It’s a long long road to tipperary

Change does not happen overnight.  The fitness industry would like to make you believe so, but unfortunately your body shape will take several months to find it’s new “set point.”  By set point, I mean the healthy weight that is desirable/stable for your body shape and size.  Biologically not all people will be lean and skinny regardless of how much hard work they put into their workout routines or follow a strict nutritious food plan.  Unfortunately some people are born with a predisposition for storing more body fat.  However, this does not mean that all individuals can not have a healthy body weight by engaging in regular physical activity and eating clean.  In this regard, we are extremely lucky; we can control two of the most important things; physical activity levels and what we put into our bodies (nutrition).

Keeping the idea that change does not happen overnight, I would like you to think about your current lifestyle.  How many years have you lived your current lifestyle being inactive and mindless of nutrition?  The answer for most people would be several years.   In fact, studies suggest that the average person puts on 2 pounds per year from age 20 onwards (this is when most peoples metabolism slows down).  With that being said, if you are 50 years old and you were 160 pounds at age 20, and you gained 2 pounds per year, thats 60 pounds over 30 years.  So if you were 160 lbs at age 20, it is quite plausible you may currently weigh 190 lbs.  Doctors and health experts refer to this type of weight gain as the creeper weight.  Meaning it gradually creeps up on you over the course of several years.  Keeping this in mind (it has taken you several years to get to this current weight) would it stand to reason that a weight loss program would also take quite a bit of time?  The immediate/rational answer should be yes.  If it has taken you several years to become overweight, you should not expect to loose all your desirable weight overnight.  In fact, diet studies have continually shown that individuals who loose weight “dieting” will regain all weight lost within a year, and a good majority of these individuals will actually gain more weight then when they originally started their diet.  This information alone should be enough to deter anyone from starting a diet.  I mean, who would want to start a diet knowing they will gain more weight? 

Thankfully, if you have taken several years to become overweight, it will not take years to undo this process.  Our bodies are miraculous in that they can be transformed relatively quickly.  Most health experts agree that loosing 1-2 pounds per week is a desirable goal.  Loosing weight too fast only results in gaining the majority of weight back after several weeks/months.  Consequently, the Physical Active Clean eating lifestyle plan looks to target 1-2 pounds per week.  Remaining patient is key to any weight loss program.  Remember, if it took you a year to gain all this weight, it will take time to loose it as well.