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| Exercise and Physiology Information Changing
Your Mindset - The Reality of Fat Loss
“What is the fastest way to lose my belly”, “what should I be avoiding to lose weight”, “what kind of exercises can I do to shrink my butt”, “I need to lose 30 pounds – how do I do it?”. After years of being inundated with these kinds of questions (and by my own admission, not knowing where to begin when answering them), I was finally struck by a simple and yet undeniable revelation… The first thing that these “would-be-belly/butt-shrinkers” needed to change was their mindsets. Their focus was almost always on short-term results and scale weight loss, and most of them were disappointed when I didn’t have a simplistic answer for them. This got me thinking… where have all of these unrealistic expectations come from? It seems that the sensible approaches to managing weight have buckled under the powerful force we have come to know as unscrupulous marketing. We are told that losing copious amounts of weight in a short amount of time is both realistic and desirable. We are told that there is a simple, single reason why we are fat, and are provided with an equally simplistic solution. We are told that scale weight loss is akin to “success”. All of these promises usually come in the form of neatly-packaged, well-marketed publications. In short, people trying to drop body fat are being set up for imminent failure by a group of people who are creating and perpetuating half-truths, misconceptions and flat-out lies. The result… thousands upon thousands of people suffering the emotional setbacks associated with feelings of failure.
We’ve all seen it (or lets face it, experienced it ourselves). Tapping a foot angrily as our microwaves take a full 2 minutes to cook; sighing as our ADSL is a half-second slower than usual; cursing at the nerve of the ATM that takes too long to spit out the transaction record. Technological advances have created an instant-results-oriented culture who has bought into the expectation that like everything else – weight loss should be instant. Despite overwhelming research that we should go the way of the tortoise – not the hare when it comes to winning the losing battle, people continue to desperately search for the “quick fix” for their excess weight. “Guru’s” and other promoters of questionable methods and fad diets are more than happy to oblige this need, promising a quick-and-easy product, program or diet that they tout as “revolutionary”. Invariably, people learn the hard way and are left disappointed, and in many cases, worse off then they were prior to starting their “band-aid” method. Are we supposed to believe that we can undo years of poor lifestyle habits in a matter of months, weeks or even days? In echoing the message of rational health care professionals and other organizations, long term fat loss success is almost always gradual and non-linear. In other words, we should be looking to lose no more than 1-1.5 lbs per week (2 max), and also expect our weight loss to vary from week to week. In fact, one should consider not weighing themselves at all (more on this later). The bottom line is, people have a right to know that their journey towards fat loss and better health can be (and usually is) a long and bumpy one. This isn’t to say that somebody can’t, or won’t lose (and keep off) large amounts of weight, or that they should be discouraged from setting challenging goals. Rather, they need to know what is considered realistic, and what is not.
A study out of the University of Pennsylvania asked a group of obese women the following four questions; 1) What is your dream weight? 2) What is the weight at which you’d be happy? 3) What is the weight you’d find acceptable? 4) What is the weight that you’d find disappointing? The average dream weight amounted to a loss of 69 pounds (32% of body weight). The “acceptable” weight was 55 pounds (25% weight change) and the weight loss that they would consider “disappointing” was 37 pounds (17% of body weight). After 48 weeks, half the women did not even achieve their “disappointed” weight. This study encapsulates the false reality that we have been thrust into by deceiving marketers, which has manifested itself into the formulation of unrealistic expectations. We have created an overemphasis on the importance of scale weight – to the point where it is the sole determinant of success. Not only is scale weight incessantly touted as a primary indicator of achievement, but we are also told that losing a lot of weight in a short period of time is both realistic and desirable. Truth be told, scale weight in itself is inherently deceptive. To summarize, body composition (percentage of body fat) is independent of body weight, and losing body FAT (which may or may not translate into scale loss) DOES promote improved appearance and better health. (And who says I’m long-winded!). Additionally, there are daily, transient changes in scale weight due to fluid intake/retention, sugar stores in the muscle, time of day, time of month, etc. With its volatility and lack of validity as a predictor of health, it amazes me how we give the scale so much power to influence our emotions. Meanwhile, more and more studies, including one recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are revealing that physical fitness is a more powerful predictor of heart health than is weight. This brings to light, the importance of shifting the focus towards activity-centered lifestyle changes, whilst shifting the focus away from “losing weight”. The “lose weight at all costs” mentality puts one on a predictable road towards failure.
Obesity and Overfatness – Complex causes, multifaceted solutions One of the more prominent
lies about weight and weight management being fueled by the weight
loss industry is the oversimplification of the causes and solutions
of obesity. Breaking things down in layman terms is one thing
– but citing a single cause of obesity is inaccurate, and
often used as a sales-driven tactic to pedal books and/or products.
We’ve all heard it before “We’re fat because
we eat too many carbs”, “We are fat because of excess
cortisol”, “We’re fat because we eat carbs and
protein together”, “We are fat because we are O-negative
blood types and eat lentils”. The list goes on… and
low-and-behold; the solution to our abject state of girth is to
remove the single, alleged culprit. One could make the argument
that being overweight is simply a matter of taking in more calories
than you expend – and one would be correct. However, there
are a multitude of underlying behavioural, psycho-social and genetic
factors that influence the calorie balance equation. So, as easy
as it is in theory to simply burn off more than you take in, there
remains deeper territory to be uncovered. Therefore, until these
deep-rooted causes are figured out, there cannot be an effective
plan of action that will facilitate long-term results. The Bottom Line When embarking on a fat loss endeavor, it is easy to become enthralled by surface-level and short-sighted approaches. Unfortunately, these methods offer little in the way of long-term promise. Before mapping out a plan (or following a cookie-cutter program or diet), I advise you to take a step back and examine things from a holistic perspective – starting with your mindset. Many people quit their exercise programs and diets because they failed to mentally equip themselves for their undertaking. We need to re-wire our brains to not only participate in these health-enhancing habits, but also to embrace and enjoy the journey. This takes time. It also takes patience, perseverance, planning, realistic goal-setting, relapse prevention strategies and support from those around us. When all these things come together, it makes it much easier and pleasant to navigate through behavioural changes. Perhaps the most important thing to remember, though, is this; you need to know and believe that you can do it, and you also have it in you to make significant changes to your health and body. So before you even touch a weight or jump on a stariclimber, exercise that all-important area between your ears.
1. Understand what
you are up against: 2. Set appropriate
goals: 3. Identify Barriers
towards Success: 4. Use mental Imagery:
5. Draw up a lifestyle
contract:
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