3 Steps To Weight Loss…
by Adele Johnston
Tired of the quick fix weight loss solutions that just always seem to pull you in?
I was chatting a couple of women last week about just that and here’s a summary of what I shared with them.
All diet strategies work as long as all 3 of these things are met:
* Your energy balance (energy in – calories vs energy out – movement and exercise) is fit for your goals
* You’re kept accountable
* You’ve someone knowledgeable supporting you because what works for Jeanie may not work for Joanie
I was chatting to my hairdresser yesterday and she was filling me in on an experience she had recently with some online group coaching from one of the well-known ‘diet clubs’ out there. Let’s just say it didn’t go too great and resulted in her shutting her laptop mid zoom call with the ‘leader’ and all the other women on the call due to the way she was accused of “not being honest with yourself’ because she wasn’t seeing any weight loss.
It turns out her ‘leader’ isn’t qualified to deliver any type of nutrition coaching, displays poor body and food relationships and severely upset my hairdresser with her approach to problem solving – upsetting to hear considering the number of vulnerable eyes and ears that become influenced by clubs like this.
Now I realise this isn’t everybody’s experiences of these clubs and for many they work very well – as I said above, ALL diet strategies work so long as the 3 points above are met.
In this case none of the 3 points above were met for my hairdresser and there lies the reason she wasn’t seeing changes.
Let me explain.
After doing what I do well and problem solving properly we (my hairdresser and I) established the following;
- She was in fact not in a calorie deficit (energy in was greater than energy out) as she’d been set a range the same as all other women rather than specific to her.
- She was told she could eat as many ‘free foods’ as she wanted – so she did, resulting in the point previous meaning she was in fact eating more than she should be eating and was in fact not in a calorie deficit.
- She was not supported by someone qualified or knowledgeable and when they were faced with the diet not working, responded with accusations of non-adherence and was unable to support my hairdresser further.
Ladies whilst you may feel you need to join and re-join these clubs I want to share something quite important with you…
…all diet clubs, such as the one mentioned above, are business models before they’re anything else. They are designed to cater for the masses, some will see success and others will not.
Some will reach their target weight loss but never learn the knowledge they need to keep that weight off or live with strong food and body relationships.
These business models are designed to get you quick results, so you stay and believe it’s the only way; but they will fail when you leave them because you’re made to feel you need to stay in order to have success.
I want you to know I try hard to stay impartial in these situations, but with my hairdresser sharing that with me and her being pretty pissed off to say the least; I knew there must be others out there in the same boat.
SO
Here’s how to make those permanent changes and ditch the clubs.
- Make sure you’re ready
Long-term weight loss takes time and effort and a lot of commitment. Let’s not be fuzzy about it – if you don’t work for it you won’t see the results. Ask yourself:
- Am I motivated for this?
- Am I prepared to dedicate to (the time, effort, learning, financially)?
- Am I willing to change?
If yes, you’re ready.
One final addition is this – Do you use food as a coping strategy for stress? If yes, you will not be able to do this without proper support to work with you on this. Consider your support and find a coach that will guide you, help you properly and you’ll reap the benefits, trust me with this
- Connect with your WHY
No one else can make you motivated, that’s all on you. Losing weight and body fat needs to be for you and because you want it, not to fit in with what others say you should be or what social media would have you believe you need to be.
Make a list of what you value, what’s important to you and take the responsibility for making the first move to get the support you need to change. Whilst you need to take responsibility for your own behaviour for successful weight loss, it’s a massive help to have the right kind of support around you. This might be family, friends or investing in a coach. Doing it alone is not an option because when things don’t go as planned, and that will happen, it’s too easy to fall off the wagon and revert back to old habits. Invest!
- Be realistic with your goals
Setting goals is easy, it’s sticking to the journey that’s the tougher part. Being realistic with what you set yourself will ensure you’ve both challenging and achievable goals along the way. Weight loss for example, it’s smart to set your weekly loss around 1-2 pounds, however noting that some weeks this won’t happen.
I wrote this in the hope that one of you will take action from it and move away from the quick fix solutions – they are not designed to last, know that and move away.
Instead 3 points above, that’s where your focus and energy need to go.
I understand time may be limited – heck we’re all busy ladies. I get it that some days you don’t feel like doing the things you need to do, or that something stresses you out and you want comfort. I get it I truly do.
But in reality, it’s down to you to take the control and make the decision on how you move forward.
If you keep doing the same things over and over and making no progress, it’s not working and only you can make the next move.
Ask for help – you’re in control of your decisions and those decisions result in amazing outcomes.
So, if you’re unhappy with your current progress, feel down when you look in the mirror, fear food types and socialising events because of the above; only you can make the decision on what happens next.
One life. One body. One day at a time to make the changes needed.
My DMs are always open for you so if you want to discuss anything above, get in touch
Adele
You can DM over on Instagram https://instagram.com/adele.johnson or drop me an email and I’ll get back to you adele@a-gamelifestyle.com
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