One simple shift in my thinking transformed my body forever.

There was a key mistake I made over and over again, for almost two decades, that kept me from seeing the results I desired in my body.

You’ve probably made this mistake too.

There is a flawed pattern of thinking that believes that addition is better than subtraction. That the pursuit of perfection trumps consistency. That more must be better than less.

Look around at any area of your life and you can see this at play.

It sounds great in theory, but here’s why this strategy doesn’t work.

Doing more, becoming better, heroic efforts, all nighters to reach a deadline, and grinding are attractive in today’s world. Yet it isn’t sustainable for most people, and the aggressive climb can lead to a harder fall.

I know because trying to do more always led me to a dead end.

From the time I got into fitness, around age 14, until I turned 34, I had a desire to drop body fat and get lean.

It wasn’t as big of a focus during my high school and college football years, when I was trying to get as strong and fast as possible, but it was still always in the back of my mind.

Once college football was over, and I no longer had a certain bodyweight to maintain, I was ready to finally get lean.

It took over a decade to reach my goal between being done with college football and finally dropping under sub 10% body fat.

I had failed attempt after failed attempt after failed attempt.

I would see success for a little while, only to find myself back at what felt like square one a few months later.

If you’ve been there, you know how frustrating this was.

Here’s why it took so long and what I’ve learned after failing so many times.

I was so focused on adding things.

I was so focused on doing more.

Where I Would Focus (Addition)

-Adding in more workouts each week

-Adding in more exercises to my workouts

-Doing more (ab exercises, arm exercises, cardio)

-Combining workout programs (if both workout programs are good, the two of them done together must be the best)

-Trying more diets (keto, paleo, carnivore, intermittent fasting)

The Things I Ignored (Subtraction)

-Reducing instances of overeating or binging out

-Spending less time sitting around in between workouts

-Drinking less alcohol or eating out less

-Removing excess stress or nights staying up late

While these can feel like similar concepts, they’re actually very different.

When my mindset changed, my results changed.

Once I focused on removing the negative habits that were holding me back, instead of adding in new strategies or simply working harder, my body transformed. In 3 months I noticed a huge change. By month 6 I looked and felt completely different.

What changed?

First I removed all the ‘fluff’ from my workout program. I worked out no more than 3x/week and would only do 3-5 exercises per workout. I didn’t waste my time with a long list of exercises, but focused on the most ‘bang for your buck’ exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, pullups, overhead presses, and rows.

Next, instead of focusing on perfection with a certain diet, I simply reduced the number of times I overate. Previously I would be really strict for a few weeks and then have a huge weekend (or week) of overeating. By focusing on reducing the amount of weeks I ate above my calorie ‘budget’, I stretched out the time frame and limited the big failures that previously set me back. 

Before, one bad day would lead to a ‘screw it’ mentality, and then all of a sudden I was in a downward spiral for several days or weeks. One day or one week of overeating doesn’t set me back like it used to when I’m focusing on consistency in terms of weeks and months.

While this can be a subtle mindset shift, it’s extremely important to understand, and it led to better results with less efforts.

I didn’t have to do more cardio, add more workouts, and get stricter with my diet. I just had to avoid messing up.

Let me outline the difference between the two, because understanding this is important:

Addition

-Requires more willpower and for you to be at your best

-Requires you to make bigger changes to something you’re currently doing

-Requires you to learn something new

-Can lead to all or nothing mindsets

Subtraction

-Requires consistency but doesn’t take any more effort

-Requires very little change to current lifestyle

-Requires no learning of new behaviors

-Can be more flexible when things don’t go as planned

With addition, you have to be your best. You have to learn something new that is probably quite different from what you’re currently doing.  If you add in more workouts or more dietary restrictions, there are more opportunities to ‘fail’. These failures can lead to all or nothing mindsets that send you into a downward spiral, often leaving you to feel defeated and sometimes in a place worse than when you started.

With subtraction, there is flexibility. You have to be consistent in avoiding the big slip ups, but it’s okay if you’re not perfect day to day (or even week to week). It doesn’t require you to learn something new, because you’re just trying to do less of what you don’t want to be doing (instead of more of what you feel like you should be doing). It stretches the timeline out further and takes the pressure off.

Have you felt a lot of resistance towards reaching your goals?

You might feel like you’re doing the same thing over and over, trying to be more disciplined, trying harder, trying new things…yet still falling short.

Kind of like I was for two decades.

Maybe you’re focused more on addition instead of subtraction.

When I focused on doing more, it put more pressure on me to perform or to be ‘perfect’. 

When I messed up, things would go off the rails, and my overeating would quickly erase weeks (or more) of strict dieting.

Here are some ways this could look very practically:

Workouts:

-Addition: Go to the gym more often or add more exercises to your workouts.

-Subtraction: Stick to your current gym schedule, but limit the amount of missed days. Focus on getting better at fewer exercises instead of learning more new ones.

Nutrition:

-Addition: Try a new diet, start tracking calories, implement carb cycling, follow a strict plan.

-Subtraction: Limit number of days that you overeat in a given month, reduce the frequency of alcohol/sugar/etc OR how much you consume when you do have it

Stress:

-Addition: Spend more time meditating or journaling.

-Subtraction: Say yes to fewer things, avoid mindless social media scrolling

Lifestyle:

-Addition: Set a goal to walk 12,000 steps/day.

-Subtraction: Don’t sit for more than 30 minutes at a time.

What would happen if you focused less on being perfect and more on avoiding the big mess up?

Let me know if you’re open to giving this strategy a try and how you plan to use it.

Dave