The one conversation that stuck with me

By Joe Wicks

If you’re someone who struggles with food, nutrition, diet, overeating, stress eating, emotional eating, I need to share this story with you.

At my festival, I do meet and greets and have hundreds of conversations with people all over the country. But one conversation with a woman this year really stood out to me – and I just feel like I want to share it with you.

The young woman, probably in her mid 20s, came up to me and told me she’d started to exercise. She said she was doing all the work, trying so hard, but nothing was changing. I could see her struggle, she was right in the middle of it. I put my hand on her shoulder and said, “Listen, what you're doing is amazing. Be so proud of yourself. The fact that you’re getting up and moving your body through exercises and workouts that probably aren’t easy is incredible”.

But I asked her, “What's going on with the food? Tell me a little bit more. Are you putting the same love and energy and thought and consideration into the food you're eating every day?” And this is when the emotion came. She basically burst into tears.

She really needed to hear this message, that no matter who you are and how much you exercise, you can't outtrain the food and the calories you consume. If the diet doesn't change, nothing will change.

Don't keep beating yourself up and punishing yourself with exercise. If you put just 10% more energy into food, meal prep and batch cooking and try to avoid ultra-processed foods, it will make a huge difference. Because guess what? You can stop eating these ultra-processed foods. It's not easy because the food companies continue to sell it. The advertising will continue to target you and get you when you're stressed, tired and have no time. And that’s where people struggle, right? But you can do it.

I set a challenge for the young woman. I said: “Go away for a month, and even if you do less exercise or half the amount of training, try to do four weeks of consistent, positive focus into the food, meal prep and avoid meal deals and takeaways.”

And when you're feeling stressed or sad, can you switch that mindset and actually go, I'm going to put something healthy in my body and treat myself with good food?

We've been convinced that treats are chocolate and ice cream and takeaways. But actually, being kind to yourself is going into the kitchen and making yourself a lovely lunch and taking that lunch to work. These are the things that really make a difference.

If you're someone who struggles with this, it's not an overnight fix. It's going to take time.

So here’s my challenge to you:

Try and commit just to just four weeks of different food choices. And when you feel the stress coming on or you feel a bit tired, tell yourself you know what the answer is. Not a chocolate bar on a can of Coke. The answer is:

• I'm going to go to bed an hour early
• I'm going to drink more water
• I'm going to walk for 20 minutes on there on my lunch break
• I’m going to put healthy food in my body.

It isn’t easy. It's really not. But you have to believe that you can change things.

And it's amazing when you do – the benefits come so quick. You might not lose all the weight in the first few months, but you're going to feel so incredibly different in your mind. But until you accept that it's all about the diet, you just won't reach your goal.

One day at a time. Small daily wins. You can do it. Have a great week and go and smash it.

Good luck!

Joe x