It’s not uncommon to begin your journey towards a leaner, healthier you and look for the ‘in’ diet of the time.
And when I say it’s uncommon I really mean it because in my experience 90+% of people do this.
But did you know that it estimated that 90% – 95% of people who lose weight, regain it?
In my opinion they do this because of the way (or process) in which they lose weight.
Another reality is that most people who do lose weight have no real understanding of how they did it.
Now i’m not saying you need to know the ins-and-out of everything to the minor details but I believe it’s critical that you have a general understanding of why your body is changing.
Typically, for most of my own clients I begin by asking them in a regular week how much activity they will do.
Note, I said will do, not hope to do.
Make a realistic commitment that will require effort and discipline but don’t say you’ll do something that’s just not possible.
For example, 3 gym sessions a week and 70k steps will mean you have to make time to do this but it’s not that much time that it’s going to take a huge amount of time out of your week.
The majority of people have other things going on in terms of commitments you have with work, family and friends, so keep it sensible.
For example, saying you will do 6 sessions a week and 100k steps, although possible, it’s unlikely for most people.
Once they’ve given me this information, I can put these numbers into my bespoke calorie expenditure calculator to estimate how many calories they will then expend (or burn) over a week.
It’s bespoke in the fact that it takes into full consideration your height, weight, sex, body type and calorie burn rates.
Now I have this info, we have a choice of if we want to lose, maintain or gain weight and if so, how much.
So now I have 2 numbers for them:
- How many calories they will expend
- How many calories they will eat & drink
Now we can sit down and plan out their week.
Common questions I would ask may include:
- What days will you be in the gym?
- How many meals per day will you eat?
- Where will you be for those meals? Work, home, restaurant, etc
- Do you prefer the same calorie goals everyday or do we need to cycle calories?
- Do you have any pre-arranged social event that we need to consider?
- When is a realistic time to commit to walking to reach your step goals? Before work, after work, etc.
- How will you make sure you drink 2-3 litres of water per day?
- What time will you go to bed and wake up?
Once I have the info above it will create a framework to follow.
Don’t forget that your body will enjoy consistency, so try to create daily habits and time management blocks to both eat and move as and when.
By piecing together all the above you can start to build come solid routines and processes that are fully-adaptable to any goal, at any-time.
It’s the easily-repeatable nature of this process that makes it so successful.
Remember, that you are always the result of your average day so it’s always better to focus on weekly goals and tasks rather than getting obsessed about every single day.
You don’t need perfection, you need consistency.
Thanks for reading, have a great day.
Craig
Do you need confidential help with your health, fitness or nutrition? I have a range of services available, with Personal Training in my Private Gym in Manchester, also at your home or workplace in the surrounding areas. For clients further afield, I provide Online Personal Training, Nutritional Consultancy & Private Fitness Holidays.
