More than 90% of our clients have a goal that includes weight loss. So, what can we expect?
Firstly, I want to make sure that I’m being clear on two major points:
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Weight loss is not equal to fat loss.
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Diets are not healthy and sustainable changes to your nutrition. (I try to avoid the word diet wherever possible because of its connotations to restrictive eating)
Let’s start with weight loss. This is the number that society typically focuses on. Why?
Being overweight increases the risk of health conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and even some cancers. Being at a healthy weight therefore is a major key in living a long and strong life. Surely losing weight is a good thing for almost anyone, the quicker the better.
Weight loss, especially early on into a new exercise and nutrition routine (think about a 4-6 week weight loss challenge) will likely give us a generous drop on the scales due to shedding carb stores, protein and water, and some body fat. When we add all these together the resulting drop in mass sounds impressive! From a health point of view there are considerations to make about the risk of trying to exert ourselves while under-hydrated, under-fuelled, and potentially under-functioning where additional loss of muscle mass is applicable.
Over those 4-6 weeks your body has made metabolic adaptations to cope with the shock that it was subjected to. This is a stress reaction. Your body will always fight to survive, that’s one of the amazing things about being human. Your mind on the other hand can be persuaded to push on through by what you believe, what you want, and what you expect. That is how we can end up in either a continuous cycle of undereating and overtraining, pushing harder and harder to hit that weight-loss goal, or a yo-yo pattern of restrictive eating and manic exercise. I know from personal experience that many participants return to the annual weight loss challenge year after year after year in the hope that this year’s progress will last forever.
When it comes to your health, I believe your body should be supported rather than bullied when aiming to make sustainable positive change.
If we want to make permanent positive changes to our health and wellness, we need to be looking further than the quick fix, shock result practices.
Weight loss may start to plateau around the 6-week mark, but this doesn’t mean we aren’t still losing fat. This is where switching our focus to measuring fat loss keeps us on track to support our lifelong improvements in health and fitness, rather than satisfy a desire to see a magic number on the scales. We can measure our fat loss with a tape, and no less than 10 other methods. As we build muscle our body shape will change, but there will always be a point when the loss from one area is equal to the gain in another. Don’t let this disrupt your progress, the number on the scale is not the whole story.
To keep our fat loss progress, we need to continue paying attention to what we eat and how much we move, finding activities we enjoy so that we start to do it for pleasure, not punishment. We need to maintain muscle mass to support healthy blood sugar levels, control inflammation and maintain mobility as we age. Wherever possible, we need to focus on reducing any stress factors that we can and put a higher value on our sleep amount and quality. Eat! Eat whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meats. Eat when you are hungry and eat to support your body’s work.
Enjoy your lifestyle, appreciate your achievements and recognise your body’s signals when it’s had enough. Be kind to yourself and look after your mind and body the best ways you can today.
