You’re not broken, you’re just using the wrong tool for the job

0:00Welcome, welcome to the lifting Lindsay podcast. I want you to think about something for a second. Have you ever done everything quote-unquote right in your fitness journey? You worked out, you ate healthy, you added cardio, and then sat there wondering, why am I not losing weight? What's going on? Why is nothing changing? Why is nothing moving really? And if you're honest, you probably made it mean something about you. Like, my body is broken. My metabolism is just really slow. I just don't respond like everybody else. But what if the issue actually isn't new? What if you're just using all of these fitness or health

1:04tools, but for the wrong job? Okay, hear me out, hear me out on this one. This actually was inspired by a question that I got recently on Instagram during my stories. And I thought it would be, this is a great, this is such a great point. We, I wish so badly that people understood this because I actually don't think that a lot of people understand fitness tools and what they should be used for. They just kind of stack all these behaviors together and then just hope that this leads to fat loss. But fitness doesn't work like that. Fat loss doesn't work like that. If you don't understand what each tool actually does, you'll keep pulling the wrong levers. And you're going to get frustrated when nothing happens.

2:07So hear me out on this one, okay? Because you're probably like, what in the world are you talking about? Let's get to the point. I'm getting there. I'm getting there. But I need to lay out this suspense. What in the world is she talking about? So let's talk about lifting weights. Let's use that as an example. This is a lever that we can pull in fitness, right? We can start lifting weights. Now, people go into the gym thinking, if I lift weights, I'll lose body fat. No, that's not the purpose of lifting. Lifting weights is a tool. And here's what that tool is actually designed to do. It's really good at it. One, build muscle. I'm sure each one of you could have come up with that one. Build muscle, increase strength, improve bone density, strengthen joints and connective tissues, improve how your body uses nutrients, like carbs, for example. So that's what it does really,

3:11really well. Fat loss? Not so much. That's not its primary job. And if you go into the gym and say, well, I started lifting weights, I don't know why I'm not dropping body fat. Yeah, because that's not what the tool does. That's not it. Now, it may be a byproduct when other things are lined up, but in and of itself, that's not what it's designed to do. Right? So when someone lifts weights for six weeks and says, well, this just isn't working. Imagine lose weight. It's like using a hammer to tighten a screw and then getting mad at the hammer because it didn't it didn't like it wasn't screwing it in. Wrong tool, wrong job. Right? Now, let's talk about cardio. Here's another tool. This one gets people all the time. Well, I'm doing cardio every day. Why am I not losing weight?

4:17Because cardio is not a fat loss tool. It can contribute, but that's not what it's for. Cardio's actual purpose and what it's amazing at is improving heart health, increase aerobic capacity, help you live longer, improve recovery. That's what it's amazing at. So that's what we use it for. So here's what people get get tripped up on though. Yes, cardio does quote unquote burn calories, but it's really important to understand that burning calories does not equate to fat loss. Okay, and we're going to we're going to we're going to visit this one for a minute. Just because an activity burns calories, it doesn't mean fat loss. What in the world could I mean by that? The process is in your body that burn body fat. If you if those processes are going,

5:26but you are eating at maintenance, then it doesn't matter how much you're burning if you're just eating more to give you at an energy balance, then you will maintain body fat. Does that make sense? Sometimes I picture it like this. I'm such a visual person, so I hope that this makes sense. It makes so much sense in my brain coming to my mind with me for a second. Let's see if it makes sense to you. But if you have a big bucket, so we have I guess I'm thinking of a big bucket because we have chickens and we always need to refill their water. And so we have these big buckets. So if you fill up this big bucket of water and then you poke a hole in it, think about poking a hole in it and that's kind of burning fat. So you're going to lose water

6:33out of the bottom where you've poked the hole in. You're going to lose water, right? Because you're burning fat, if you will, you're losing water. But if you simultaneously take a hose and put it in, you're going to maintain. So water is coming in, water is going out, but the rate at which it's happening is the same. So you're maintaining. That typically is what happens when people start introducing more cardio. Initially, they may see a dip, but your body adapts fast. You become more efficient, meaning you burn fewer calories doing the same work. And your body begins to compensate. It also increases your hunger signaling so you eat more. Pretty much it senses the water's leaving the bucket. I'm going to get her to bring the hose over and get water going in at the same

7:38rate. That's what it begins to do. So your body is adapting. So it's actually amazing. That's your body working. Doing exactly what it's meant to do. It doesn't know like, oh, she really wants to fit in that dress. It doesn't know like, oh, she really wants her, her delts to show her abs to show. It just knows survival. And it's pretty amazing at the adaptations that it does so that you will maintain. And so that the rate of survival and maintaining where you're at right now, that's its primary goal. So no doing more and more and more cardio just to get same results. This is, that's not a fat loss strategy, really. It's kind of like a hamster will. So now let's do the eating healthy one because this one's my favorite. This is my favorite one that people say. This one might be the most frustrating for people too. People will say this all the time to me.

