Weight Loss on the Brain?

People will often ask you, when they've noticed you've lost weight, what diet you're on, or what 'plan' you're following, As I've mentioned before we live in a society where instant gratification is king, so the majority of people are hoping for a quick fix answer. They want to hear that you've found a magic weight loss pill or just stopped drinking pop and you dropped ten pounds in three days. The truth is that real, consistent, long lasting weight loss is only achieved by one thing and one thing only: finding a balance, creating a plan that works for you, and sticking to it. While low carb or paleo dieting might be ideal for one person to lose weight, it might make another person miserable, and if you're miserable chances are you aren't going to stick with it. Weight Watchers might do wonders for a girlfriend but if it isn't right for you, it isn't going to work. When it comes to weight loss and getting healthy it's so important to be a pioneer for yourself; don't be afraid to mix it up and try different things until you find the diet and exercise plan that works for you. If you get amazing results on South Beach but you can only stick to it for three weeks before falling face first off the bandwagon, it isn't the right plan for you.

Some of (a lot of) your success with any given plan will be your dedication and discipline, but you'll make it a lot easier for yourself to be committed if you are eating things you enjoy and participating in activities you love. Once you start getting comfortable with your plan don't be afraid to change things up, routine is the enemy of progress when it comes to weight loss and muscle building. Your body is incredibly smart and adaptive, it will get used to any diet and exercise plan in a relatively short period of time. The key is to stick with a plan for a few weeks, see how you feel, and make a few changes to shake things up, keep your body guessing and to keep you interested. Believe it or not studies have shown that people who cheat once a week while dieting show greater fat loss results because of the after burn effect of speeding up your metabolism. That one high calorie meal revs up your bodies metabolic rate for a few days after you eat it, making the next few days an excellent opportunity to really get things going. You'll find that when you plan to cheat, you're less likely to binge during regular eating days. When you have a nice big cheeseburger to look forward to on Saturday it makes it a little easier to stick to your diet for one more day; the point is there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. When you diet without cheating for prolonged periods of time you get obsessed with cheating, you can't stop thinking about food and when you finally cave in you feel terrible about your decision and you'll be more apt to keep binging.

The other negative effect extremely strict dieting can have on the body is that your body will adjust to the new lower calorie intake and your weight loss will inevitably plateau. You might think the answer is to even further decrease your intake, but the truth is a bit of an increase for a day or two will get that metabolism fired up again. You don't want to get to a point in your dieting that your body has learned to operate on an extremely low intake; now you're not getting the nutrients your body needs and you're also not losing weight. Sounds like a recipe for giving up if you ask me. The worst part about it is that when people quit dieting while their body is in low-metabolic-rate mode, they typically binge and gain all the weight back and then some due to the fact that their body is now storing the excess calories they would have previously burnt. For example, let's say your diet used to consist of 2000 calories a day, your new diet has you consuming about 1500 calories, you plateaued so you dropped it to 1200 for awhile and then you plateaued again. This time during your plateau you dine at an all-you-can-eat buffet for two weeks straight, now instead of your body using 2000 calories per day like it used to, it now only needs 1200 calories thanks to the lower metabolic rate. Get where I'm going with this? That's a lot of extra calories. Sure your metabolism will speed back up gradually, but not before depositing multiple extra pounds of fat all over your body.

The real, straight up truth about weight loss is that it has nothing to do with what's on the scale; it has to do with what's between your ears. It's so critical for you to find a program that works with your lifestyle, with your taste, and with your particular body type. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is where finding a fitness professional can really help ease the burden. It can be a difficult road to navigate on your own; you can certainly do it by yourself, just be patient and be willing to experiment until you find the right mix of diet and exercise that works. Don't see weight loss as one-size-fits-all, we are all so unique and our body compositions so vastly different that it just doesn't make sense to do what everyone else is doing. Don't follow the path made by others, set off on your own and leave a trail behind you instead.

On this journey you will learn so much about yourself. Love the fact that tomorrow you won't wake up thirty pounds lighter. Enjoy the process and watching your body change in front of your eyes; savor the experience of working hard and relish the results. It's not the destination that's important, it's the lessons that we learn while trying to get there. There is a beautiful, confident person inside each one of us; take pride in sculpting and creating this new person for the world to see. Sure some days we wish we could close our eyes and it would all be over with, the weight would be off and we could ease up a little; but where's the growth and experience in that? There's no pride in quick fixes. Let your body become a beacon for hard work, perseverance, determination, and drive. Treat it with the same respect that you would treat someone else's body; it's the only one you'll get.

Meg