It's easy to focus on weight loss with a narrow minded approach, such as focussing on cutting out carbs, cutting out fats or consuming only low glycemic index foods.
But the fact of the matter is that, the most sustainable, long-term and healthy approach to losing weight is not necessarily any of these. Rather, you need to consider all aspects to nutrition (and lifestyle).
We discuss this within this video blog below. Enjoy!
Here's the scenario: You're trying to lose weight and you're doing a pretty good job at it. But then a holiday, work trip, or even just a long weekend comes along and interferes with your weight loss efforts. How do you stay on track with your weight loss, without adhering to a strict dietary regime while away?
As a trainer, I see this situation occur time and time again. Holidays (or any real interruption to your day-to-day routine) are often the enemy of weight loss. After all, when you're away from your typical environment, it's difficult to stick to a regimen. Convenience foods (most of which aren't the healthiest choices) are often chosen preferentially, because it's just easier.
Though obvious, it's important to understand and first-handedly appreciate that your body does not take a break from weight fluctuations just because you're away. Possibly the most common form of rationalisation is something along the lines of "I'll get back on my healthy diet when I get home". But there is one major flaw in this approach:
Once you get back home and realise all the weight you have gained, you're likely going to feel extremely discouraged and demotivated!
Plus, you're going to be completely out of the routine that you worked so hard to get into. I have seen this happen time and time (and time) again - it is probably the worst thing you could do, that will negatively impact your long-term weight loss results.
I completely understand the desire to take a break from weight loss when you're going away. After all, it's a holiday and you've earned the right to completely relax. Alternatively, it may be a business trip and you're too busy to worry about yourself due to a busy schedule.
But what about the bigger picture - the reason driving you to achieve this weight loss? Whatever your motivation (self-esteem, body image, confidence, health, happiness etc.), are you going to allow this temporary interruption jepordise what you've always wanted out of life?
Weight loss is all about consistency. You need to consistently apply yourself with good nutrition and exercise for optimal results. Consistency helps to develop a routine. After a suitable period of time, exhibiting consistent behavior that is a necessarily function of a lighter bodyweight will become second nature. This is the goal with healthy lifestyle habits - to become second nature - just like brushing your teeth in the morning, or buckling up your seat belt when you get in the car. After all, you don't take a break from these habits when you're away, do you?
It cannot be stressed enough - taking a break from eating in a healthy manner is not a good idea because it interrupts this very important pattern. A trip may be a tempting short-term reason to deviate from your weight loss efforts - but is it worth the long-term expense?
But is dieting when you're on holidays to lose weight realistic?
Having read through this article, you may be thinking how unrealistic this approach is. Am I completely out of my mind? Who in the world would want to stick to a strict diet if you are away on a holiday? You're on holidays - so you've earned the right to sip on a few cocktails, put your feet up and indulge in a meal or two.
You know what - you are exactly right. If you're planning on a trip and your current diet would ruin your entire experience, I whole-heartedly agree. However if this is the case, then you have one major problem - the diet itself.
I highly recommend that you read through the other articles pertaining to nutrition and mindset within this website. If you're dieting and drawing upon excessive amounts of willpower to get you through the day, then you're setting yourself up for failure. No wonder you need a holiday!
This approach to weight loss is clearly unsustainable - willpower can only stretch so far. Although rapid weight loss in the short-term may be tempting, it is not a long-term solution. So you will need to consider a more realistic approach to your nutritional requirements. If your nutrition is going to become second nature like brushing your teeth, or buckling up your seat belt, then it has to be as realistic as either of those two tasks. Losing weight does not have to be a chore - so long as you maintain a healthy balance in your diet, you can lose weight (while still having the occasional indulgence!).
The key take-home message is that nothing should interrupt your weight loss endeavours. Although a holiday may be a tempting excuse for a break, remind yourself that losing weight is a lifestyle and something that must be committed to in the long-term.
It's Friday evening and time to relax for the weekend! That means putting your feet up and indulging on your favourite food to unwind from the previous week. Sure, you're wanting to lose weight, but that can wait for next week, because right now you just need to de-stress! Monday is going to be the day that you begin your weight loss endeavours.
