Eat More to Lose Weight

This client sent me this text while at her photo shoot with the brilliant photographer @paulbuceta and the lovely @kristabellemarks and @kellyarcangel and @monicakalra. She looks better NOT depleted. This is difficult to understand for some non-coaches. The law is that you cannot take more from less. That is, there is no way to subtract from something which doesn't exist. You cannot borrow from a bank which contains no money. You cannot burn energy from a system which has none left. 

Stylistically, this isn’t my typical post. But there is a truth bomb which people need to understand. YOU MUST BECOME RESTORED. Since the early 90’s I’ve been doing metabolic experiments. Since 2004 I’ve walked clients through a process of restoring metabolism I called metabolic engineering. Nowadays, popular influencers slap the moniker on it, “reverse dieting.” Long story short: depleting oneself through calorie cutting and endless hours of exercise doesn’t IMPROVE life. This is always frustrating for people who are overstressed, because they keep comparing themselves to people who are restored, even their former less-tired and younger selves. No matter what, you will always be confronted with the fact that you just can't keep taking from something which has already given too much. The body will push back with growth factors which tend to make you fatter and bigger, not smaller.

Just take her word for it. @dailysuperstar put it succinctly in the text. We spent YEARS emphasizing restoration, nutritional sufficiencies, stress management, and just plain ol’ becoming more athletic. YEARS. Not days. Not weeks. Not even months. From THAT, she’s BETTER all around (mentally, physically, emotionally, professionally, etc.) than when specifically she focused on aesthetics (ie - competing in body building).

Give her kudos. Check out the other contributors at the shoot. And if you or someone you know keeps futilely eating less and exercising more, look into metabolic restoration/reverse dieting. My only additional piece of advice would be to ignore the influencers who have only been at this for a couple of years, because they don't actually know that for most people this is an 18 month process, a 5-10 year process, a lifelong process. Damaged, overstressed, depleted people can't be restored with modest changes over the short term.

They must first have more, so at last they can have less.