The Other Side of It: Nutritional Goals & Their Down Sides

For every good, there is a downside.

For every choice, there is a cost.

And truthfully, there’s no wrong choice for any of these phases. There’s only a wrong choice for you and what you’re willing to deal with on the downside.

Is the cost worth the benefit?

I have quite a few clients who are questioning their nutritional goals & body composition phases at the moment. This happens just about every year around this time too.

It’s warmer out. People are socializing more. Things like calorie deficit from the New Year’s either completely faded or they’re done. And when I mean, done… that’s twofold. They might be done mentally with deficit because it does wear on you or they might be done physically because they achieve their goal or got close enough.

So this here becomes the conversation that I have a tendency to have… what do you want to do?

The conversation for body composition phases is a tough one because we can’t always see the good or the downside until we’re able to take a moment and really think about it.

I mean, this is no different than making like pros and cons lists. But this can be very valuable in eating you and your decision for which way do you want to go right now.

And the only thing that I really ever stress when it comes to making this decision is, are you thinking about what you might want a season from now as well?

We’re heading into summer. How do you want to look for the fall? How do you want to look for your holiday parties? What you do right now and the daily habits that you have throughout the summer will be what dictates those things? We cannot escape it.

Caring for our body is one of the few place that still requires the utmost effort and honesty in that effort.

Let’s play it out…

For calorie deficit phases

Good: amazing before and after transformation photos
Downside: having to take the time in between the photos to get there and practice a great deal of patience with scale fluctuations, and daily obstacles
Good: more focus on what you’re consuming, as well as how much through the means of food, journaling, or calorie tracking, which may correlate with other markers of health like better fullness levels, sustained energy, and better fiber consumption
Downside: having to feel as though you are constantly “watching what you eat” because you are.
Good: feeling more like yourself in a smaller size or feeling leaner
Downside: you may notice bloating, or other hydration balance effects more than you did before

For maintenance phases

Good: more life, socializing & feeling fully fed
Downside: constant need for course correction depending on the frequency of the above

For calorie surplus phases

Good: muscle and shape building, feeling fully energized to lift
Downside: clothing begins to feel tighter and possible mental games with the scale ticking up