In the last couple of weeks I’ve spoken in-depth about the importance of focusing on what fits as opposed to focusing on what’s right.
In other words, paying attention to what works for you as opposed to the specific reasons why different approaches MIGHT work.
I guess another way of looking at is ‘application’ vs ‘theory’.
As an example, Eat Stop Eat is the right ‘fit’ for me. Fasting once or twice a week for 24 (ish) hours works well FOR ME. It has worked for me for over 7 years and I’m guessing it will continue to work for me in the foreseeable future. Eat Stop Eat is what ‘fits’.
Now, I could get easily get tangled up in how Eat Stop Eat is RIGHT.
Maybe it’s the carbs. After all, I do go 24 hours twice a week where I have virtually no dietary glucose load. So for all intents and purposes I am as low-carb as low-carb can get at least once, usually twice per week.
However, it could be the Calories. Two 24-hour periods of not eating does a great job of reducing my overall calorie intake across the week, especially since I don’t overdo it on the days I’m not fasting – I do my best to eat ‘normally’.
Then again, it could be the Leptin. I do eat to maintenance for 2 to 3 days at a time every week and this *may* help keep my leptin levels normal, while the fasting *may* improve my leptin sensitivity.
Yet it could also be the GH, or the protein, heck.. maybe it’s the fat. WHY it’s right doesn’t matter to me nearly as much as the fact that it works and it FITS. If I were to get too caught up in the ‘why it’s right’ then I’m vulnerable to FORGET that it works.
If I were to decide conclusively that it’s the GROWTH HORMONE that makes fasting work for me, then later find out that the fasting has a negligible effect on GROWTH HORMONE levels or sensitivity (just an example) then I may be convinced to give up on fasting because my reason for it being right is in fact wrong… even though it fit my life and I saw great results while using it.
Or, I could be completely sold on why a diet is RIGHT, even though it is not a fit for me, and after weeks of seeing no weight loss, stay on the diet even longer… convinced that I must be somehow broken (since the diet is clearly RIGHT) and that I should just push harder to see results.
Bottom line – focusing on RIGHT can sometimes lead you away from what FITS and what WORKS.
If you’re getting the results you want and you feel great doing it – then it fits, so stick with it. If you are NOT getting results even though the diet seems scientifically sound and has 100s of reasons why it SHOULD work, then stop and try something else – because it is clearly NOT a good fit for you.
BP
