According to a study conducted in the UK in 2015, less than 1% of formerly obese people maintained their weight loss for more than a year. Specifically, this broke down to just 1 man out of 210 and 1 woman out of 124.
Participants in the study were told to "eat less and move more", a method that failed to deliver long-term results. Clearly, this sound advice wasn’t enough.
Now, we could launch into a conversation over whether or not this study practiced sound research and whether or not the participants really did eat less and exercise more, but instead I’d rather share with you what I know to be true about lasting weight loss.
Make no mistake about it, long-term fat loss results are very possible and are enjoyed by the majority of my clients – in stark contrast to the UK study results!
Since there’s more to it than simply "eating less and moving more", how does one go about losing fat and then keeping it off for the long haul?
Here are 5 Steps to Lose it For Good…
✅ Lose it For Good Step #1 - The Right Mindset
There are only two mindsets to choose from when you approach your quest for weight loss:
This is a temporary change in my behavior.
OR
This is my new way of life.
There’s no middle ground, you either see it as temporary change or you see it as permanent change. It’s pretty obvious which mindset produces permanent results.
✅ Lose it For Good Step #2 - New Habits
Understanding how to put new habits in place is the second step to losing the weight and keeping it off.
As in step one, looking at your weight loss behavior as a new lifestyle is the only way to ensure permanent results and this means adopting healthy new habits.
Habits are best taken on in steps. This has been proven to be the most effective way to make the new habits stick. Approach building new habits with baby steps instead of grand leaps.
If one of your current unhealthy habits is that you drink soda daily, then first switch to drinking a "healthier" sugar-free soda (like Virgil's Zero Sugar or a flavored sparkling water). Once the habit of drinking diet soda has completely replaced your sugary soda habit, then you can start decreasing the diet soda and use water at meals and between meals. You didn’t jump straight from drinking flavorful, fizzy, sweet soda to just drinking water, that might be too extreme and will make success less likely. This method gives your taste buds and your brain time to adjust to the new habit.
✅ Lose it For Good Step #3 - Your Environment
In order to permanently change your body, you must permanently change your environment. It makes sense that you won’t maintain a lean body in the same environment where you gained the weight.
The term “environment” sounds vague, so let’s break it down. Your environment is the world that you create around yourself. These are the foods that you see, smell and have easy access to. This is the ease or difficulty you have in consistently accessing exercise. This is the lifestyle of the people closest to you that casts an influence on your own lifestyle whether you realize it or not.
I’ll bet you could draw out your ideal environment for permanent weight loss. Do that now. Now, start making changes to your environment to set yourself up for permanent success.
✅ Lose it For Good Step #4 - Good Nutrition
The problem with the advice of "eat less and move more" is that it doesn’t make a distinction about food quality. When low calorie count is your only goal, you’ll end up consuming lower quality calories than you should, which leads to mindless eating and malnutrition.
Learn more about healthy calories versus nutritionally void calories. A great rule of thumb is that calories that are created in nature are healthier than calories created in a factory. Stick with real food over anything from a package. Prepare more food from home, and less from restaurants, so that you have control over your nutrition quality.
✅ Lose it For Good Step #5 - Your Support System
If you just did the first 4 steps, you’d be well on your way to successfully transforming your body from "fatter to fitter" and keeping it that way for the long haul. However, in order to fully ensure that you make the switch from where you are to where you want to be, it’s important to put a support system in place.
Nothing is more powerful than social accountability.
Instinctively, we don’t want to let people down, and so we’ll work harder and more consistently in a support group than we will when working on our own. It’s hard to sleep in when you know someone is at the gym waiting for you!
This fifth and most important step is where I come in. My entire mission is to not only provide you with the action steps to getting into the best shape of your life, I also am here to provide you with the support and accountability that you need to make it happen.
Call or email me now to schedule a complimentary consultation and we'll discuss a personalized program that will get you fit for life. You can do this!
Rose
healthyhabitsstudio@gmail.com
916-204-7729
