Did you ever play sports when you were growing up? If so, your coach probably talked about the importance of fundamentals. In relation to sports, the fundamentals are the most important and basic aspects of the game.
In basketball, for example, the fundamentals include passing, dribbling, and shooting. A player must build on these skills if they want to be successful.
But fundamentals aren’t specific to just sports. If you ever want to be successful at anything, practicing fundamental skills over and over will get you there.
Motivational speaker Jim Rohn has a great quote about this. It says, “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”
In terms of health and fitness, it’s no different.
But we live in a society where we’re constantly bombarded with the latest trends. Turn on your tv and you’ll be sure to find infomercials telling you how to get 5 minute abs or lose 50 lbs in 2 months. With 3 easy payments of $29.95, you’ll be on your way!
The truth is you don’t need this garbage to get the body you want. It will come from practicing 5 basic, fundamental nutrition habits.
For some reason that escapes me, we as humans try to make everything more complicated than it needs to be. Fat loss and weight loss is simple, but not easy. The fundamentals of nutrition are simple, but practicing them day in and day out isn’t easy.
So, what are these fundamentals that I keep talking about? Well there are 5 specifically that I have found.
- Have protein at every meal
- Have fruit and vegetables at every meal
- Eat fewer carbohydrates on days you aren’t as active
- Ditch calorie drinks like juice, soda, and alcohol for water, coffee, and tea
- Enjoy treats moderately throughout the week (alcohol, dessert, etc.)
And that’s it! No nonsense, no fluff.
But for some reason we just don’t want to do that. We want neatly packed box meals, 100 calorie snacks, and diet soda. These types of food do not satisfy and leave you wanting more.
If you notice though, in the 5 principles above, the focus is on more real food. However, there’s still room to have wine, ice cream, or potato chips as well.
Focusing on good nutrition doesn’t mean you can never enjoy your food again if you want to change the way you look. On the contrary. By having those things moderately through the week, it makes you enjoy them more.
Since you won’t be eating them as much, you’ll savor every bite. When you finish, you’ll be satisfied instead of going back for more.
That’s the beauty of these fundamental habits. You eat better food and enjoy it. You don’t need fancy doorstep meals, fat burning pills, and weight loss shakes.
One biggest reasons to run from things like these is that you have to continue using them in order to maintain your results. Are you going to do that for the rest of your life? Most likely not.
Once you stop, you revert back to your old eating patterns and put back most, if not all, the weight you lost. This happens because your habits didn’t change. You were just looking for a quick fix. But it doesn’t work like that.
When you focus on the 5 fundamentals nutrition habits for fat loss I have outlined above, you won’t have to worry about this. They will guide you week in and week out to get you where you want to be. Like I said, simple not easy.
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I constantly see hard working people stray away from these principles in search of the newest product and get no results. I hate seeing this happen.
Like the Jim Rohn quote mentions, success will be obtained by focusing on the fundamentals. Beware of foods and products promising great results for a hefty price. Simply going to the grocery store and buying protein, fruits, and vegetables will do more for your health and body than any product ever will.
Focus on these 5 simple habits and you won’t need anything else!
