Starting with success: Key actions to lose 2.6kgs in two weeks

There are many different options you can choose when you want to lose weight, and no shortage of 'experts' telling you that their way is best. 

I've learnt a lot from working with thousands of women over the past 12 years and here's what I know to be absolutely true:  Whatever you are willing to do to lose weight, you need to keep doing if you want to keep the weight off.

When you do a radical, restrictive diet, you may lose dramatic amounts of weight quickly, but are you able to keep the weight off?  If not, is this true success?

My plan is based on real food and learning how to balance the elements on your plate, based on food you can buy at the supermarket.  No need for supplements, no need for expensive, restrictive meals.  Just learning to eat in a way that works for your metabolism, instead of against it (and I know this way of eating is sustainable for life because I've been able to do it for 23 years now!).  In addition to food, we look at how to improve the lifestyle elements that have the biggest impact your metabolism:  water, sleep, movement, alcohol intake and stress management.

Tweaks and adjustments that can be made without spending extra money, that make a huge impact on  results.

Two weeks ago, a client came to see me who I had worked with a few years ago.  She had been doing well with lots of actions - going to the gym regularly and eating well most of the time - but her weight had slowly crept up.  She was tired of this and feeling frustrated.

This week we caught up again and she was thrilled to see that she was down 2.6kgs, with a good chunk of it being fat.  Here are the changes she made to get this great result

1. Following the plan:  While she had been eating good meals, once we went through the plan she realised there were times when she wasn't eating enough and other times when her portion sizes were too big.  Having the plan allowed her to get back to structure and being more accurate with portions.  (NB - this is particularly important for protein.  I find when people aren't getting enough protein, they don't get great results)

2. More Variability:  She had been doing intermittent fasting, but was in the pattern of doing the same thing most days (which her body had adapted to) so we added in days when she ate earlier and had more calories than she had been eating previously.  (When you shake things up, it keeps your body guessing what's coming next, and this is great for weight loss!)

3. Sleep:  She started making this more of a focus and went to bed earlier (It's not how long you sleep, the key with fat burning is what time you go to bed!)

4. Exercise:  She had been doing intense workout sessions and swapped this to lower intensity pilates and walking.  More rest days (This works because it lowers cortisol, which allows your body to burn more fat)

5. Accountability:  She had two big parties to go to in the weekend but because she was focussed on the goal and knew weigh in day was coming up, she made the decision to not drink alcohol, which gave her a much better ability to control herself with the food - and she still had a great time!  (Accountability makes a huge difference - this is why I still see a nutritionist, even after 23 years of weight maintenance!  We don't even talk about food....it's all the life stuff that impacts the eating journey.  Being able to work this through with another person is very helpful for me.)

It's such a thrill to see people stepping up, making changes and seeing great results.  Best of all, she is already 1/3 of the way towards her goal so it's a great start.

Food is really important but it is not the only thing that impacts our results.  This is why restrictive diets will never work in the long term. 

If you are willing to step back and look at the big picture, you will not just get great results, but you will make changes you can sustain, so the weight you lose is never found again!

If you want to learn more about the key actions of fat loss (and particularly how they need to change after we hit our late 30's and beyond), sign up for my free webinar taking place on Thursday 27th July at 7.30pm (and if you can't make it live, still sign up because you will get the recording afterwards)