So August was an interesting month.
I think that it’s officially the first time I have ever ‘gone on a diet’ in the traditional sense.
I’ve always been one to quote the ‘diets don’t work’ mantra, ‘it’s all about sustainable lifestyle change’ but this was always preaching from the armchair. I didn’t really understand the dynamic firsthand.
Well I understand it now.
With my cousin’s wedding looming, the seamstress had done all she could for my ‘occasions’ suit. There was no more fabric to leverage, it was all down to me now if I wanted to be able to sit down on the day of the wedding. I was close, but I really needed to lean down that bit more if I was going to save the stitching and only had around 4 weeks to do it.
It was time for drastic action and there wasn’t much to do other than a bit of aggressive dietary restriction. It looked like the carbs and any goodies were off the menu.
As the date of the wedding arrived, the good news was that I managed it, the suit fit, but additionally the experience of rapidly trimming down was a revelation; I had found that even just a few weeks of ‘dieting’ truly sucked.
I’m not surprised dieting isn’t sustainable for most humans.
Even though my carb restrictions could hardly be classed as extreme I found it really quite visceral; I just felt tired and slightly grumpy, any exercise became such a slog and I was constantly craving everything I was explicitly abstaining from. Not only that but you could feel the murmur of a rebellion gathering, waiting for the day that the diet ended and the gorging could begin.
Hah! screw you diet, I’m baking some cinnamon rolls.
Hence the cliche of ‘putting it all back on’.
Getting quick results of changes in body composition may be necessary for professional fighters, movie stars or physique professionals but for every one else it just isn’t the way to go.
I’m only just beginning to understand the levels of discomfort, or simply minor sacrifices I am willing to endure for tweaks to my body composition and it’s not that much. It seems that consistency and the humble skill of patience are the real foundations for change, but we already knew that didn’t we?
We just always want it that bit quicker and easier.
