Why you should NOT get lean
I don’t think it’s worth it.
I used to weigh 120kg.
When I was that big I had an image in my head of how I wanted to look.
Abs, veins, and striations, like the people on Instagram.
Almost three years later, after losing 50kg, I had all three.
I was in the best shape of my life.
The only problem was, it didn’t feel like it.
4 Reasons To Not Get Lean
Keep in mind, the following reasons are for getting lean and not for getting healthy.
By that, I mean dipping below 10% body fat.
1. You’re Moody
You’d think getting lean would make you happy because you finally got what you wanted.
In a way, you are, as you feel accomplished, but you can’t help but feel moody.
To get that lean, you have to be in an extreme calorie deficit.
And anyone who’s been in one for long enough knows how draining that can be.
Not only are you low on energy, you’re also restricting the foods you eat.
That feels like you’re wearing metaphorical handcuffs.
You don’t have the freedom to do what you want when you want to do it.
2. You Have No Energy
As you’re low on calories, and have been for weeks, you have no energy.
Your workouts don’t feel the same as your recovery gradually gets worse.
You fatigue easily, so you can’t push yourself as hard in the gym, and your strength isn’t where it’s supposed to be.
Working out becomes something you have to do rather than something you get to do.
3. All you think about is food
Stereotypically, you’d think its the overweight people that are obsessing over food, but in my experience, it’s the opposite.
When I was overweight, I ate a lot, but I didn’t spend much time thinking about it, probably why it got out of hand.
It’s when I got very lean where all I thought about was food.
It became a maximisation problem.
I had only so many calories to play with, and with that, I tried to maximise my satisfaction.
Then once I had meticulously planned my meals, I’d go about my day thinking about when I could next eat.
And it makes sense, people tend to focus on what they don’t have.
So if you take away calories, that’s where our focus will go.
4. Your hormones go off balance
Getting lean affects homeostasis, that’s your bodies hormonal balance.
As you decrease your body fat percentage, leptin decreases, testosterone drops, and cortisol increases.
That combination in hormonal changes will increase hunger, decrease libido, and increase stress levels.
And you’ll notice that.
It’s partly the reason why you’re moody, why you have no energy, and why food is constantly on your mind.
Getting that lean is not healthy, and those signals are your bodies way of letting you know.
So, what should you do?
I think most people should simply focus on getting to a healthy body fat percentage.
You do end up doing all the same things it takes to get extremely lean, but you don’t take it as far.
You may feel a little hungry and tired, your strength may decrease slightly, and you might suffer from fatigue here and there, but that’s completely normal in a cut.
If you’re the ambitious type though, you probably will want to push yourself further and realise that vision you have of yourself in your head. And I encourage you to do so.
I’m a firm believer in pushing yourself to your limit before tapering off and finding balance.
Setting high expectations AND achieving them gives you an undying sense of self-belief.
And that’s worth all the struggle you will have to go through.
Want To Reach Your Next Phase?
I lost 50 kg and took back control over my life.
I’ll help you do the same.
