When it comes to wanting to lose weight, we want it gone and we want it gone now. And why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't we want to lose all of our unwanted body fat as soon as possible? Why wouldn't we want to see those scales dropping at a supersonic rate?
While the intention is all well and good, the unfortunate reality is that losing weight quickly in a short space of time tends to come with it's downsides (boo).
Let me paint a picture for you.
You decide you want to lose weight and are prepared to do something about it - whatever it takes! So you throw away all the biscuits, crisps, bread and cakes from the kitchen, stock up on healthy foods, possibly invest in a few meal replacement shakes and smash out the high intensity cardio workouts several days a week. The amount of food you're eating is very little, but you're okay with that!
A week down the line you step on the scales and you've lost over 5 pounds (Woop woop) so you keep going.
This continues for around a month and in all you've lost over a stone, but then you start to get tired, hungry and lethargic. Your workouts drop in frequency and intensity. Other foods start to creep in. Eventually you have a massive binge on a Friday night after a really long, tough week at work. Sooner or later all your hard work ends up being undone and you've put all the weight back on (Nooooo).
Sound familiar at all?
The reason this tends to happen is the body is put under such a big restriction in the energy it's getting vs the amount of energy it needs (Cutting down on the food eaten massively and increasing the amount of exercise done by a lot), hence it ends up craving what it's not getting and we fall off the wagon.
So what we actually need to do is aim to lose weight steadily and consistently over a longer period of time.
This will help us lose more weight overall and, more importantly, keep it off!
How can we do this? Here's a few tips:
- Make small, but effective changes to your diet. Know that there's one particular food or time of day that is your stumbling block? Work solely on solving that problem first and then work on other stuff after that.
- Don't over restrict yourself too much - weight loss should be approached as a marathon, not a sprint.
- Do exercise you enjoy - More enjoyment means more longevity.
- Remember that weight loss doesn't happen in a straight line and there may be some weeks where you don't drop on the scales and that's perfectly okay!
Does all of this sound like you?
Have you been stuck in the yo-yo of losing weight and putting it all back on then?
If so then a new diet probably isn't what you need, it's help with improving your habits, routines, mindset and generally creating a healthier lifestyle!
Personal Training and Online Coaching can help solve all of the issues you're having around your weight loss efforts.
Email adam@acmfit.com for more details!