fat loss toolkit
You can know more than the worlds top nutritionists when it comes to diet for body composition change. The knowledge of all the Olympic athlete trainers in the world. And still not cross the bridge between you and your ultimate goal. Because none of that knowledge means a thing if you don't actually do the d*** thing.
Enter the accountability calendar.
It's been two months, you've tracked and stayed on your diet (for the most part), you barely missed a workout, but the scale hasn't moved? Been there before? Me too.
Here is where the Self-Deception Bias comes in. And before you shake your head and deny this is you, hear me out.
The self-deception bias more or less outlines how we often deceive ourselves into thinking that we acted or preformed better than we actually did in certain situations in life.
Take consistency in your own training or nutrition for example. Often times if you ask someone how may workouts they did in the last month they will respond with a higher number than they actually did. Not because these people are compulsive liars, but because they truly believe they did those workouts.
Now the calendar might be a humbling accountability method, but it works.
You define what a "win" looks like, and mark each day you "win" with an X. Let's say you are cutting down or trying to lose body fat for summer. A calorie deficit is something that needs to occur for this to happen. So start by defining a "win" as when you stay under your calorie goal for the day.
With this method you have to be brutally honest and make it black and white, either you do it, or you don't. The less honest you are, the less this will work.
Did you stay under your calories? If yes, put an X over the day, if not, then don't. And "close" does not count. You can use workouts completed, protein intake, fat intake, or anything you aren't as consistent as you need to be for the calendar.
At the end of the month your progress will often directly reflect how many "X"'s are marked down. A good rule of thumb is to hit your target 80%+ of the time. (25 out of 31 days)
If you didn't make the progress you wanted, look at the calendar. If you didn't hit most of your "X"'s, then you can't be mad. If you did hit your "X"'s, then you know you need to change what your "wins" look like. Either way, you can make progress and move forward.