Well I sort of lied... Hey, if it got you to read my blog so technically I'm #winning...
Go ahead, be mad at me, but I'm only trying to save you from years of disappointment, health issues, false promises and gimmicks!
IF you wanna "loose 20lbs in 4 weeks" go join 'The Biggest Looser' where loosing 20 lbs is easily (& safely) accomplished because not only do they have professional doctors clocked-in 24/7 but because its only 4% of your total body weight when you weigh 400+ pounds!
Otherwise, DON'T EVEN GO THERE!
It's claims like these that make me go BANANAS!
Obviously.
Time to talk about a sensitive subject and one that I take very seriously: loosing weight in an unhealthful manner. I've seen all these posts on my Facebook page or heard clients discussing "their sister" trying out the HCG/whatever diet and have risked imploding on several occasions simply because I have so many feelings about this topic. Basically...
If it sounds too good to be true, it IS!
When I have someone meet with me about personal training or creating a personalized plan I ask them the exact same thing: "Do you want the weight to come off fast OR do you want to keep it off?"
They usually reply: "Both."
Then I brake it down... if you want the weight to stay off you have to do it in a semi-slow, gradual manner. We are talking 1-2 lbs a week. This is a safe weekly goal to create "sticky" weight-loss.
Sticky means pounds that will stay off rather easily once your diet is 'over' and you move to maintenance. After all, you are not planning on being on an extreme diet forever, right? This gradual type of weight loss allows your body to adapt to your new weight, your new metabolism and what's more, allows you to create those 'sticky' habits that's will help you keep those pounds off long after your high school reunion/best friends wedding/ etc is over.
In short, it should NOT take you 4 weeks to loose 20lbs when your goal is to loose 10-35 lbs total. This is too high a percentage of your body mass to loose too rapidly and indicates a very-low calorie diet and/or excessive exercise... never mind the loose skin and rapid aging, just these two things alone lead to a ton of health risks including:
- storing of ketones (liver damage),
- heart damage,
- formation of gallstones
- eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, food addiction)
- workout addiction
- easily set-off edema
- AND THE WORST/Frequent symptom of extreme dieting I deal with: metabolic damage (as in your metabolism WILL inevitably be soo messed up that you will gain the weight back on wayyy faster then you took it off and what's worse, it is now 100 times harder to get rid of and what's worse-worse is that it redistributes in awkward places (like fat pockets on your hips and lower stomach)! This rapid fat-gain thing that occurs is mainly an after-effect of starvation. You are soo hungry once the 'diet' ends (or you take a brake) your body goes bonkers and/or you literally have a nervous breakdown trying to get the willpower back that it took to starve yourself the first time!
Cutting down the calories you take in PLUS upping your calories expended EQUALS 'weight-loss', but when you up the anti by consistently taking in less then 1500 calories a day and are excessively burning calories thru exercise you are playing with fire and you MUST be sure this is something that is made for you and ONLY you/your needs. I've had quite a few clients come to me recently who were put on a "competition-type" prep plan when they weren't even competing!!! These people have suffered severe muscle and strength loss AND have extreme metabolic damage... and all they were doing was listening to their trainer as their bodies and muscles got 'eaten up'.
The same thing must be said for miracle weight-loss shakes, weight-loss pills or drops, etc... these are all just dressed up methods of STARVING yourself. Sure, when you drink a shake/have these drops/pill instead of a normal meal at breakfast or lunch YOU WILL LOOSE WEIGHT BECAUSE you are starving yourself! I mean, duhhhhhhh. Those results you are getting WILL NOT last and you will get even fatter after! Quicker!
Don't cheat yourself, your health, and your body. Do it the right way. Work with a professional you trust to stay with you for the long-haul. Go workout like a normal, healthy person who is in control and who understands that everything awesome takes consistency and patience. Eat healthy food. Retrain your brain along with your body so your results will be easy to maintain!
I'm here if you need help,
I believe in you, xoxo
T