Does this mentality sound familiar at all? I have certainly had similar thought patterns to this in the past before I became passionate about health and fitness. Plus, I have heard many variations to the "I'll start the diet next week" rationale from friends, family and clients.
Considering this approach to dieting, you are probably already aware that this is almost going to guarantee failure. After all, why start next week - why not the week after, or the month after that? If you have been telling yourself that "you'll start the diet next week" - for how many weeks have you actually been telling yourself this?
Let's be honest, a "diet" is an awful word. Dieting requires restriction, starvation and even unpleasant exercise to compliment the changed eating habits. Losing weight on a "diet" certainly isn't enjoyable - it's a chore! If you can last a month on a "diet", you're doing pretty well!
But - this is exactly where the problem lies. Yes, almost any "diet" will help you to lose weight - but almost all "diet's" are not sustainable because they just cannot be enjoyed. So the problem actually revolves around your perception of the changes that must take place in order to facilitate weight loss.
If you are putting off weight loss, then you are going about it the completely wrong way. As humans, we will consciously either move toward pleasure or move away from pain. By embarking upon a "diet", you are doing neither - you are introducing pain into your life with an un-enjoyable approach to exercise and nutrition, while moving away from any pleasurable activities such as relaxation or your favourite junk food. Sure, losing weight may bring about pleasure (after all, we naturally associate being in shape with being happier) - but the primary problem is that:
We naturally associate things we have to do in order to lose weight as more painful than the pleasure this weight loss would bring!
Putting yourself through the diet from hell is not going to make your life any easier.
So, ditch the diet!
So the very first step you must take when seeking to lose weight is to change your perception of the pain associated with weight loss. Until you do this, you will never lose weight and sustain it - you will always be fighting an up-hill battle.
Easier said that done right? Well I concede that making changes in your lifestyle is necessarily not an easy task - after all, I mean not to trivialise the serious struggles that the vast majority of people face when seeking to lose weight. For many people, finding that right lifestyle balance can be very difficult, so this requires an intelligent and persistent approach until you find what is just right for you.
The key is to develop a new lifestyle that is conductive of weight loss. This will require changes to your eating and exercise habits - but not to the same degree as a "diet". Rather, you must make the changes to your lifestyle that you are comfortable with and that you can enjoy for the rest of your life. Weight loss should therefore be approached with a long-term mindset - approaching weight loss with a "lose as much weight as possible in the shortest period of time" is dieting mentality and you will likely be setting yourself up for failure.
So ask yourself, what can you do TODAY to change your lifestyle permanently? A lifestyle change can commence immediately - it doesn't have to wait until next week. Are you going to lessen the amount of alcohol you consume? Are you going to go for a walk? Will you hire a personal trainer to get you motivated? Reduce your portion size for dinner tonight? Will you decide to reduce the amount of fast-food that you order? Whatever you are going to do, take a step (any step - even a really small one!) and start right now. The sooner you make a permanent change, the sooner you will be happier with yourself and really begin to enjoy living within your body.
Quite simply, if you're not losing weight, this would suggest that your caloric intake is similar to your caloric expenditure.
If you consider calories in versus calories out, if calories in is greater (eg. through eating), expect to gain weight. If your calories out is greater (eg. through exercise, metabolic processes etc.), expect to lose weight.
That said, two major aspects of your training would require attention:
Number 1 - your diet. If you decrease the calories in your diet, this will decrease your caloric intake and thus assist in weight loss. Your current intake may be too much. Other tweaks may be in order, such as meal timing, meal frequency, meal sizes etc.
Number 2 - your cardiovascular exercise. If you perform more cardio, you will increase your calories out and also assist in additional weight loss. In addition to this, have you considered high intensity interval training (HIIT) as a form of cardio? Whilst it may not be suitable for the beginner, it is definitely something worth striving for. Some studies have shown fat loss to be 9 times greater than endurance cardio. Check out the following article for more information:
The Fat Burning Zone
