Are You Ready To Diet?

If you’re thinking of dieting, the best advice I can give is to HOLD that thought!

But why?

Because, before jumping into a dieting phase, you first need to identify the answer to one key question – are you READY to diet?

If you’re not ready and decide to just impulsively dive into a dieting phase, one thing usually happens – you FAIL!

Whilst achieving fat loss is easy in theory, it’s much harder to achieve dieting success in reality, at least consistently over time.

News flash... dieting is hard!

Savannah waited 5-weeks before she began her dieting phase with me, which allowed us to better position her for success and this amazing result. 

To transform your physique and aid dieting success, you need to do be set up for success. This involves modifications on multiple fronts, beyond just your nutrition and activity.

To support the process, you want your lifestyle and behaviours to temporarily evolve to make the process easier, or more manageable. This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun when dieting, but some of your choices may need to be tweaked.

Plus, to lose body fat you must do one key thing – you need to create a calorie deficit by altering energy balance.

The unfortunate side effect of a reduction in your calorie intake is, there will inevitably be some tricky periods to navigate. You want to be ready for this…

This is why impulsively dieting without a PLAN, is not a wise thing to do.

To better determine your true readiness for a fat loss phase and better position you for success, ask yourself these 6 key questions:

1/ Am I consuming sufficient maintenance calories? 

Why? Because a sufficient calorie deficit must be created. If you’re a 60kg human and your normal calorie intake is 1500 per day, you’re likely drastically undereating to your energy needs, plus limiting what you can take away during fat loss.

2/ Are my activity levels at moderate levels?

Why? Because you can strategically increase your energy output levels over a diet to fight off metabolic adaptation and ensure you keep losing over time. This is harder to do if your base activity levels are always excessively high.

3/ Am I mentally and strategically ready for consuming less calories?

Dieting is hard and there’s going to be some periods of discomfort you may need to navigate. This is why mental resilience coupled with an intelligent strategy are essential, with these factors enhancing the result potential.

4/ Do I accept that my lifestyle may temporarily have to adapt?

Whilst you can eat and do anything when dieting, you don’t want to unnecessarily challenge willpower and make the process harder than it needs to be. One powerful modification which aids a greater dieting outcome is to better prioritise your sleep!

5/ Are my work and life commitments manageable?

If it’s crazy season at work and you’re moving house, dieting might not be the best choice atm. Remember, dieting requires a big time commitment and it is fundamentally stressful. So, we want to be strategic when we chase it.

6/ Do I have a dieting exit strategy?

There’s no point dieting if you’re going to re-gain all the weight and potentially more! Sadly, this is the norm for most people. Yet, if you have a good plan and hire a great coach, you’re positioned for a sustainable result, which is what we at ATLAS are so passionate about!

Now, if you identify any “red flags” in your responses to the above questions, my advice is to be patient and wait. 

Instead, take some time to set yourself up for future success, then attack dieting when you’re truly ready to nail the process!

Lauren waited 6-months before she dieted with me, which set her up this amazing result.

By slightly holding off your dieting start date, you’ll be better able to get off to a positive start, which can aid greater dieting momentum and superior confidence.

This in turn then can aid dietary adherence and continued progress over time, which culminates in your ultimate result ever! 

So, when pondering if you should begin diet mode, my best advice is to first identify your status and to be patient! Diet when you’re ready, not just when you impulsively feel like it.

Thanks for reading,

Glen Carroll