thousands of comments of people thinking back on the \u2018one thing\u2019 that changed their life, and just how different many of them are, we can draw some fascinating conclusions.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 Short Lessons We Can Learn<\/b><\/h2>\n

LESSON 1: <\/b>\u201cSuccess is moving from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.\u201d<\/i><\/b> -Winston Churchill.<\/b><\/p>\n

The toughest part of getting healthy is <\/span>not <\/span><\/i>losing hope when some strategy you try doesn\u2019t work out. I bet for each person who shared their answer above, they tried dozens of different strategies to try and get fit. Hell, I bet they tried most of the things that worked for other people, until they found the one that worked <\/span>for them.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What we can learn from this: \u201cHope is the<\/span> \u200b<\/span>warrior emotion that lays waste to cynicism<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>,\u201d and it\u2019s okay to have hope that each failed attempt means that\u2019s one less strategy to need to try in the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, if you\u2019ve tried Keto 5 times before and you can\u2019t stick with it, congrats! You found the diet that doesn\u2019t work <\/span>for you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If you can keep that<\/span> \u200b<\/span>\u2018beta test\u2019 mentality<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a> of \u201cI\u2019m going to see if it works for me,\u201d you might just find the first domino to fall for <\/span>your <\/span><\/i>journey!<\/span><\/p>\n

LESSON 2: Beware the Charlatan.<\/b><\/p>\n

Spend enough time on social media, and you\u2019ll eventually encounter health and wellness charlatans. These are the folks who tell you they alone have the <\/span>one solution to all your problems<\/span><\/i>. They often have a villain for all of the world\u2019s evil (\u201cits sugar! It\u2019s carbs! It\u2019s X ingredient!\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

And sure enough, once they\u2019ve fear mongered and scared the crap out of you, they provide hope to you with their expensive unregulated supplement or foolproof system.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you see in the examples above, there\u2019s no \u201cone size fits all\u201d solution to this stuff. Every human is a unique weirdo with different baggage and triggers and traumas and experiences that make certain solutions a homerun and other solutions will be a nonstarter.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read more about how to spot and avoid charlatans in my past essay here: \u201c<\/span>\u200b<\/span>How to not go crazy on the internet<\/span>\u200b<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings me to my third point!<\/span><\/p>\n

LESSON THREE: All stories of getting fit have 3 boring commonalities!<\/b><\/p>\n

Although all of these \u201cone thing\u201d solutions to getting in shape are different, they all do have a few similarities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news? None of these things are revolutionary, proprietary, or fancy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Getting fit down to literally 3 things:<\/b><\/p>\n