slave to the scale

Up until a couple of years ago I was held captive to an unhealthy and unrealistic obsession, my life totally consumed with my captor... my bathroom scales.

I stood on them the moment I got up. Of course! Isn’t that everyones first priority on awakening? Then I would weigh myself after I had emptied my bladder. After I showered. After I ate my breakfast. After I brushed my teeth. After I had a glass of water. Before I exercised. After I exercised. Lunch. Dinner. More water! Haircut! Cutting my fingernails! I kid you not. A never ending ritual. Unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins. For I would then allow the figure they reported to me hundreds of times a day to control exactly how I would then feel about myself in that moment. I would be excited beyond belief if the figure glaring at me had dropped. I would float - light and happy. Or I would be crushed - disappointed and frustrated, if I so much as gained a gram. Eat if the number was down. Starve myself if up. Reward. Punish. Love. Hate. Certainly not a healthy relationship. Nor, a smart lifestyle, is it? Can you imagine how exhausting that rollercoaster ride is? I had such an emotional attachment to the number on the scale. However I was in denial of that obsession. To be very honest I actually thought everyone had that same ‘passion and focus’ that I had, to be a particular, and concrete, ‘number on a machine’.

changing your lifestyle

How valuable is change to you? How confident are you that you can achieve the changes you are after? The personal benefits of losing weight or greater healthier are high but unfortunately to some, the ‘costs’ of achieving change can also be high.

So on one hand it may be really important to have a lower weight but on the other you also want to eat your favourite food or chocolate bar whenever you feel like it. It’s a conflict between competing desires and the accompanying frustration will often lead you to seek out solutions that falsely promise both - lose weight and eat what you want. Snake oils. I was prey to those deceptive messages myself for many years. Unfortunately. It isn’t that easy. There is no miracle cure, quick fix or gimmick. Don’t be fooled by the hype!

Train hard. Eat clean. Stay consistent and focused. Repeat. That’s how you create shipshape health.
So in considering that, what holds you back? It depends how much you really want the weight loss - how motivated you are. No matter how positive you are, how many goals you set or how much you visualise your success - if your reason for wanting to change does not inspire or motivate you strongly enough, it will more than likely be a short lived pursuit. This is the reason many people do not achieve their long term goals or successfully make long term changes to their lifestyles. So what are some perceived advantages and disadvantages for weight loss?

october update

The year has been passing us by while we blink I think! About to head into the final school term and before we know it the new year will be upon us. The goals we set at the beginning of the year will either be evolving or, they aren't! Are you on track? How can we continue to help you reach them?

I have done re-measurements and fitness tests these past couple of weeks on most of you, gym and home clients. Great results everyone, congratulations and a huge thanks for the effort you put in week after week. I continue to be inspired by you all, the tenacity that you bring not only to our sessions, but to all your training - in the gym, other classes, or outside running/walking too. Hopefully I am doing something right that helps to motivate and keep you working towards your goals. :D Incredibly proud of you all and your sticktuitiveness. THAT, is what gets results with our health and fitness. Consistency.

Remember, it's often difficult to look at the big picture when we are at the beginning of any goal we set, but it only takes one day at a time to make a difference in the weeks and months ahead of us. Train hard. Eat clean. Stay focused. Repeat. That simple to create good health.

hitting a plateau

At some stage on a weight loss journey many of us are likely to experience what is known as a ‘plateau’. Essentially, this is a term used when a weight-loss program suddenly stops functioning, even though the person using the program hasn’t really changed anything.
It is hit when the body develops a tolerance for the program and so allows the body to process the nutrients from the food intake, but with a metabolism that has adjusted to retain the excess rather than burn it outright.
Whilst plateaus do occur without anything else changing, there can be other factors that cause the plateau or that may contribute to it.
• Not sticking 100% to the weight loss program
• Slow metabolism due to reduced muscle mass, inactivity or age
• Skipping meals and snacking