This only applies to Recovering Fatasses. If you naturally eat whatever you want and are happy in the state you're in, this isn't for you. I hate you.
Just kidding.
But seriously, this post only applies to us, not you.
If you've never understood your caloric intake, or you just haven't been paying attention for a while, then the likelihood is you've just been eating everything you've wanted. Unfortunately for Recovering Fatasses, this will get us into the state where we're pretty dissatisfied with how we look and feel. Regardless of how much you optimise your diet, the likelihood is the first few weeks are going to be a bit hard while you're adjusting to having to make conscious choices about what you consume.
This can lead to feelings of deprivation and restriction - most humans left to their own devices are consumers by nature and would consume as much as possible if there were no adverse consequences. I know I would.
When coupled with the fact that a net caloric deficit is required for Fat Loss, this means that the Recovering Fatass has to learn to make do with what feels like a lot less than he's been accustomed to, or simply accept failure.
I'd like for us to stop for a moment and realise that having the opportunity to navel gaze about our body composition is the definition of a first world problem. There are people in the world for whom dealing with hunger isn't an active choice but a circumstance of their daily life and who don't have the opportunities to change that fact.
How we frame the issue in our mind will define our emotional response to the issue - which I believe is the ultimately the key to long term adherence to any protocol.
"Today I have to be in a caloric deficit"
vs
"Today I get to choose to be in a caloric deficit"
Very different.
Across one day, they will probably both have the same net effect on body composition. But across the weeks and months that any sane diet takes, understanding that the option to make dietary choices to affect body composition is a PRIVILEGE has huge effects on whether or not we can make it stick.
If we understand that everyday we have choices and that no one is putting a gun to our heads to do this, then we're left with decisions to make.
I decided that I wasn't going to eat anything that I didn't think was awesome. High calorie, low calorie, it didn't matter. If I didn't enjoy it, I wasn't going to eat it. If it was a high calorie food, my expectations for enjoyment should match the increased caloric load it was going to put on my intake.
It took some effort, but I learnt to cook meals for myself that helped me meet my goals, kept me satiated, and were delicious, at least to me. For some, cooking and cleaning may seem tedious but honestly once you strategize and organize it doesn't take a lot of time.
Using batch cooking, getting acquainted with different cooking techniques and the usage of seasoning and spices and learning how to manage condiment portions to get maximum bang for caloric buck, I ended up with a routine where I would batch cook all the proteins and carbs I needed in 1, max 2 sessions a week. Actual mealtimes involved simple firing of these foods and cooking some veggies and each meal would take 10 minutes of firing time at most.
An interesting side effect was that I had to find ways to make food that people usually think of as bland and boring tasty and delicious without the usual and lazy salt/fat/sugar combo. Once my palate started to be able to acclimatise and appreciate subtlety and complexity, a large majority of "cheat" foods started to actually lose their appeal. Don't get me wrong, I still love pizza. But when I eat a pizza, it had better be a freaking amazing pizza and when i'm eating it I want to be able to taste the actual skill and thought that the person preparing it has put into the process.
Food is more than just fuel. It's also a social lubricant. I can't think of any social gathering that doesn't include great food - even people who workout together regularly go out for huge meals to reward themselves after the workout (I personally don't understand this, but it happens).
The meals I cook for myself are good enough for me that if I had to eat them for the rest of my life, I would count myself as blessed, not deprived. When i'm eating with people I love on occasions to celebrate, I'm going to eat the celebratory foods just like everyone else. Granted, i'm a bit more picky, but not because of the caloric loads of the foods, I just want the food I enjoy with company to match the awesomeness of the company.
There's a lot of talk about intermittent fasting in the diet world today. I don't think it has any magical qualities other than it teaches you to really come to terms with what hunger is. More often than not what we feel as "hunger" is actually a trained reaction to a specific time of the day where we've gotten used to eating.
Once you learn to sit with that feeling, you will learn it passes and many a time can lead to a certain state of alertness and euphoria that gets you into a mindspace to do your most productive work. (Caveat, this doesn't happen for everyone, some people get HANGRY. And you need to practice, the first few times you do this, it might be rough. After a while though, it became almost effortless for me).
You can totally outdo the caloric buffer you've created during your fasting window during your eating window. I don't care if your eating window is 20 minutes a day. Recovering Fatasses have zero problems piling in 3000 calories of pizza in a 20 minute window.
However, once you realize that you don't have to eat anything or anytime you don't really want, then you actually are in a position to eat anything you want, anytime.
You just can't have everything you want, every time.
You may have your own credo. Here's mine.
When I'm alone, I eat to fuel my body and achieve my goals. That might mean keeping within a certain caloric budget for the day, or even creating big caloric sinks across the week that allow me to eat all the good stuff at the party I have on the weekend and not worry that it's going to throw me off my game. If i'm there to celebrate, I'm going to celebrate.
A birthday. Your family. True friendship. An anniversary. Those are things to celebrate.
Getting through a rough monday isn't something to celebrate. If we're using food to cope, we're not celebrating, we're medicating.
Once we know what makes up our food, we can make it the way we want.
Once we know what makes up our food, we will not accept less from someone else who has not prepared theirs with any less love than you have for yours.
Once we know the cost of anything, we can actually be happy with much less than everything.
Anything you really want. Just not everything and not everytime.
I promise you, a life of the leanness you desire can coexist with the motto above.
Do not suffer - enjoy choice.