Did you know that up to 95% of people who go on a diet will have regained most of the weight they lost 5 years later?
There are two ways that the word ‘diet’ can be used. We are most likely to think of diet as a short term change to what we eat as a way to lose weight, such as Atkins, “Going on a diet”. The other meaning for diet is describing the food that we usually eat, for weeks, months and years at a time. This is what needs to change to help live healthier and address weight loss. It has to be something that you can enjoy and is sustainable.
I will look at nutrition in more depth in a future article but one thing I should mention here is that you should not look at just your weight, your body composition is most important. Muscle mass is key, so you could stay the same weight but lose fat and gain muscle – a much more healthy outcome.
The key aspect though is consistency, any changes to your diet need to be consistent – you cannot live on smoothies and highly restricted calories forever, although it might seem like it at the time.
Strength training is another aspect of healthy living which needs consistency. It can take months to see the benefits of strength work, this is one reason some people give up. But once you are getting stronger then you need to continue lifting weights to stop that strength declining. Again, it has to be enjoyable and sustainable.
The same is true for cardio fitness, you are likely to see the benefits a bit quicker than strength training, but unless you are consistent then you will not be as fit or end up losing that hard gained fitness.
So consistency is King, or Queen. You need to be able to make whatever you do be part of your life so that you can do it regularly and enjoy it. The more you enjoy doing something the more you will stick at it. Don’t jump straight into a full on exercise program if you know you can’t sustain it, far better to start small and then once that is a habit, do a little more. And you don’t need to wait for a New Year’s resolution – start today!