Today’s subject is inspired by the #1 Mindset Rule for youth wrestlers from Wrestling Mindset. As I often find life-lessons in wrestling, I share this as a consideration for all ages.
We are obsessed with weight loss in the US. “Diet” is nearly always tied to weight loss—not fat loss, mind you. We have an unhealthy focus on the scale, as if reaching some magical number on the scale will make our life better. The reality is that the number on the scale is just a number without consideration of what makes the number. Our body weight is essentially the sum total of our fat weight, lean tissue weight, and water weight. I include water weight, because this is the source of most of our day-to-day fluctuations. Lean tissue weight includes bone, muscle, and other important tissues. More lean tissue is almost certainly always better. In other words, weight gain can often be more healthy than weight loss.
Now, obesity or over-fatness is a problem for roughly 2/3rds of Americans, so for many the number on the scale needs to drop significantly, but, once one is in the healthy range of body fat, the scale should be used sparingly. For many, the problem is less about fat and more about muscle.
At 55 years, I am okay with gaining weight. Honestly, the battle to lose weight (i.e., fat weight) becomes increasingly challenging with age. More specifically, I am focused on shifting the weight distribution. I enjoy food too much to focus excessively on caloric restriction. Instead, I opt to “grow into my fat”. That is, I am focused more on gaining/maintaining muscle mass via well-programmed resistance training and a balanced approach to nutrition.
Excessive caloric restriction will invariably lead to a loss of fat and muscle. We want to reduce the fat, but we don’t want to lose the muscle.
Focusing on muscle gain (minus the extreme caloric increases we were able to manage in our youth) will undoubtedly result to some fat loss with or without a change in body weight. If one is gaining muscle and not fat, body composition will improve even if there is no change in fat mass.
Find your healthy caloric intake and focus on your lifestyle. If you are over-fat or obese, you need to restrict calories. Most don’t have to take it to the extreme, though. Be active. Lift weights. Eat healthy. Ditch the scale. Use the mirror and you exercise performance as the measure of your success.
“Diet” should refer to one’s lifestyle habits not to some short-term change in eating habits. Focus on health and not of the scale! Stop cutting weight!
Be your best today; be better tomorrow!
Carpe momento!