Brandon has been training with me for nearly 4 years. His goal was weight loss. Since then, Brandon has lost and regained at least 20lbs 4-5 different times. His largest amount of loss was 33lbs. When he hit that number, I said he was only 10lbs away from looking better than he ever had before. He and I were just talking about this a few days ago: he can drop 20lbs like nobody’s business. Lightning fast.
So, what happens that he can drop it so easily but have it sneak back on again? Well, if you know anything about me, I say I haven’t done my job as a trainer to let that happen. But, I know people have to live their lives on their terms and if they’re not committed to the goal, then the goal slips away. Another reason I should mention that should explain a lot:
It’s really damn hard to lose weight and keep it off.
Fortunately for Brandon, he has a good mentality about this kind of thing. He actually really enjoys exercise (running, weightlifting, swimming, etc). He’s one of the most active people I know. His biggest struggle comes from stress and social pressures. So, if he’s having a bad week at work he’ll go out with friends. That leads to drinking, which leads to overeating, which leads to some more drinking, and Oh let’s eat that too! Next thing you know, that 20lbs is back on about as fast as it came off.
Now, I don’t mean to pick on Brandon. This kind of thing happens to nearly everyone who has tried or is aiming to lose weight. I’ve found for those who are truly successful there are a few things that have to be in place:
1) The realistic desire to get to a proposed weight
2) A sustainable plan (food and exercise regimen)
3) The ability to forgive one’s self if things go off track
For some, the weight loss goal is unrealistic. For women, it can include wanting to get down to a weight they were before they had children. While it is possible, it isn’t always attainable. The body has changed too much and the demands of life have compounded in a way that doesn’t allow for that drastic of a change.
The exercise plan has to be able to fit into the current lifestyle. In addition, any diet plan has to be flexible enough that it can be sustained over a long period of time (not just 2-3 weeks).
Also, many people allow their first dietary detour to turn into a week long foray into bad eating. The sooner you can give yourself the room to cheat a little and get right back on track, the easier sustainability becomes.
So how much can you cheat?
Well, I would start small. Let’s say it takes you 1500 calories in a day to lose weight at a reasonable rate. Take 10% of that goal and you can approach your cheat food in one of these two ways.
1) 150 calorie cheat snack every day
OR
2) 10% of your weekly calories (using the above example, we’ll say 1050 calories) as a cheat meal. In other words, at 1500 calories a day (10,500 calories in a week for weight loss) you can substitute a rather unhealthy 1050 calories in one sitting and still stay on plan.
I should mention that if you’re going to consume 1050 calories in one sitting, that means you only have 450 calories for the rest of the day to stay on track. However, it does give you the flexibility of eating the food you’ve been craving and likely denying yourself the pleasure of.
Weight loss and ultimately weight maintenance shouldn’t be difficult. Finding a way to stack more healthy behaviors ahead of the less healthy ones is the best place to start!
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