I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of seeing “super fast weight loss!” stories. “Flatten your abs in 2 weeks!” “Drop a stone in 9 days!”
Really?
As a personal trainer, I’m meant to buy into all that. I’m supposed to be all about getting amazing results in a super-speedy time - and whilst that is possible, it’s just not the reality for most of us.
The stories are intended to be motivating. But I’m pretty sure that by continually holding up these high flying success stories and making people believe that it’s the norm, the main result being achieved is this:
the disheartening and demoralising of people who have hopes and goals around their own health and fitness but who aren’t achieving these lightning speed results - so figure they must be doing something wrong.
I’ve been there too. When I was a newbie business owner, I met someone who used to leave me feeling quite awe-inspired because they’d achieved masses in their new business in a pretty short space of time. But on days when I wasn’t feeling so positive, I’d compare my first 18 months with theirs and feel completely deflated. I’d wonder what I was - or wasn’t - doing that was preventing me from reaching those same heights that they had done. What was I doing wrong?!
But then I learnt the truth behind that shiny, impressive, high achieving exterior - that they had started their entrepreneurial career when they were 14.
14!
They’re 33 now. I started mine when I was 32 and I’m 34 now. All of a sudden, the first 18 months of our respective businesses are no longer comparable.
Don’t you think the same is true of health? That the people who are getting results in record time more than likely laid the groundwork for that success through previous attempts and a history of working towards it?
It is, you know. It took me 7 years of concerted effort from when I decided to do something deliberate about my fitness, body shape and health to get into the shape I’m in today. And that isn’t accounting for all the foundational stuff I did as a kid, where my dad played cricket with me in the park and made me walk to school every day and so on. All that had an impact too.
The truth is that getting in shape takes a while. Super quick weight loss is possible for some, but the results rarely last and often cause rebound weight gain. Slow and steady is the way to go, and yes, that sounds super dull.
I know. I can only apologise for the dullness that comes with slow and steady. I didn’t make up those rules… :0>
Changing your eating habits and getting to grips with exercise requires not just your actions but also your brain to change. These are neurological processes - new pathways have to fire up and old ones have to stop being the most simple way from a to b. Think of a time you learnt a new skill, like playing the piano or even learning to drive.
Being "in shape" is a skill we learn too, just like that.
The interesting difference is that nobody expects to be able to find a "quick fix" that’ll have them playing Beethoven within three weeks. We accept it’s going to take time to learn to play the right notes with the right fingers, learn to read music, understand the language and so on.
It’s exactly the same with weight loss. For that too, we have to learn new techniques, like how to get flavour into potentially boring ingredients. New practices, like getting up a bit earlier to prepare food for the day. New information, like which foods stimulate fat burning rather than fat storing hormones.
And then? We have to Practice. Our. Butts. Off.
And that takes time. Slow and steady, ‘kay? No need to fight against the grain. Just stop believing the “super lightning fast!” hype and it’ll be whole heap easier.