8:43I don't get it. I'm eating healthy. Why am I not losing weight? Because you can eat healthy at maintenance. That's why that's what I do. Majority of the years. I'm eating healthy at maintenance. And I'm eating at maintenance or even sometimes slightly above so that I can really promote building muscle. And if you guys can PS here, a piano in the background right now. I'm sorry, my kids are having piano lessons. So it's a little distracting for me. I don't know if the microphone is picking you up. You can eat healthy at maintenance. In fact, that's what you should be doing. That's it. Eating healthy is a health tool. It's not necessarily a fat loss tool. It should just be what you do because it helps you feel better. It helps you improve digestion. It supports

9:45hormones. You get the nutrients your body needs so that you once again feel your best. But like I said, you can eat healthy at maintenance all day long. That's where I thrive. That's where I sit. Majority of the year. And then I train hard. I love it. It's fun. So you can eat whole foods, balanced meals, high quality nutrition and not lose a single pound actually. Because fat loss doesn't come from quote unquote, clean eating. It comes from a calorie deficit. Now if somebody is leaning more into unhealthy, higher body fat percentages, we often will use eating more whole foods as a way to make them feel fuller. And it will in and of itself lower the amount of calories

10:50that are coming in. So it can be a great tool to drop body fat. It can be when it's done right. But if you are leaner in a healthy, healthier body fat percentage and you're just like, well, I'm eating healthy, why aren't I losing body fat? Because more than likely, you're just eating healthy at maintenance. That's why. So here's the, let's talk about what actually does drive fat loss? What is the fat loss tool? And that is an energy deficit. Okay? When less energy is coming in than going out. And oftentimes the best way we do this is through a caloric deficit. That's it. That is the biggest tool. Nutrition and pushing into a calorie deficit is going to be the

11:50best tool that you can possibly use for fat loss. Not lifting, not necessarily cardio, not eating clean, a calorie deficit. Okay? Everything else can support that. I'm not saying that. But they are not the driver. The person at the wheel or the tool at the wheel is the calorie deficit. Why this matters? Let's talk about why does this, why this matters so much when you don't understand this. You start stacking tools and expecting them to do jobs that they weren't designed for. And then when they, when they don't, you make it mean something about you. Like, I'm broken. My body just doesn't respond. I must have a messed up metabolism. No, you're just not using the right

12:51tool for the job that is really, really good at. So when you understand what each tool is actually I really do believe everything changes. Now you can ask what is my goal. And then what tool actually creates that outcome. Now you're pulling the right lever, not guessing, not hoping you're executing. Okay? And here's the part that I love the most. Actually, when you stop using everything as a that lost tool, you actually build a healthier relationship with fitness. You stop presenting workouts that aren't giving you results. No, you move in and I want to lift weights. I want to become stronger. I want to, you start finding joy every day, lifting weights because you're stronger, because you now know the tool and what it's good at is making you stronger. So now it's like,

13:52oh, how many pull ups can I? Can I pump out that one that I've been working towards? Can I add another rep? Can I increase the weight? And you start finding joy in the tool and the journey of that tool. Not, oh, I have to go because I really want to lose body fat. No, you start looking at it in a much healthier way. And you stop attaching food to success or failures. I love that. Let's take a step back. You stop presenting workouts because you start seeing them for what they are good for. You stop attaching food to success or failure in regards to, well, it's healthy. Therefore, I should lose weight. And then you stop thinking that your body is working against you because now everything has a purpose. You lift to get strong. You do cardio for your heart. You eat well to feel good and take care of your body. And then when you want that loss, you create a calorie deficit,

14:59clean, simple, clear. Okay. I just love that. I feel like when this clicks, it we like people realize I was chasing the outcome through the wrong tools. And now I can use those tools appropriately and have a healthier relationship with them. I don't, if somebody, for example, if somebody really hates cardio or is in a time crunch and they don't, they don't have all the time in the world for cardio, a lot of times women will beat themselves up and be like, well, I could lose body fat if I could do cardio every day, but I can't do cardio every day. No, cardio is a tool to help your heart, to help your conditioning, your aerobic capacity or that's what it's for. And guess what? You actually don't need it every day and you don't

