Sunday Sessions #49
Awareness & Maintain Muscle While Losing Fat
What we are currently thinking..
For most of my 20’s I always had a specific a goal that I was working towards. This clearly defined the actions I took into black and white categories. A clear set of rules to follow and an easy way to know whether or not I was on the right track.
Health & fitness in my 30’s has been a contrast. It’s been a navigation of the grey. Navigating the grey is difficult. There are no clearly defined rules. You end up making your own rules as you go. There’s no real carrot at the end of saying ‘no’ anymore and so you must find what ‘yes’ looks like. How much yes is enough and how much is too much. What is the context to the infinite choices of ‘maybe’ you now have at your disposal?
A superpower I have been learning to harness is that of awareness. I’ve come to realise the more awareness we can bring to the decisions we make, the more context we can apply to each eating opportunity we are in.
I’ve come to realise I struggle the most when I’m unaware. I’m reacting to stress, to a social occasion, to cravings, or to hunger. But awareness allows you to slow down time. Instead of reacting with action, awareness allows you the time to choose whether or not you actually want to engage with the action in the first place.
The habit loop course I linked to in last week’s session is a great place to start. But something similar I’ve been using myself is just noticing (watching) as my hand goes to open the pantry. Noticing the opening of the pantry is a cue for me bring awareness to what I’m doing. Because let’s be honest, I’m not grabbing anything of necessity at 9pm in the evening.
Try this today and see how it impacts your behaviours. Each time you go to eat, or reach for food, just notice it. Notice it and think, “huh, why am I eating or grabbing this right now?”
Navigate the grey through awareness.
What we are listening to..
This week’s listen is a 10min clip from a recent podcast by Peter Attia - How to maintain muscle while trying to lose body fat.
The full podcast is an interesting but pretty full on scientific breakdown of exercise physiology and protein. This clip from the podcast however is a quick take on getting into a deficit and the role resistance training plays in preserving muscle.
While it may seem logical, if you want to maintain your muscle mass while reducing body fat, resistance training is paramount. Ideally 2 or more sessions per week.
“If you eat protein after you do exercise, more of that protein is converted to muscle.” Not only that but the muscle seems to remain sensitive to protein and other nutrients for up to 48 hours after exercise.