I am asked, all the time… What is the key, the secret, the magic sauce for being fit, healthy, losing weight, getting stronger, whatever…
The answer is the same for all of the above.
And it’s not a secret, at all.
And you can’t buy it in a health shop either.
I can reveal that The One Thing you need to successfully lose weight, change your body, etc is:
Drum roll…….
Definition: Adherence, noun, attachment or commitment to a person, cause, or belief.
Bit boring really isn’t it. Definitely not sexy. And you can’t really package it up and sell it.
Dang.
The answer doesn’t lie in low carbs, or fasted cardio, or HIIT, or shakes, or any fad diet the latest celebrity is endorsing.
It is, simply, the act of committing to your goal or objective and doing the stuff that needs to get done in order to achieve your goal or objective. And (this bit is crucial) sticking to these behaviours until you get to the goal or objective.
Because, actually most exercise regimes will work. Most diets will work. Some are better than others, admittedly. But time and time again I see people quit on the “plan” before they have got anywhere near the goal. Because it’s too hard, because results haven’t been delivered yet (we’re very short term focussed), or because life got in the way.
And then we shelve the health project for 3 months and try again. Next January, or pre-summer or when the kids go to school.
And in the meantime revert back to the behaviours and diets that got us unfit or overweight in the first place.
And over and over…
The truth is, if you’re overweight or unfit this has probably developed over the course of several years.
And yet we expect miracle weight loss in 14-days, 28-days. Even 6 week plans are unrealistic in my view.
To be fair it’s the “fitness industry’ that’s setting these blimmin unrealistic expectations in the first place, so I don’t blame you, dear mum, for expecting dramatic results in short time frames. That’s what all the marketing says.
So, adherence is key. But what can we do to improve adherence?
Well I’m afraid that’s gonna have to wait till next week!
