Reminder: all diets work

Hope your new year has been off to a good start! Just wanna check in and remind you that all diets work.

Every diet out there can help you lose weight if you’re in a consistent calorie deficit. There’s no one universal best way for everyone, but there will be one or a few that you may find most comfort with, so stick to that if you’ve found it.

If you haven’t found it, no worries. Keep trying. Remember a diet is really a template for you to follow. It’s ok to make minor adjustments within them. It’s the total amount of calories you end up eating regularly that matters, not the exact rules of the diet.

For example, with intermittent fasting the most common time to follow is 16/8. 16hr fast, 8hr eating window. If you feel more comfy doing a 15/9 or a 14/10, that’s totally fine too. It’s not the amount of hours you fast that helps you lose weight. It’s how much you’re eating (total calories) at the end of the day on a regular basis that matters. If 14/10 or 15/9 helps you stick to your calorie goals a lot better, no need to aim for 16/8 or 18/6.

Or keto for example. Keto basically recommends 50g or less carbs per day (which is why for most people it’s unrealistic). But say you enjoy keto, but 50g is just too little carbs for you to be sustainable, and 80g you feel a lot more comfy and realistic to stick with. Well go for 80g then. Sure perhaps on paper you’re not doing strict keto, but if that’s what helps you be in control with the amount of food you eat, go for it.

There’s no bonus sticking to the rules, the rules you want to stick to is being in a consistent calorie deficit. Everything else is flexible when it comes to weight loss.

Paleo for example, which emphasizes on eating unprocessed whole foods and encourages you to avoid all processed foods. Basically another way of saying eating 100% “clean”. 100% clean is quite tough to stick to, but what about 80% clean? If 80% clean helps you keep your cravings in control and stick to your calories, why not? Why insist on 100%? There’s no bonus hitting 100% clean when on paleo.

I hope these examples help you be flexible and open to making changes in your diet. If something is obviously not working in your diet there’s no need to quit, just make some adjustments so it does works better. The only key you gotta worry about is making sure you’re in a consistent calorie deficit. Everything else is adjustable.

A sustainable diet is one that’s constantly going through adjustments. Adjustments that align with your lifestyle. As your lifestyle changes, certain parts of your diet will change too. Be open to that. Be open to make the adjustments knowing you can still keep making the same results.

If you’re working a 9 to 5, but was switched to a graveyard shift, you better believe your 9 to 5 diet probably won’t be optimal for a graveyard shift. Yet if during the 9 to 5 your diet was eating 1500kcal, you can absolutely also stick to 1500kcal during a graveyard shift except some adjustments need to be made to your diet whether that’s meal timing, or amount of food you’re eating in each meal, or types of food, whatever it is. Make sure to make the changes necessary.

The year’s just started, if there’s been some bumps on the road no worries. It’s normal. Keep going. Struggles isn’t failure. Struggles is part of the path towards your goals. Don’t give up!

Oh! I got exciting news to share!

The podcast is officially back! Episode 1 just released last night, and in it I go through in detail what I’ve been going through the past year during the break I took (I took a break from making videos, podcasts, and even workouts at one point). The full explanation! I also go through the Liver King drama that happened a month or so earlier.

One of my goals for 2023 is to get the podcast back up and running like these weekly letters I’ve been sending you. I aim for 1 podcast episode per week, forever. Just like these letters.

It would mean a lot to me if you checked it out, and any topics you’d like me to go through feel free to reply to this letter and let me know! It might just be the next topic I deep dive into. 

You can find the podcast here on youtube,

or here on Spotify.

Or just search “The Pohhu Experience” on any podcast platform. 

Hope you’ve been well!

—Po