Have you ever tried something to lose weight that worked really well? Perhaps it was Optifast, or Tony Ferguson, or even Weight Watchers?
If it worked so well, then why are you reading this post?!?
We often hear; “I’ll do that agian, coz that worked” but if you need to do it again, then did it really work?
A weight loss program only works well if the results are long term and ongoing. If you managed to rapidly lose weight on a fad diet or shake system and have put it back on again now, then whatever it was that you did, it DID NOT WORK.
So why do we fail with these types of programs?
1. They are unrealistic for long term use
I don’t care what your level of commitment is, a shake diet is NOT something that you can realistically keep up forever. And it’s NOT healthy.
2. They are hard
When someone offers you a chocolate, a biscuit or a piece of birthday cake, what are you going to say? No? And don’t ever offer me a piece of cake again because I’m not having it, EVER? I don’t think so.
3. Starvation is not the right way to lose weight
Starving just causes your thyroid to put the brakes on your metabolism – it makes you slow, cold, weak and grouchy, and you can have other symptoms such as weight GAIN, hair loss, dry skin, chipped fingernails and low libido. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.
4. They do not educate you
Using these easy fixes (aside from Weight Watchers) doesn’t teach you anything about how to live a healthy lifestyle with REAL food. It doesn’t teach you to say NO to junk food most of the time, with an occasional yes. It just teaches you to say NO to junk food for the period of time in which you’re doing the program. And weight watchers, although I’m certain it does work to a degree, is based on calorie counting which is inherently incorrect.
For the best example of this, I’ll refer you to this excerpt from the book “The Dark Side of Fat Loss” by Sean Croxton:
In The Obesity Epidemic, Harcombe writes of a 2009 BBC program called Larger Than Life: 33,000 Calories a Day. Paul, one of the four morbidly obese men featured, somehow managed to consume a whopping 33,000 calories a day! However, his basal metabolic rate—the number of calories his body naturally burned daily—was calculated to be just 4,500 calories. How in the world Paul managed to throw down 33,000 calories a day while being fully bedridden is beyond me. What we do know is that since he wasn’t going for a walk any time soon, he really didn’t need any additional calories beyond 4,500.
But if we apply the magical weight gain formula, his excess consumption of 28,500 calories per day (33,000 cal – 4,500 cal = 28,500) should have packed on an entire nine pounds of fat every single day and 3,337 pounds per year!* Obviously, that did not happen. And of course, the question is where did all of those extra calories go? No one has any idea where Paul’s excess calories went. They literally just vanished into thin air…
5. They do not change your mindset
You go into these types of programs with a mindset of “I want to lose weight fast” and that’s about it. No interest in a healthy lifestyle, a long term weight loss plan etc, just “I want to lose weight fast”. And that’s what you do. Any wonder why you don’t manage to keep it off?
6. They don’t tell you the truth
There are a lot of assumptions in these systems that are incorrect regarding which foods are healthy for you and which ones are not. If you think you have to stay away from all saturated fat, eat 3 serves of grains per day and/or cut out carbs entirely, I’m sorry to say that you have been deceived. I can help.
7. There is no accountability!
So when you finish the program and you’ve lost your 20kg, who is there to keep you on track and check that your weight remains stable? Who is there to keep you showing up to exercise and keep you accountable to maintain your goal for life? Or, on the flip side, who do you have encouraging you to go back to your old ways and just eat the takeaway, night after night?
Here’s the thing…
Your body can take a pretty hefty level of abuse on an occasional basis. When Christmas comes along, your body can take it if you gorge yourself stupid on roast meats, veggies with heapings of gravy, chocolates, pavlova and Christmas pudding, as well as a number of glasses of red. (It can’t take that kind of treatment on a daily basis).
So there’s no need to take yourself out of normal society and go on starvation programs that are not designed to last forever.
“So there’s no need to take yourself out of normal society and go on starvation programs that are not designed to last forever.”
But, what you do need, is to
- have a healthy mindset,
- a good reason WHY,
- a little education in the right lifestyle to live and
- someone to hold you accountable in the long term.
Without accountability, long term weight loss is very unlikely unless you are 100% committed. But if you’re doing it the wrong way (starvation), it doesn’t matter how committed you are – you are highly likely to fail because your body isn’t designed to exist in starvation mode for very long. And instead of looking healthy, great and toned, you look lethargic, small, weak and soft.
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I know which I would prefer.
If you have lost weight and put it all back on again, possibly multiple times, come and see me. My nutrition program is different to any you would have ever been given. It’s the easiest one to stick to you will ever find. And I can help to keep you accountable to reaching your goal and maintaining it for life.
Sounds good, right?
