This episode is part personal story, part practical how-to guide, and part insight. The insight I want to emphasize here is one that I think is far too often overlooked: sometimes we shouldn't be trying to lose weight because the time isn't right. But if the time is wrong, how can we know? And once we know, what can we do to prepare our bodies for weight loss and allow the time to become right? The short answer is that if weight gain is due to stress, I strongly believe we should always destress first. For the detailed answer, listen in. In this episode, you will find the following and more: why there is a time to lose weight and a time not to; why calories-in calories-out (CICO) is like gravity; the right approach to weight loss is likely to be the one that incorporates 2-3 intuitive principles that allow you to sustain a caloric deficit while feeling satiated and energetic; there are a lot of those principles, so the 2-3 that work best for you probably has less to do with their general efficacy and more to do with your own personal psychological and behavioral traits; my skinny teens, my powerlifting/bodybuilding musclehead body, my grad school-induced dad bod, getting my postdoc fatso on, putting 6-7" on my waist in my first semester as a professor; it all turned around when I read Tim Ferris's 4-Hour Workweek; running on a treadmill while sleeping 10 hours a day, traveling to destress, gaining with CrossFit, leaning out with CrossFit; using the greyhound formula recommended by Alan Aragon and Brad Schoenfeld in The Lean Muscle Diet; using MyFitnessPal to track calories as recommended by CrossFit South Brooklyn; R-Lipoic acid, D-biotin, acetyl-L carnitine, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), coenzyme B vitamins to smooth out energy between meals; Headspace app or other mindfulness meditation, yoga, dance, martial arts, could help self-awareness, the key to knowing when the time is right; destressing is the key to make the time right when it's wrong; resisting social pressure and self pressure to lose weight is, ironically, the key to making the time right to lose weight. This episode is brought to you by US Wellness Meats. I use their livewurst as a convenient way to make a sustainable habit of eating a diversity of organ meats. They also have a milder braunschweiger and an even milder head cheese that gives you similar benefits, as well as a wide array of other meat products, all from animals raised on pasture. Head to grasslandbeef.com and enter promo code "Chris" at checkout to get a 15% discount on any order that is at least 7 pounds but under 40 pounds (it can be 39.99 lbs, but not 40). You can use this discount code not once, but twice!