The title caught your attention, didn’t it? Want to get lean without dieting? Simply, stop dieting and change your diet.
We have to change how we use the word “dieting”. Diet is essentially that which we eat on a regular basis. Dieting is the word we use for episodic caloric restriction that leads to the fluctuation of body weight over time. “Yo-yo diet” is more accurate than “yo-yo dieting” because it reflects a pattern of eating (a diet) that leads to periods of weight loss followed by periods of weight gain—over time, the latter exceeds the former.
Diet implies consistency. It suggests a long-term pattern of eating, e.g., the Mediterranean diet (or, perhaps, the “American diet”). “Paleo”. “Ketogenic”. “Vegetarian”. Etc. These are diets. There may be changes in caloric balance, as needed, to reduce body fat for sports competition or improved health, but overall there should be a consistency that maintains a healthy body composition.
Diet is for performance. That is, we eat to function and be active.
Want to get lean? Change your habits, not your diet. Stop dieting and eat (consistently) healthy. Find your healthy body composition and stay there. Don’t focus on weight—that number on a scale that goes up and down daily because of hydration changes. Focus on performance. Focus on health. The changes in body composition will come, and, over time, will remain, if you change your habits rather than chasing after the latest fad diets. (There is no caloric expenditure from chasing diets.) Stop dieting. Change your diet.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!