Every time I see that card, it makes me laugh. However, I’m fully aware that the expectation among many people is that they can achieve overnight success with their fitness goals. There’s even a book out there I’ve seen called The Overnight Diet someone told me you can expect to lose 11 pounds in a week’s time.
There’s absolutely nothing good about losing 11 pounds in a week unless you’re a couple of hundred pounds overweight. It’s time for everyone to take their foot off the accelerator and slow down.
First things first. If you own a scale, do one of these things with it. Throw it away, put it somewhere where you won’t see it every day, or throw it away. Yes, I said throw it away twice. To many people, the number that comes up on the scale is a sign of success of failure, and stepping on it can become an excessive habit. I’ve had clients and friends tell me “I lost 2 pounds last night,” then literally turn around and message me the next day saying “I don’t know how but I gained 3 pounds last night!”
First off, they are a candidate for donating the scale to Goodwill or putting it in the dumpster, and second, you’d have to eat and or burn off several thousand calories in a day to see legitimate results like that. I’m just going out on a limb and saying that didn’t happen.
Okay, so we’ve got the scale thing under control (hopefully). What’s next? Next, it’s time to face the reality that if you’re overweight, even by just a few pounds, it didn’t happen overnight. If it didn’t happen overnight, why should you expect it to come off overnight? If you read my fad diet post, you will know that not only is losing weight at an accelerated rate a dicey proposition, it actually makes it much harder to continue losing weight and keep it off.
All these stupid diets promise you will lose x amount of weight in just a few short weeks. There are starvation diets, juicing diets, overnight diets, etc, etc… As I’ve said before, all these books amount to are nothing more than a decorative item for your coffee table, and if you’re serious about results, you’re going to have to face the reality that it could take months and even years to see what you want in the mirror.
Don’t be deflated because I said it could take years to achieve your ultimate goal. Almost nothing worth having comes easy. You have to set a plan and put it into motion. That being said, having a laid-out plan of attack is a great thing, but it needs to be realistic. Saying “I want to have a six-pack in 6 months” is not only a huge goal, but for most people, it’s an unrealistic one.
When you set goals, make them small and achievable. If you have 100 pounds to lose, set 5-pound weight loss goals. If you only have 20 pounds lost, 2 pounds is a significant achievement whether you choose to recognize it or not.
Even better than setting weight goals, I recommend setting measurement goals. It’s not always a good indicator of success measuring your weight, especially if you’re involved in a proper resistance training program. Often times the scale may not have changed but there’s a significant difference in how clothes fit and even how you look in the mirror.
I’ve hovered at 250 pounds for years, but the shape of my body has drastically changed as well as my clothes size. This is due to fat loss and muscle gain. The difference in the makeup of fat and muscle is drastic. This is an accurate depiction of how drastic.
All that being said, I know a lot of people don’t know where to start if it doesn’t involve crash dieting and doing some ridiculous squat challenge you found on Instagram. Here are several quick tips on getting started:
Soda, even diet soda, is not your friend. Juice probably isn’t either since most of it is highly processed and full of sugar. Drink half your body weight in ounces of REGULAR water every day, with no exceptions. I drink 2 gallons a day. You can drink less than 1! A hydrated body runs much more efficiently than a dehydrated one.
If you have no idea where to start with your nutrition, try a 24-Day Challenge. Yes, I sell them. However, I’ve seen the massive difference they can make between success and failure. A lot of people need a laid-out plan, and the Challenge offers just that right down to telling you what foods you should and should not eat. As much as I want to believe it’s common sense, it’s really not, thanks to a ridiculous amount of contradictory media out there.
Start doing resistance exercise. Cardio is fine and all, but nobody ever built a nice physique with cardio alone. If you don’t know what you’re doing, hire a personal trainer. It’s an investment in success.
If you fall off the wagon by single-handedly eating a box of Oreos, here’s a secret. It’s happened to us all. Don’t say “screw it, I’ll start over again next week.” Start over again the next MEAL. You’re not a failure. You’re human. And Oreos taste really good.
Last tip. Start reading or keep reading my blog. And if you have questions, feel free to contact me at any time. It’s Monday. It’s a new week. Why not start working on a new you?
