Man in the Arena with Craig Spear

Getting in Shape versus Losing Weight

• Craig Spear

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Have you ever confused getting in shape with shedding pounds?  Today, I'm here to set the record straight on why these two objectives are not the same. 

What is the same, however, is the importance of adopting a growth mindset and I'll show you how a growth-oriented perspective can be your most powerful ally - no matter if you are losing weight or getting in shape.

Today, it's all about embracing challenges, learning from setbacks, and placing value on the effort, not just the outcome. This approach will not only sculpt your body but also reshape your entire outlook on life. 

Tune in as we explore learning objectives that go beyond the superficial and dive into the joy of the journey—because in the end, it's the path to health that's as rewarding as the destination itself.


Did you find this episode helpful insightful or motivating? If so, let's connect! You can find me on....

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to man in the Arena. This podcast is for men over 40 who want to master their health and weight loss goals once and for all, with innovative strategies, practical tools and insightful interviews. My goal is to help you overcome your limiting beliefs and achieve your optimal health. It's time to look good, feel good and do better. Hello and welcome to man in the Arena. This is where I help men over 40 reclaim their health, their energy and their confidence. We haven't met yet. I'm your host, craig Spear. I'm a men's health and weight loss coach.

Speaker 1:

Today, we're diving into a topic that's often misunderstood getting in shape versus losing weight. Now you might be thinking what's the difference? Well, there's a big difference, and understanding this difference can significantly impact the approach you take to achieving your health and fitness goals. Let's start by addressing the common misperception that getting in shape and losing weight are interchangeable terms. They're related, but they're not the same. So losing weight focuses on reducing the number on the scale. That's the main metric. It involves reducing your desire and your hunger for food, and it's achieved by creating this caloric deficit. What's a caloric deficit? Well, one pound of body fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories. This means to lose one pound of body fat, you need to create a caloric deficit of about 3,500 calories through a combination of diet and exercise. If you take this approach, just be sure that you create this deficit gradually. You want to aim for sustainable, healthy weight loss, and that means about one to two pounds per week. And, based on this sort of sustainable, healthy rate of weight loss, that means you want a caloric deficit of between 500 and 1,000 calories per day. In theory, that's what it takes to lose weight. Now, I say in theory, because it's not always that simple. You could create a caloric deficit of 3,500 calories per week right on the nose, and you'd expect to lose a pound per week. The scale doesn't always drop in this linear fashion.

Speaker 1:

Getting in shape, on the other hand, is about improving your overall fitness, which includes building muscle, increasing your stamina and your flexibility and your mobility, and also your cardiovascular health. It's about changing the way you look, the way that you feel, the way that you think and the way that you show up. So, instead of just focusing on creating a caloric deficit, getting in shape means focusing more on the foods that you show up. So, instead of just focusing on creating a caloric deficit, getting in shape means focusing more on the foods that you're eating, the macronutrients, the micronutrients. It's how you're fueling your body so that you can perform better. Losing weight will make you lighter, but getting in shape is going to make you stronger, fitter and more capable. So for men over 40, focusing solely on weight loss is going to lead to muscle loss as well. It's going to slow down your metabolism and it might lead to a greater chance of regaining the lost weight later on.

Speaker 1:

Now I realize that I've painted this picture in a way that suggests that getting in shape is more important than losing weight and should be our focus, but that's not necessarily true. I've worked with guys where weight loss was the focus. So we went to work to get that weight off, and that meant helping them eat differently, helping them reduce their desire and hunger for food and create a caloric deficit. Then, once they got to their ideal weight, we shifted their focus to getting in shape and adding more movement, adding more exercise, resistance training, helping them focus on their sleep. In my opinion, there's no right or wrong way. Whether you want to lose weight or get in better shape, both of these goals are worthwhile, but you do have to understand the implications and the differences and the challenges associated with both approaches. In other words, you have to have the right mindset.

Speaker 1:

Now the mindset whether you're getting in shape or losing weight needs to be rooted in a growth mindset. And a growth mindset refers to the belief that your abilities and your fitness and your health, your weight, they can be developed and improved through dedication and effort and learning over time. Now this contrasts a fixed mindset where you believe that your abilities are kind of static and they're unchangeable. Here are the key characteristics of a growth mindset and check in with this and I want you to, as I kind of go through these, I want you to check in and see if you have this in your mindset.

Speaker 1:

Number one do you embrace challenges? So people with a growth mindset they see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow rather than obstacles to avoid. And one way you can tell if you embrace challenges is based on the sort of emotion that you feel, or the emotions that you feel when you come up against an obstacle or a challenge. Do you get frustrated, do you beat yourself up or do you kind of you know sort of look at ways to strategize and overcome the obstacle that you're facing? The second key characteristic is learning from criticism. So sometimes we will get feedback from our coaches, we'll get feedback from people in our lives who are supporting us, and do we view that as valuable information that can help us improve our performance and our understanding, or do we take that personally and literally and does it sort of deflate us? So that's another way you can kind of assess your growth mindset or your fixed mindset.

Speaker 1:

Another key characteristic is persistence. So people with a growth mindset they're more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks because they believe that that effort and that persistence it's going to lead to improvement and success. So how do you face setback? Do you keep going, do you quit, do you give up easily or do you just keep pushing forward? Another key characteristic of a growth mindset is valuing effort. So effort's a key component to mastery and success, and people with a growth mindset understand that that hard work and that practice is essential for developing the skills they need to achieve their goal and succeed in the long term. So do you value effort or do you want things to be easy?

Speaker 1:

Another key characteristic of a growth mindset is learning from others. So you want to be open to learning from the success and the failures of people who have done the work that you are currently doing? Do you look to others to model them, to emulate them, to learn from their mistakes and apply that in your own journey? The last key characteristic of a growth mindset is adaptability, and that means that you're flexible enough to adjust your strategy and the approach that you're taking whenever you do face an obstacle. Or are you really rigid in your approach, not able to change or shift whenever you do face a challenge? So adopting this growth mindset is going to lead to a greater resiliency. It's going to create a love of learning and, ultimately, this higher achievement, because it focuses on the process of learning and growing rather than just solely on the end result. So if you're just solely focused on getting to where you want to get to, you're most likely not going to achieve that over the long haul.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so here's how you can start to cultivate a growth mindset Reframe your challenges. When you see a challenge, you see it as an opportunity to grow rather than as a threat to your success. Celebrate your effort rather than just the outcome. Learn from your mistakes and then get better. Apply what you're learning. Seek feedback from other people who are doing what you've done or what you are doing. Seek feedback from other people who are doing what you've done or what you are doing.

Speaker 1:

You want to set sort of these learning goals, so focus on goals that lead to improvement rather than just the performance and the outcome. And then, lastly, you want to engage in curiosity, so you want to have this open mind. You want to learn as much as you can. So when you're trying to lose weight, is it just showing up every day and taking action, or are you learning about what it takes to lose weight? Are you learning about the caloric deficit and certain macronutrients? Are you learning about intermittent fasting and the impact that exercise has on your weight loss? That's really, really key.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so when you adopt a growth mindset and an infinite mindset, you will undoubtedly achieve your long-term success, whether you want to get in shape or lose weight, and it won't feel like you're punishing yourself as you do it and meaning you're going to be more successful in the long run and you're going to have a much healthier relationship with your body. That's all I have for you today. Guys, thank you so much for joining me in the arena today. Remember, keep showing up, keep doing the hard work and ultimately, you're going to look better, feel better and you're going to do better. Thank you so much. Now is the time to take action and change your life. Head on over to thespearmethodcom and discover how I can help you get started on your path better health and weight loss.