Chubby Cheeks Over the Winter
March 2019 — about twenty-one months in, after a hard winter
The day before this live I'd put up a post asking the group what holds them up: knowing how to do keto, cravings, boredom, social eating or discipline. A few people invented an E. But the big answer, by a mile, was discipline (live KPDK8043). So I went live to talk about discipline, and at the end I admitted where my own was.
What I said about discipline
My argument was that "I need more discipline" usually means "I don't have a system." Everybody pictures willpower as a drill sergeant screaming at you to eat your steamed broccoli. But the army also makes you make your bed, tight enough to bounce a quarter, even when the whole point is a war. That's not about toughness. It's routine, so the right thing becomes automatic, and you come home at the end of a hard day to something you already did well for yourself (live KPDK8043).
So I told people to track something. Macros are one way, and they're accurate and annoying. If that's a non-starter, get a calendar you like looking at and rate each day one to five, or colour it red to green. I said I'd rather people track inches and things like resting heart rate than the scale (live KPDK8043).
I compared willpower to rocket burns. Most of the trip you drift on a trajectory toward your goal. When you drift off course, you burn the rockets, fix the heading, and go back to drifting. Nobody grits their teeth for two years. Not the Marines, not Navy SEALs, not UFC fighters. And willpower will fail you someday, because somebody will die, or you'll go through a breakup or get laid off, and if everything rests on willpower you'll slide. So while it's working, use it to build habits (live KPDK8043).
I also said to learn to cook. If you're eating a lot of sauces and processed stuff because you can't make a chicken breast taste good, that's a skill you can fix. I'm not a trained chef, but I'm a decent cook, and I was working in a kitchen right then (live KPDK8043).
Where mine went
Then, near the end, I told on myself. I'd mentioned plucking at my eyebrows because kids made fun of me when I was little, and that we all get insecure about things. Then: if you've noticed my chubby cheeks, yes, I gained some of the weight back that winter (live KPDK8043).
I didn't dress it up. I'd had some depression. I'd changed medications. And weight loss just wasn't one of my main focuses for a while. That was the whole explanation, and I think it was enough (live KPDK8043).
The other half was the good news. I was back in MMA training, and I needed to get my weight down again (live KPDK8043).
Looking back, the winter fits what I'd said earlier in that same video: willpower will fail you someday, and if everything is built on willpower, you slide (live KPDK8043).
What I'd tell you now
I still think "systems, not willpower" is the most useful thing I said that spring, and I'd still rather you track inches than the scale (non-scale wins). But I'd be clearer about the medication part. I'm not going to tell you a medication caused my winter, or what yours will do. Don't change or stop a medication to protect your weight, and don't start a strict diet around a medication change without telling the doctor who prescribed it. That goes double if you take medication for diabetes or blood pressure, because cutting carbs can change the dose you need, and it also applies if you have kidney disease, are pregnant, or have a history of an eating disorder (why doses change, who should talk to a doctor first). Depression comes first. The pounds will still be there to lose when you're ready. The full live is here, and the habit side is in Habits That Keep the Weight Off.
Earlier: Still a Big Guy in My Head · Later: Two Thousand Pounds and Ten Percent Happier