3 Truths About Sustainable Weight Loss
The other day my good friend Sandra, who is a life coach, had me on her Instagram Live to discuss weight loss (you can watch the full conversation and check her out here).
Weight loss is SUCH A BIG TOPIC in the health and fitness world. It seems that almost everyone wants weight loss in some form. Part of my job as a nutrition and strength training coach is having conversations with people, digging deep to help people discover their true goals and, together, creating the most logical path for their lifestyle, while keeping it real.
Below is an extremely professional and informative video on 3 weight loss truths, if you are a more visual/auditory learner ;)
For my readers/talkers, full text is below. :)
If you’re trying to lose weight and sustain it long-term, keep these 3 truths in mind:
Sustainable Weight Loss is SLOW.
I know that dropping 5 pounds in a week is exciting and motivating. But the honest truth is that when this happens - due to a low-carb or very restrictive diet - it’s not 5 pounds of fat you are losing. It could be up to 1 pound of fat, but the rest is likely water and unfortunately, muscle mass (which we don’t want to lose). Sure you can drop weight very quickly but you will need to use methods that are unsustainable (think: restrictive diets and lots of extra cardio) and will likely lose muscle in the process. Then, when your restrictive diet feels way too tight and your body is tired from all the activity, you’ll crash and burn, gain the weight back, and continue again on the cycle. I’ve been there, trust me. Once you can accept that true, sustainable fat loss is a slow process, you are much more likely to remain on course and reach your true goals.
Let me tell you what I look for in my own weight loss clients in terms of sustainable weight loss. We look for a weight loss average of .5-1 pound per week. Notice I said average. For some, this weight decreases steadily. for others, it comes in “whooshes”. No change in scale for 4 weeks then WHOOSH…3 pounds gone. Has that ever happened to you?
Check out this client weight graph below. This is 4 YEARS of progress. I will be sharing her entire story soon as it is an inspiring one…but in sum, there have been ups and downs and left turns and zig zag turns but this client has stayed consistent, flexible, and has turned her health (and scale weight) completely around.
The point is…don’t engage in exercise and healthy eating patterns and expect to see changes in a day or even a week. It takes time. You’ve got to trust that it’s happening. Little by little. It’s kind of like my new Rodan and Fields face regimen (yea, I took the plunge, that’s a separate topic…). Part of me felt frustrated after 2 weeks of ‘no progress’. I thought to myself, “Screw this. I’ll keep doing it but I’m asking for my money back.” Good thing I kept doing it…cuz 4 weeks later I’m amazed at the difference in the photos, even though what I see in the mirror seems to be the same - but that’s just my self-talk Negative Nancy in my head…we’ve all got her. You feeling my analogy here?! And washing my face at night is easy…which is why I was able to continue even though I felt disappointed. But eating well and exercising when you aren’t used to it is hard. So if you feel like you aren’t making progress, it’s much easier to just throw in the towel. But don’t. Keep going.
Sustainable Weight Loss is MULTI-FACETED
For many of my nutrition and training clients, the scale isn’t the best way to go, being that many are so mentally hung up on that number due to years of societal and self-inflicted emotional abuse surrounding their numerical gravitational pull to the Earth that we ditch it completely.
Think of it this way - the scale is only one measure of progress. Can you think of some others? How about:
Measurements
Photos
Clothes fitting better
Increased energy
Increased strength
Increased endurance
Eating whole foods, exercising regularly and meal planning has become habitual
Increased happiness/self confidence
Others noticing change
I could literally keep going, but that’s 10 all together. TEN. Of a random 10 measures of progress that I was able to rattle off in about a minute, why then, logically, would we be so hung up on just one of them? Well, I said it already above…societal and self-inflicted emotional abuse. It’s true.
I have two general client recommendations for this debacle:
I have them weigh in every day
(while also utilizing and monitoring other measures of progress)
Counterintuitive right? Sometimes. But most of the times NO. See, weighing every day with coaching helps clients see the natural, normal, expected daily weight fluctuations that come with changes in bodily water retention (due to hormone changes, sodium, muscle damage and repair, hydration, etc…), timing of eating throughout the day, waste accumulation (ew I know), muscle gain, fat loss, and there’s probably more. HA! But you see, when you learn to expect spikes and dips and not let that number define your mood for the day, you find this emotional detachment from the scale that is healing and freeing.
Remember the client weight loss graph from above? Notice how wavy and pointy it is?! But the overall trend is down. That’s what we look for in weight loss. Not daily consistency with the scale number, but the average over time.
BUT…weighing in every day doesn’t always work. And that’s ok too. When that’s true…
I have them weigh in way less often or not at all
(while also utilizing and monitoring other measures of progress)
Together, we choose other measures of progress to track. Photos are a phenomenal way to measure progress without stepping on the scale. Check out this client’s photo progress, over a 2 year period, and only 16 pounds difference! Can you believe that?! This is a clear example of how the scale, as one decent measure of progress, can often times not tell the whole story. This client engages in an intense strength training program 4 times per week and so she has definitely gained muscle mass while losing fat mass, which makes the scale not the best measure of progress for her.
I have a client who was able to increase her run time for a half marathon. Another who had to pay more money for her wedding dress than it cost because they had to resize it from an 8 to a 2. Another who has completely eliminated his lower back pain because his exercise form has improved so much.
I know we are talking about weight loss, but weight loss isn’t always the most important factor. We have to remember that progress, including weight loss, is multi faceted!
Sustainable Weight Loss Relies on ACTION (not dreams)
You might wanna get a giant glass of water to wash this hard-to-swallow pill down…are you still waiting on motivation? I’m sorry to deliver this to you so harshly but 90% of the time what you need to do in order to get that motivation is take action.
No matter your goals, weight loss or otherwise, progress relies on action. It doesn’t matter how small. I often recommend to clients who are unsure, frustrated or slow-to-start to begin by attacking one small, manageable action item until it becomes a habit. This can be dinner planning for the following day, taking a walk daily, or including veggies with 2 meals per day…small stuff. Manageable stuff. Things that may not seem to be what you need to reach your goals…that might make you think, “Where’s my ultra-low calorie recommendations and 6 day per week training program, coach?!” Too much at once isn’t taking action - it’s blasting off with no clear direction only to come crashing down and burning out. Taking on small, manageable tasks daily, however, is more like the turtle and the hare.
And you’re the turtle.
The turtle is good. The turtle is wise. And remember - the turtle reached his goal! Cheesy, but for a reason. Because it’s true.
So waiting around for motivation to come to finally start that “diet”, for the holidays to be over, for the the gyms to finally open again, or for your doubt that such small and manageable tasks could actually add up to any real progress to fade? Well…I have an honest question:
How’s that working for you?
Take action. Small, manageable action. Every day.
And as I always say: Keep.GOING.
You’ve got this. <3
-Jaime
