The end goals of The Dan Plan are simple -
1. Get to an ideal body composition and stay there
2. Learn how to eat for longevity and life
3. Enjoy food
4. Don't beat yourself up for 'mistakes'
Last night I was invited to a good friend's house for dinner. The food was amazing!
She's a fantastic cook and the food was almost all Dan Plan approved (some of the recipes were even custom creations for the Plan).
They also served homemade bread fresh from the oven. I didn't say no.
I eat bread. Regularly. It's delicious.
I maintain my ideal weight. I have learned to be strict when I should be (weekdays) and looser when I don't need to be (weekends, vacations, special occasions).
This is all dependent on maintaining my goal. If I slip, I need to go back to the start.
A while back I spent a couple of years losing 40 pounds of fat and muscle. Before losing the weight my knees hated me, I'd pull myself out of my car with my arms and my lower back was constantly nagging.
While I was eating containers of yogurt and spinach and tofu and apples, I only had two goals - feel better, look better.
I was squatting and benching and deadlifting more weight than I'd ever gotten close to - and I felt horrible. I just wanted to feel better. I wanted running to feel good again.
Oh, I wanted abs too.
Yeah, vanity is a heck of a drug...a useful one when channeled correctly.
I needed a change. I had tried everything. Whole30, Zone, IIFYM and on and on. What none of them provided was progression. Any time we ran 'challenges' in the gym, I'd watch people finish with great results, only to immediately throw it all away the very day that they finished.
It seemed like everyone was saying ,"Ok! That's done - time for a quadruple bacon cheeseburger and a milkshake." ....and within a week all of the hard work had been thrown away, and they were left feeling like, "What the heck just happened?!"
I wanted something that said, "Ok, you've done this, NOW - do this...and when you finish that, there is more. Don't worry, we've got you covered."
So I looked around - and it just wasn't out there. It was either designed for a bodybuilder or it was a 6 week challenge or it was based on putting butter in your coffee (yeah, that's a no from me dawg).
I created The Dan Plan with trial and error on myself first, then slowly sharing it with others.
It's still an organic, slow growth model - that's the only way I want it. It means creating long lasting relationships with people that I like working with. It means turning people down if we're not a great fit.
It means listening closely to people on the Plan. It means implementing change when a valid change is suggested. It means calling people out on their BS.
It means seeing people lose 10, 20, even 70 pounds! It means getting people off of meds if their MD approves.
It's rewarding.
If you're looking for lifestyle change, look for something that deals with the whole thing - nutrition, movement, mindset.
If you make one mistake, get back on the wagon. Don't let one little mistake roll into several or many. Far too often we let one mistake steamroll us away from progress.
Think in terms of stacking good plates and bad plates, with each time you eat representing a plate.
If you stack 20 good plates and 2 bad plates, you're doing great - but the closer those stacks get to being equal, the slower your results will come.
Final words for the day - YOU make the decisions. YOU drive the results. Only YOU can take the reigns and drive your results. I am here to be your co-pilot, but I can't fly the plane without you.