16:00need it every week. Did you know you can cycle through cardio? You don't need it all the time because your body adapts quickly and it actually holds on to the abdaptations for weeks. So you could do cardio. If you really don't have the time or even the desire, but you want the outcome, you can do cardio for four to like four weeks and then go off of it for four to six weeks and be holding the adaptations and then reintroduce cardio after six weeks to get the adaptations, the cardio capacity, the aerobic capacity that you want to, you can cycle through it. And now all of a sudden you have a healthier relationship with it because you're not like weighing everything. If I don't get to the gym and do cardio, then I'll gain all this weight and

17:02or I won't lose weight because I have to do it. No, all of a sudden you start having better relationships with these tools. Isn't that awesome? So if you feel stuck right now, I want you to ask yourself one question, am I using the right tool for the job that I really want done? Because like I said, once you understand that, you stop spinning your wheels and you finally have a better relationship with these tools, you can look at them instead of through emotional eyes, through more practical, when is it appropriate to do what? You know, lifting weights, minimum of three times a week, all that that's one that we've got to keep in there, right? It's really important to build muscle, strengthen bones, strengthen joints and ligaments as we age.

18:04So that is something you got to keep in there. And then we can cycle through cardio. And guess what? I have been in a fat loss phase. I'm just beginning my sixth week. I have seen incredible success. If you've seen the videos that I've been posting on Instagram, it is really fun to watch my abs just tighten up and pop and my arms to really pop. It is been a really successful at this point five weeks down. And I'm only like three pounds down. But when you are lean moving to more of a shredded, you're not going to see massive drops in the scale. What you're going to see is tiny little drops, but you're going to see kind of your body fat just chipping away. And it's been really fun. And once again, I'm doing this because I'm

19:04going to Mexico in a few weeks. And it's a total ego thing. I want to look bomb when I go and to people say bomb anymore. Am I trying to bring this back? And it's just falling flat. Like I don't know. You tell me, I'm going to get so many messages on Instagram being like, let me see, please, no more bomb. Don't use it anyways. That's what I'm doing this. I have it only done two cardio sessions during this fat loss phase two. And it was the first week when I was really ambitious. And then after that, I was like, I don't have time. I don't have time but one thing that I do have time is I can increase my steps. It's not cardio per se because cardio is is really for cardiovascular health. But I have been able to increase my steps just using my walking pad during work a little bit more. So and that does increase my output just a little bit

20:11more. But I'm not hanging and using that as the main driver of fat loss. The main driver's fat of fat loss is still my nutrition, staying in my calorie deficit that I have established for myself. And I have been 99.9% on point. And because of that, because this entire time, I have literally only had one untracked meal, I am seeing the results that I want to see. But can I also say this when you don't live in a calorie deficit all the time physically? Or I should say, when you don't live in a mindset of 24, 7, obsessing and thinking about fat loss, fat loss, fat loss, fat loss. When you don't live like that, when you spend 99% of your time living at maintenance or near it and just keeping good, healthy lifestyle practices in place, then when the time does come to

21:22go into a calorie deficit, it's actually a lot easier mentally to do it. In fact, that is going to be the next episode is I'm going to talk a little bit about that. About the mental exhaustion, when people are constantly trying to live in fat loss phases, it's exhausting. And what ends up happening is they think that they're in a calorie deficit all the time, but really they're just in that diet mindset is what I call it. Their mind is constantly diet, diet, diet, diet, diet. But they're actually not physically in a diet. So they feel exhausted by the process 24, 7. We have to spend more time at maintenance. And when you are in maintenance, truly embracing maintenance, not thinking I'm going into maintenance because I want to be that story of I'm in maintenance

22:23and magically I dropped all this weight and that's what I'm hate. No. Maintenance is body fat is the same. It's not going to go down, but I'm going to heal my mind. I'm going to relieve my mind of this, you know, relinquish let go of this desire 24, 7 for fat loss. And I'm going to find joy in where I'm at. Maybe the ground that you've already gained. And you're just going to lean into abundance, not overeating, not eating above, but not being so restricted. They're going to lean into I get to eat more at maintenance. I get to feel better. My hormones abregulate my metabolism. Everything is going to thrive, including my mind. And then when the time

23:23comes to move into a calorie deficit, then when you go into it, you feel so much better. You're ready for it mentally. You're ready. So you don't go into it already exhausted mentally because you've been trying and thinking you're living in a calorie deficit, which you haven't been. So it does feel good. It does feel good to understand these tools. How to use them. Why we use them is then you start, you can, these tools are like levers that you can start pulling win appropriate. I just love it. So I hope that this makes sense. I hope it's clicked for you. Are you using all these tools thinking you're using them all for the wrong reasons? I love this. When you grasp onto this, you will stop spinning your wheels. You're going to finally see the results because you'll be

24:27reusing the right tools for the right seasons. You guys are awesome. I love and appreciate all of you have a wonderful day.