Talk is cheap!

We all know someone, (or perhaps we are that someone), who says they want something – yet they never come through with the goods. How long are you going to say you want something, yet you never commit the time and dedication to get it?

The thing about a goal is – it needs to really matter!! “I want abs”, in my experience is a pointless goal because the truth is – you don’t want it enough! Goals need to be something you actually have a deep desire for.

This is true even for myself. That used to be my goal. But come the weekend when I was out for dinner I wanted the pizza more than I wanted the abs, and I can eat, so we are talking about a lot of glorious pizza!

That’s when powerlifting changed everything. When I got truly motivated to stick to eating well, it was because of a completely different goal. My training program was my motivation.

I have trained for over 20 years. It was when I began powerlifting two years ago, where I had a structured linear program, that projected numbers in the future I should be able to lift, based on what I was currently lifting.

A few weeks in a row on my Monday sessions, I was not hitting the numbers on my program. It didn’t make sense, I wasn’t going out drinking and suffering the lag of an all-nighter on the weekend. The only thing different to the start of the week and the end of the week, (when my training was always on track), was the meals I was having at the weekend.

I track macros. Not in an IIFYM kind of fashion, I don’t eat sh*t and try and figure it into a macro plan. I eat mostly whole foods and meal prep my own nutritious meals full of variety. I don’t eliminate food groups, I think moderation is the key to sticking to any kind of “diet” plan.

I generally eat 4 meals per day. I split my protein evenly across those 4 meals. I use carbs and fats when I need them, based on my training or rest days. I do not obsess with the numbers or restrict my life. I still go out for pizza if I feel like it except, rather than eat a whole pizza, I might share a steak and have a few slices of pizza. Gone are the days of starving all week only to eat 4 days worth of calories at one meal.

I always hit my protein target at every meal. Filling up on protein generally means I will not overeat the rest of my meal. 4 meals per day, 7 days per week is 28 meals in a week. If I go out 3 times in that week, and my meal is slightly off track, it makes little difference to my overall goals because for 25 meals I have been on point.

Eating this way improved my performance in the gym. My training no longer suffered because I was lazy with my meals. I was hitting the numbers on my training plan and getting stronger each week. I was no longer focused on how I looked, I was focused on how I performed.

The end result – my body changed. I have more lean muscle mass, I’m stronger and leaner than I have ever been before. But it takes time!

Make your goal count! Put your money where you mouth is. I was mad that my numbers in training were suffering, and that made it so much easier to stick to eating well over the weekends.

This article was written by Lauren Green.
You can read more of Lauren’s articles and learn about his specialist areas and experiences using the link below.
More about Lauren