Ultimate Fat Loss: Methods Vs. Principles

Methods are many,
Principles are few,
Methods are always changing,
Principles never do.

One thing that makes my fitness business better than most is that I always apply what I consider to be the 'unquestionable truths'. A term I have stolen from a friend of mine Dax Moy - the 'unquestionable truths' quite simply refer to aspects of fat-loss and fitness that will never change. They are principles.

The above quote adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson highlights the mantra I've been working too the last few years.

The application of principles can mean the difference between sustained healthy and fast weight loss and eliminate the guesswork from exercise and nutrition.

What is a method? Methods are many. For example in nutrition they are things like high carb, low carb, high fat, low fat, counting calories, wave dieting and the like. You know they are methods because they are always changing depending on the fashion or latest 'scientific' discoveries.In fitness these are modalities such as running, body pump, bootcamp or pilates. They might share a similar goal but the journey is very different.

Principles are different. Despite latest research or fashion these will never change. Hence they are unquestionable truths. The human body fundamentally has not changed in the last several million years and if we took a step back and had a look from afar we all know intuitively what makes it tick.

Principles of nutrition are best summed up by Michael Pollan in his book In Defence Of Food when he said 'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.' On analysis this can be summed up as avoid or eliminate processed foods, alcohol and sugar. There is a pretty conclusive case to do this. A healthy diet does not involve counting calories or points or having read or green days but not being greedy. And eating a largely plant-based diet is difficult to disagree with (I'm not suggesting becoming a vegetarian!!)

For exercise (or movement - which is essentially what exercise is!) this is a little more complex. You need to understand the fundamentals of human movement - these are beyond the scope of a simple blog post. However, as a general rule by progressively overloading (doing a little bit more) and rest (managing rest to regenerate your body) you can develop both health and fitness.

I have decided the principles I use day-to-day with my clients from extensive reading and research. I combine these with a variety of methods for the best results.

For example if fat-loss was a clients goal I might combine my principles of nutrition with a low-carb calorie controlled diet. This maintains that my approach is both healthy and effective. My principles of exercise might dictate I use a kettlebell, soft-tissue release or yoga to stimulate a fat-burning response.

You can see how using a combination of methods, with underlying principles leads to FAST and SUSTAINABLE results.

Perhaps if you were considering getting fit you might do the same.