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The John Wooden Approach To Fat Loss
When people look for fat loss advice, they usually turn to doctors, dietitians, or personal trainers—and that makes sense. These professionals specialize in areas directly related to fat loss, nutrition, and or exercise. However, I also believe we can learn from many successful people, even if they aren’t in our field. People who do things well often have principles that translate across disciplines.
One person who always comes to my mind is John Wooden.
Wooden is one of the most successful basketball coaches in history. But what stands out most isn’t just his success—it’s how he achieved it. He emphasized development, effort, and excellence as the foundation of success. And even though he stressed these qualities over simply winning, his teams consistently improved, performed at a high level, and won a lot! Since those are qualities and successes we all want, let’s try to apply his approach to fat loss.
Tip 1: “Be quick, but don’t hurry”
When starting a fat loss journey, many people try to do everything at once—track nutrition, train a lot, improve sleep, reduce stress, and more. While all of these matter, spreading yourself too thin often leads to doing everything only moderately well.
Instead, start with a few key habits and execute them at a high level. Go to bed earlier. Track your food consistently for a week—even if it’s not perfect. Focus on changing a couple things quickly and doing them extremely well.
And then, slow down and don’t rush to add more.
Three good workouts in one week doesn’t mean you need five the next.
One week without scale movement doesn’t mean you overhaul your plan.
One good week of sleep doesn’t mean start adding more to your plate.
Build gradually. Master the basics. Then slowly layer more over time.
Tip 2: “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today”
Fat loss takes time, a lot of time. If we are aiming for .5-1lb loss per week, even 10 pounds could take close to 20 weeks if done well. So, over the course of those 20 weeks you will likely face a lot of ups and downs.
You will have wins and losses.
You will have successes and failures.
And whatever they are, they are in the past and we can’t let them take up too much of the present.
If you failed over the weekend and went way over macros, who cares. The next day is a new day to hit the ground running and improve.
If you tracked perfectly for a week and hit your macros spot on, who cares. The next week is not going to meal prep itself and so if you want to have that success again you need to do the same work you did last week.
Now, this is not to say we should not learn from our failures or use our successes as future motivation. Rather, it is highlighting that the past has no impact on your present and what you can do in that specific moment.
So, as much as possible, try to focus on the present and the moment you are in.
Tip 3: “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do”
I have been a coach for quite a while and the amount of times I have heard I can’t is pretty crazy. And while not being able to do something is stressful and annoying, it also doesn’t mean you are out of options.
I can’t track my food I am at a work conference.
No worries, focus on protein, whole foods, and eat in moderation.
I can’t workout because I do not have access to to a gym.
No worries, wake up early and go for a walk or do some bodyweight exercises in your room.
There will always be obstacles. You’ll face plenty of limitations. But you will always have options.
Shift your focus from what you can’t do to what you can.
Tip 4: “Don’t be afraid to fail. The greatest failure of all is not to act when action is needed”
Most people don’t miss their goals because they lack knowledge or resources—they miss them because they don’t fully commit.
They hesitate.
They don’t take action.
They don’t ask for help.
When thinking about all you might have to change to lose weight, task ahead can seem daunting. It is filled with doubt. But good news, just starting is the first success of many.
Starting gets you off on the right foot and pushes failure to the back of your mind!
So don’t start with a failure. Take action. Build momentum. Success begins with commitment.
The big picture
At the end of the day, the John Wooden approach to fat loss is about doing the simple things well, over and over again.
Start strong but stay patient.
Focus on what you can control today rather than dwelling on yesterday.
When obstacles come—and they will—adjust and keep moving forward.
And above all, take action without fearing failure.
Fat loss isn’t about perfection; it’s about consistent effort, steady progress, and a commitment to getting a little better each day.
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