It's coming into spring time again, which usually can only mean it's now less important to cover our body in layers of clothing and dress more appropriately for our beautiful Australian summer. This means for many, the annual spring time effort to shift some weight to make themselves more attractive when they hit the beach in their speedos or bathers. Most Gyms, Studios or Personal Trainers use this time of increased motivation and set 6, 9, 12 week Challenges all designed to get you into shape for summer. At Vision, we have been hosting such Challenges for over 10 years, so we have gained some experience in the "what to do" and "what not to do" in our 9 Week Weight Loss Challenge.
It's important to use a Challenge period as a time to learn more, raise your Personal standards in relation to health and fitness, get yourself fantastic results but also to learn how to change your habits LONG TERM, not just for the Challenge period. An all too common scenario we see is someone who enters a Challenge for extrinsic, not intrinsic purposes: wanting to win the prize, wanting to impress others or potential/current partners, wanting to be a certain size or weight purely for a holiday or event (wedding, trip away). Often times these people will get fantastic results during a Challenge period, but once that extrinsic motivation fades (the event passes, didn't hit goal weight, recognition from others fade etc) they find it extremely difficult to maintain a consistent positive habit or can quickly regress to bad habits. Periods of restriction (socially, alcohol, favourite foods etc.) will often lead to frustration to the point where the person will have a "breakout" or "blowout" and "fall off the rails". This can create a negative spiral where someone will regress to the point of their initial shape, overcommit again to another Challenge or period of focus, works at 100% for a period then through that over commitment regress back to step 1 again. We have seen it over time where people will enter a Challenge, lose significant amounts of weight, yet by the time the next Challenge starts they are back at their initial weight again.
You should participate in the Challenge to help YOURSELF and improve your ability to live a healthy lifestyle. Throughout the programming at Vision Personal Training there are multiple opportunities to increase your knowledge on nutrition or exercise as well as the ability to continually get advice from a Trainer. Take all of these opportunities to give yourself the best experience and ability to get the best result. During the Challenge the Studio will be full of other members all in the same position so it creates a positive circle of influence where everyone is looking for success, spending as much time as possible within this can only be a positive. You should participate in a Challenge to meet new people! Use the Challenge to kick-start some new habits, using the 9 week period to work out how best to continue this for the rest of your life! You may achieve some fantastic results over the 9 week period, but this is only the beginning! With this increased confidence, motivation and health, why not set your sights on an even bigger goal! Have you ever wanted to climb a mountain, run a marathon, do an ocean swim? Once you start getting some success, you can continually build on it to continue to achieve bigger and better things! The idea that you should always look for improvement in your life is key here. You may be getting good results, but why not shoot for great results? Rome wasn't built in a day, neither is your health and fitness!
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
