Weight loss isn't easy.
Everyday you hear it, "why am I not losing weight?" "I'm doing everything right!"
Unfortunately the brutal honesty is that you're not. You may be doing it right by the book, but everybody's bodies are different, they look different, smell different and work in different ways.
What works for me (riding and long slow walks, combined with minimal gym and low carbs) to drop kgs, may not necessarily work for you and vice versa. So what are some of the common things I see happening in my network? I see people not getting the rule of thirds right. "Rule of thirds?" I hear you say. Yes this isn't your traditional 80% nutrition, 20% exercise program, It is a split of the three main components that will help you reach your health and fitness goals, especially when dealing with weight loss.
The first third is exercise, the second third is nutrition and last of all is mindset and mental health. If you get these three ingredients right you will achieve any fitness/ weightloss goal you desire. But only if all three are at 90% and above, at the same time for a long period of time (8 hours on a Saturday after massive Friday night doesn't count). That means if we are eating 35 meals a week, we can get it wrong 3 times (not bad really). Our nutrition is vital for making our change sustainable. Sustainable in a fashion that you're not going to do the lemon detox challenge for the rest of your life are you? When you get off your 2 week cleanse and go back to actually eating again, the weight comes back…with a vengeance. What do we change? What rules do you follow? Hopefully I can help shed some light on this for you over the next couple weeks.
When we exercise 2 - 7 sessions a week we need to be making every session count. Unless you're doing a 10 session week in which case you can take it easy in one session. Otherwise, the exercise we are doing needs to hurt. If, we want to see results. Now when I mean hurt, I mean bent over breathing hard after cardio, you want to see sweat, you want to be hot and bothered, in winter you want to leave your session into the cold winter air and not need a jacket because we are that hot! After our weights sessions you shouldn't be able to lift your arms, legs should be sore, pushing yourself to the stage where you can't get that last rep out. That's why your PT is there! Sure it's hard work, but how badly do you want your goal? You have to change something, is it how hard you exercise? Is it what exercises you're doing? Do you and your PT need to have a chat about some different programming?
Lastly and most importantly is your mental health and mindset towards exercise, nutrition and your journey as a whole. Most people honestly don't enjoy exercise, and if your mindset reflects that when you walk into your studio or gym your results will reflect that attitude.
On a whole different level is that not all of us have the same levels of resilience. Some of us blink at a poor performance review at work, while some of us will take that to heart and where it on our sleeves. Some people accept their bodies for the way they are and are happy that they are doing the right thing to change it, others will obsess over the number on the scale, the flabby skin, they have their favourite pair of jeans that haven't fit them for a while front and centre in their closet provoking them every day about how they have changed.
Everybody is motivated differently, but most people's bodies react in the same way to stress.
NEGATIVELY!
In the next article we will delve into the negative effects of stress and mindset on weight loss.
On a very serious note if you are having a hard time and need somebody to talk to, the folks at lifeline and Beyondblue are always on hand to have a chat and to work through any problems that you might have. 13 11 44 for Lifeline and Beyondblue on 1300 22 46 36
*Disclaimer: Individual results vary based on agreed goals. Click here for details.
