Keep it simple, stupid – a phrase I first heard during a year 8 PE class. I remember clearly because the teacher pointed at me as he emphasised the ‘stupid’ part (classic Mr Marshall).
Anyhoodle
If you are unfamiliar with the acronym it refers to the idea that a lot of systems work best if they are kept simple rather than being made complicated. Simplicity helps the user accept the system and hopefully stick to it.
However
I feel as though this concept has been lost in the health and fitness industry!
Don’t worry, you aren’t to blame
The people trying to sell you the bullshit are to blame
If you want a fine example of this bullshit, go now and type into google “how to lose weight”…….I just did – top result is a Jenny Craig advertisement, 2nd result directed me to a website that states that controlling my weight takes more than diet, exercise and willpower, but in fact, my brain works against me causing me to put weight on.
Wow, OMG my brain is to blame!! – I knew it wasn’t the meat pies and beers that are stopping me from losing weight!
Wow …
Try and find out some info on improving your health and fitness, and you will be hit with a shitload of promises and claims
Do the KETO diet
Paleo diet is best
You need to be doing fasted cardio
Only do high reps if your lifting otherwise you’ll get bulky
Don’t eat carbs at night …
(I could go on forever), but you catch my drift
What I am getting at, is that the industry is no longer simple – it’s complicated, extremely complicated.
Let’s take a step back in time for a moment. Back to when my grandparents were my age, would’ve been around the 1950’s/1960’s. They didn’t have all of this “useful information” at their fingertips like we do.
I guarantee you that if Papa O’Dea was getting a little thick around the belly he wouldn’t have questioned doing the keto diet or fasted cardio – he would’ve said to himself that he should stop putting ice cream on his Weetbix (he actually did that, I blame him for my love of ice cream) and get out and play with his 9 kids a bit more (good catholic family).
Pretty simple …
We don’t need to complicate this whole health and fitness thing.
Here is a more simple way to help you think of it that might help you sift through all of the bullshit.
Weight loss = calorie deficit. (A combination of consuming less calories and burning more calories than what your body needs to maintain weight).
Weight gain = calories surplus (consume more calories than what your body needs to maintain weight).
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that the above method is necessarily easy to carry out or adhere to, but hopefully it helps you with an easier way to keep it simple, STUPID
Hope that helps
Peace, Sam
P.s if you would like to join in on the conversation on this topic you can join our closed FB group https://www.facebook.com/groups/303465497019338/
