Setting Expectations for Weight Loss
I have been a personal trainer for about 17 years now and something that has not changed over the years is people’s expectations around how much weight they want to lose.
It’s important you set realistic expectations by factoring in your whole lifestyle, not just by the number of times you can go to the gym in a week.
If your expectations are unrealistic then you are setting yourself up to fail.
On the flip side, if you assume you are not going to be good at something and then choose not to start then, of course, you are never going to achieve your goal. (So something is always better than nothing on that side of things)
Physiologically, weight loss is actually quite easy. Increase your energy expenditure to more than the amount of energy you are consuming and you will lose weight.
Obviously there are other factors that affect weight loss like specific metabolic conditions, stress, sleep etc. The reason most people fail at weight loss is due to what is happening between the ears.
I believe most people know the difference between an apple and a cake and which one will increase their weight. The hardest part is making the decision and being consistent with decision making.
So if this is the case you need to set realistic expectations around your weight loss journey.
Firstly you need to set expectations around how much weight is realistic and safe. Then you need to figure out how much are you willing to commit to the process. You hear 1kg a week thrown around. To me I feel this is not realistic or sustainable, especially if you are leading a busy stressful life like most people are.
If you have time up your sleeve and you are very determined to hit 1kg a week then you might hit it but at what cost? The sacrifices may impact your health on many levels including your social life and mental health.
I am a big fan of having lots of markers. Weight is just one marker of many. As long as 80% of your markers are going in the right direction then you should be happy. Just because one marker is not going in the right direction or is not as much as you would like, it is not worth beating yourself up about it.
So my main advice when it comes to weight loss is firstly set your expectations around how much weight you want to lose and then the amount and the time frame around losing it.
If you want a very rough number Precision Nutrition recommend 400g per week for the average person.
Secondly, what are you willing to sacrifice? What are you not willing to sacrifice?
You need to make sure the numbers and what you are willing to sacrifice work together!
If you are not willing to sacrifice your glass of wine or your dessert then it might take longer to achieve your weight loss goal or you might not actually hit it.
You just need to be realistic about it. If you are willing to stop drinking, having dessert reducing portion size etc then your chances of achieving your weight loss goal is going to greatly increase.
Finally, you need to know what happens when you hit your goal weight. Are you going to be happy with the way you look, the way feel and the way you eat?
What you don’t want to do is be chasing a number you never hit and you go down a rabbit hole of self-destruction.
On the other side you don’t want to go back to your old habits that got you there in the first place, so get realistic with what you want and be smart about how you get there. And as always, ask for help if you need it
Be Consistent,
Scott Flint