Hi guys,  Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo.  When you think of losing weight, do you think of it in passing? Something that you will focus on for 3 to 6 months or are you in it to win and keep those pesky pounds off for good?  Today we will be exploring just that.  If you have questions about today’s blog or would like to jump start the lose it for now mentality, give us a call: 806-322-3188.

It’s easy to chose the crash diet or 6 week program because they are quick and dirty. People flock to these approaches when they should actually be seeking a long term, lifestyle changing solution. If the quick and dirty approaches peaked your interest, take a step back and consider what it is you’re really wanting out of these?  Are you wanting a meal plan? Are you looking to shed pounds for a few months? Are you just wanting a virtual someone  to tell you what to do and when to do it?  The crash diets and 6 week programs out there leave you with no way to maintain your progress. Nevermind the fact that you will gain back not only what you lost, but then some.  As a personal trainer in Amarillo for almost two decades I have seen hundreds of people experience the problem of yo-yoing. Alternating between losing and gaining regularly, keeps you in the mindset of just losing weight for now.

Yo-yoing can lead to unmanageable frustration and an abundance of health issues. Our bodies don’t respond well to frequent changes in weight. Least tolerant is your hormones. The endocrine system is very sensitive to change. It monitors your body chemistry to control your appetite, your heart rate, your sleep, etc. Yo-yo dieting throws the hormones out of whack making it harder than before to lose weight the next time you get that wild hair to go workout.

Let me illustrate my point. Over the holidays, the average person gains 10 lbs. Thinking to themselves, 10 pounds is nothing “I can just lose it in the new year.”  Problem is, they never actually shed the entirety of that bulk. Let’s say they start off January 1st and work hard. By the end of the month they’ve lost 8 pounds and they lose interest in the gym.  That is 2 lbs that is now part of their baseline weight. Multiply this scenario by 10 years, and they have now added 20 pounds of excess weight that they will work off “later”.    

Let’s stop looking for the shortcut and focus on internal health.  Here’s what we know: the state of your internal health will reflect on the outside of your body. The term unhealthy does not always indicate being sick. It could mean you are stressed. It could just mean you’ve been eating the wrong things. It could be you are combating the effects of yo-yo dieting. If you’re looking for a way to shed that excess weight and you want something to cause a lifestyle change (a common buzzword people throw around without much action behind it) then you have to quit repeating the mistakes of your past. You have to change up the way you think and what you are comfortable doing to stimulate a new response. Right?  What you tried before didn’t work, that’s why you’re subscribed to our blog.

To elicit change, focus on your wellness. Create lifestyle changes that can be maintained and shared with your family.  Crazy diets will tell you that the family can eat real food and you can cook yourself this “nutritious piece of [cardboard]” or they’ll be eating burgers for dinner while you “chow down on some tasty supplements”. It’s not rational to think you’ll still be doing that 2 years from now. Start to live within your means with health as your priority.  If you are unhealthy, you are unable to do everything else that your life requires.

How can you find health?  Start by developing habits that will spark actual lifestyle changes. Not crash diets, not programs that are “fix it and forget it” things.  You want authentic change, you need to develop authentic habits.  Not all short term programs are bad – obviously, we offer several here. The difference between a lousy and stellar short term program is the ability to maintain the habits after the program concludes.   We offer Down Size, a 6 week program, that I am very proud of. After the 6 week mark, approximately 98% of our clients choose to continue the nutritional part. This isn’t a meal plan, telling you to eat X, Y, Z everyday. That gets old fast. Instead, our nutritional component centers around educating people on how to make healthier choices habitual with things they are already eating.

If you are determined to lose your weight for good you have to evolve your habits to achieve your dream. Habit changes begin with small changes.  Another issue people experience with crash dieting is they make huge changes to their bodies, their food, and their lives all at once. In 3 days they have flipped their life upside down, no one knows who they are anymore, and no one will go to a restaurant with them because they don’t know if they can eat anything on the menu.  On the other hand, clients coming to Custom Fitness, learn how to make dietary changes and still go to restaurants because they understand their portions, balance, timing, and life outside of the bubble.  That’s the most important part, right?

Imagine crash dieting right before the holidays, then Halloween comes and a few pieces of candy becomes a few bags of candy. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just spluge haven; plates upon plates of sugary and savory goodness.  What if you had an opportunity to participate in a program where you can lose up to 2 pant size and/or 15 inches. If you end up losing a full 15 inches or more, you get a 100% refund (extra money for those Christmas gifts) and you can maintain it throughout the holiday season and beyond!  If you would be interested in that I’d love to talk with you about Down Size. It begins October 30th and we have 6 – 7 spots left. Request an application from our team. We limit our sessions to 20 people to personalize all of our services to you and what you need. We are not just a carousel of gym memberships; we want to know who you are and what you want out of your time with us.

If you’re tired of losing weight for now and ready to lose the weight for good, let’s talk: 806-322-3188 or info@customfitness.biz.  At Custom Fitness we are YOUR personal trainers in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day!