“How can I lose weight?”
I’m asked this question, in some shape or form, a dozen times a day.
“How can I be more healthy?”
“How can I get fitter?”
The answers to these “How” questions are really simple:
Q: How can I lose weight?
A: By sustaining a calorie deficit…
Q: How can I get fitter?
A: By exercising regularly.
Sure, there are LOTS of variants of how, and the answer will depend on who you speak to.
See the “How” isn’t the hard bit. It is the easiest. You get lean by maintaining a calorie deficit. That is consuming less calories than you expend. Whether you do it by cutting carbs, cutting gluten, fasting for 2 days a week, cutting dairy, cutting junk…. The net effect is the same. Science isn’t particularly helpful in determining which method is better, and so fitness professionals and food marketeers spend a lot of time and money trying to convince us that one way is better than another. (Which is why we’re in the mess that we are in… But that another topic entirely.)
So, if the HOW is easy, why is it that some people can lose weight and keep it off. And why is it that some people cannot, or haven’t yet, succeeded at this.
The common answer to this is “because they are motivated” or “because they are not so motivated”.
But again, this is not really good enough. What makes a person motivated or otherwise? Cos we’re all smart and sensible. Being overweight is unhealthy. Eating junk food is unhealthy. So why do we do it? And importantly, how can you create an environment where you are able to consistently do the things that are important to you, that align to the goals that you set for yourself?
The answer, I believe, is two-fold:
- Clarity of purpose: being clear about your “why”?
- Being able to hold the ‘why’ in the front of your mind, consistently…
For the rest of the article today, we shall focus on part 1: Finding your “why”.
So back to finding your Clarity.
I want to lose weight / I want to be healthier: says lots of people…These people are in a contemplation stage. They’ve read an article, watched a programme or tried on last year’s swimsuit and thought…Yup, I should be doing something…Some people will act on this. Many won’t. They’re not ready yet. After all, they’re not really that fat… they don’t really eat that badly; Mrs Miggins next door is far more unhealthy…
Of those who start a programme, results will vary widely. People often think it’s to do with the programme that they are following. And as a trainer I should probably say,
“That’s exactly right, and my programmes are the best…
So sign up and you’ll get the best results”
However, I’d be lying.
The people who get the best results are those who are in the most ‘pain’. The pain I’m talking about here doesn’t necessarily refer to physical pain but rather the emotional pain of being fed up, frustrated, angry, disappointed… The pain of knowing that you simply cannot carry on as you are.
The more you are in touch with this ‘pain’, with this ‘why’, the more likely you are to be successful. in our nutrition course we spend a bit of time getting in touch with our why and understanding it.
So ask yourself: Why do you want to lose weight? Why is it important? Once you’ve answered that question, ask it again and again. But why? Keep digging deeper and deeper, to get below the superficial answer that we all give: to look better, to be more healthy… But why? Why is this important…
We spend alot of time on this in my nutrition or 121 programmes. It gets fairly uncomfortable. It needs to. It is this discomfort that is going to light a fire in your motivation. It is this reason that will keep you going day after day…
Need some help? Get in touch…
