A week is kind of a long time if you’re counting the minutes down for something that you’re looking forward to, but when we are talking about fat loss and results from lifestyle changes, a week really isn’t so long
I often chat with clients who are frustrated that a week of altered habits isn’t yielding them ALL of the results that they expected
A part of this issue is that fat loss is often mis-sold (not by me) and the impression is given that we can lose a stone in a few days….voila
I will always make a point of telling my members that whilst I will do my best to help them get their results as fast as possible, what it really and truly comes down to, is how much that individual (you / them) is willing and able to change things in the timeframe that we are laying out
Let’s use an example here
Siobhan came to me wanting to lose 1 stone and has an event in the calendar that gives us a nice benchmark of 12 weeks
This works out to be just a little over 1 lb per week, which in reality is a very reasonable and achievable goal
- Siobhan doesn’t really do any exercise at the moment
- Total daily steps amount to 2000-3000 / day
- She works at a desk and sits for about 12 hours / day (including evening time)
- She goes to bed at midnight and gets about 6 hours sleep
- She eats around 3000kcal / day
- Her stress levels are moderate
- She drinks about 500ml water per day, with the rest of her fluid intake being diet sodas
- She gets take out 4-5 times per week, but does have time to cook, and knows how to
Looking at her lifestyle, we could make the following changes
- Walking 5000 – 6000 steps / day
- Trying to reduce sitting down to 8-9 hours, but setting timers to get up and move every hour when possible
- Committing to 3 x 30 mins of planned exercise (workouts or sports) / week
- Going to bed around 10pm and aiming to be asleep for 10.30pm
- Reducing caloric intake down to 2500 which should be a nice deficit to generate some fat loss
- Getting outside in the fresh air and spending a little time doing things that she finds fun and that make her laugh and smile more – this should help with stress management
- Increasing water intake up to 1L/day (as a first port of call)
- Having a take out twice per week, and making a meal plan and shopping list so that the weekly nutrition is more organised and accountable
These are all reasonable suggestions, and they are definitely at the lesser end of extreme, but how Siobhan takes to these changes is unpredictable
When we face change we can sometimes feel a bit panicked and overwhelmed
If Siobhan was able to change all of these things at once, on day 1 of her plan, she might be able to expect to see and feel some significant results if she were to measure on day 7
But in my experience most people are not able to make all of these changes in one day
They might WANT to and INTEND to, but it takes most people 2-3 weeks to get into the swing of a new routine
Making changes takes up headspace because you are going against your practised habits and routines
This is one of the reasons that change feels hard because it is mentally hard to change the way that you do things
You were comfortable doing your old habits even if you didn’t like the lifestyle results that you were getting
A bit of discomfort is what comes along with this business of lifestyle and habit change, and fat loss
How MUCH discomfort you are able to tolerate really dictates how fast your results are going to appear
So if you have been trying to make some changes but are frustrated with the results, give it some more time
Your body and mind need time to adjust to new routines and the biggest failure of a fat loss plan (like the one mapped out above) is not doing it for long enough to see results
Working with a personal trainer like me, we would sit down together and make sure that the plan worked for your goals, your routines, your preferences and in your family lifestyle
We could also amp up or amp down the plan based on your experience with it
What looks good on paper isn’t always good when you try it in real life
Please feel free to try the suggestions from above and see how your energy, well-being and health improve given the time and commitment that they deserve
If you are trying things but getting no-where fast, then drop me an email back and we’ll talk about it
Nicola
nicola@rossellfitness.co.uk