First, before you decide to implement this Accountability Cornerstone within the Lifestyle Modification Challenges, you should consult your doctor.
Besides that, let’s get into it.
My basic approach to how I “do health & fitness” boils down to 2 minimum important cornerstones: 1) I burn a minimum of 300-700 calories a day, and 2) I don’t eat past 7:30pm.*
Let’s be honest, 7:30 is still pretty darn late.
At this point, I typically don’t eat past 6:00pm. But, I digress.
If you’ll allow me to generalize by speaking anecdotally: in my experience, both personally and socially, most hearty meals are typically consumed at the allotted, customary feeding times: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
We tend to eat hearty & heavy in the morning, hearty & heavy at lunch and hearty & heavy at dinner.
Three squares a day! as they say. (And then maybe sneak in a delicious snack before bedtime.)
No amount of exercise could possibly come close to the amount of calories needed to be burned off with that type of daily-eating practice.
What happens with this kind of eating pattern, seemingly overnight, muscle tone leaves; health, fitness and drive wanes; visceral fat becomes a thing potentially leading to a host of other health problems; and bigger, baggier clothes make an appearance.
When a different approach is taken however, like not eating past 7:30pm* (among other Lifestyle Modification Accountability Cornerstones), weight will slowly come off helping us get closer to maintaining a more “ideal” or preferred weight.
So, for your Life Mod, don’t eat past 7:30. And if you can take it easy on the “hearty & heavy” portions entirely, that’s even better.
Clearly, eating before 7:30pm isn’t a silver bullet to regaining your health & fitness, but it is one step closer.
*If I do eat past 7:30p and if it’s not a treat day**, I will eat a healthy, balanced snack.
SUCCESS HACK: Strategize when you eat dinner. If you get hungry, take in a protein shake, a healthy snack and some water. Just don’t eat past 7:30.
**Treat Days don’t have to be sabotage days aka “cheat days,” so be mindful of that.