Diet is the single factor for losing weight

Tommy continued going to the gym after starting to strengthen his weak inner thighs. One month later, after a visit to his masseur, he shifted his focus from training the large muscle groups to working on the smaller ones.

He would train the major muscle groups once a week and then spend the rest of his sessions targeting the smaller muscles he typically didn’t work out.

One morning at the gym, Tommy noticed one of his colleagues working out, someone he’d never seen exercising before. Tommy went over to greet him and asked, “How long have you been working out?”

His colleague replied, “Hey Tommy! I’ve been training for the last two months, but I don’t see any results. Nothing seems to work for weight loss.”

“Okay, how’s your diet?” asked Tommy, knowing results are usually visible after two months. His colleague answered, “I’m still eating the same things I usually do. For me, every time people try to lose weight, they always just start exercising.”

“But you know you need to change what you eat, right? You can’t outwork a bad diet,” Tommy responded. His colleague looked at him, clearly confused and unsure what Tommy meant.

“So, are you saying I have to give up my chocolate cookies?” asked his colleague. Tommy explained, “It’s all about the balance between the calories you burn and the calories you consume. Sure, training burns calories, but not enough to make up for junk food like pizza, candy, and cookies in your case. Those are empty calories that can lead to weight gain. If you can’t control your intake of chocolate cookies, it might be best to either cut them out entirely or at least eat them in moderation.”

Tommy’s colleague looked a bit startled, and the conversation went silent. For about a minute—which felt like forever—his colleague just stared at him. Finally, Tommy said, “Alright, I’ll see you in the office. I need to finish my workout before work.”

Later that day, Tommy saw his colleague on the other side of the hall, looking as though he’d seen a ghost. Tommy thought to himself, “It really does look like he’s seen a ghost.”

The next day, while Tommy was at his desk preparing for a meeting, he heard a voice behind him say, “I was really overwhelmed by what you said yesterday at the gym. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. When I got home, I did some research, and you’re absolutely right. I ended up throwing out all the junk food in my apartment.”

Tommy turned around, a bit surprised, and saw his colleague standing there. “That’s great!” he replied. “It’s good to see you’re changing direction. You looked like someone who’d seen a ghost.”

One month later, Tommy saw his colleague in the hallway and noticed he’d lost quite a bit of weight. “Wow, you’re looking great!” he said, to which his colleague replied, “Thank you, Tommy. I went hardcore with a clean diet, and combined with the training, I lost a lot of weight. It was tough at first—my energy levels dropped a lot—but now I feel way more energized than before.”

“That’s good to hear,” Tommy said. “I went through the same thing; it’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it.”

“Thanks again for talking to me about the importance of diet. It made a huge difference. I have to get to a meeting now—see you later,” said his colleague.

“See you later,” replied Tommy.