Have you ever wondered why you seem to lose motivation when it comes to losing weight
You know WHY you want to lose weight
But it just seems to never happen to the level you want it too
I read in many blog posts that if you have a strong enough WHY then you will never fail
And while that is true to an extent
Losing weight is never really a strong enough reason for most people
And it is why so many people fail when it comes to a weight loss program
Why Hiring A Personal Trainer Might Not Be Right For You
For a lot of people, when they struggle with losing weight they may well go and hire a personal trainer or join a community slimming group
Diet + Workout = Success <<< WRONG
Hiring a personal trainer does not guarantee you success when it comes to losing weight
They may have the knowledge of what you need to do
But it does not mean it is right for you
Why 'Do This, Do That' Approach Is Wrong
If a personal trainer gives you a meal plan, or calories to 'hit' each day and just expects you to do it, run away
Take your money back and go and find someone else
When you are told to just eat this and not that, or hit this many calories per day (plus your protein) then that is not enough
It is a very lazy approach to getting clients to lose weight
This Is The Secret To Losing Weight
The secret to you losing weight... and most importantly, keeping it off
Is for you to learn to develop new habits
Understand the habits you need to create around weight loss is what is important to you losing weight
But to first create a new habit you must understand how habit creation works
It is not as simple as just starting
There is a 3 step process you must understand
C.A.R
Habit creation follow 3 main steps
The 'R' in the above letters stands for reward
Example:
You come home from work and your partner is there
You then go and open a bottle of wine and pour one for you and your partner
You have both been away from each other all day so this is the time you catch up and talk about todays events
While the dinner is cooking, you pour another glass and then carry on your catching up
Now...
The Reward
Is it the wine and the taste?
Is it the time together?
Is it the catching up?
You need to understand what the actual reward is for each habit you have that you may need to change
By breaking it down in to the 3 parts (C.A.R) then you can learn each step and then what the real reward is
In this example, the reward is not the wine
It is the time together, doing something together (making dinner) and the talking
If it is the 3 above you enjoy each day this can easily be swapped to going for a walk/run/gym/class
And you still get the 'reward' you were after
Why You Lose Motivation With Weight Loss
A study in 2014 around rewards for habits was conduct using monkeys
The monkeys would press a leaver
And in return they would get a reward of a drink each time they pressed the leaver
Over time scientists change this and reduced the reward
So each time they pressed the leaver the reward got loss
Overtime some monkeys would stop pressing the leaver
Some would do it less frequently
And others would carry on as normal
What This Means For Weight Loss
When people first start to diet they can lose 3, 4, 5, 6lbs... a week for the first few weeks
But then some weeks the weight (reward) slows down and in some cases the weight may well stay the same
With the weight loss not moving (reward) some people will give up, just like the monkeys... saying this isn't the right 'plan' for them
But this is where most people, and personal trainers go wrong
The reward is mostly focused around the weight change and not the new habit creation
If your weight does stay the same
But you have still kept to your plan
Exercises when needed
Slept
Drank sufficient water
All the new changes you promised yourself to do, you have still done
Then that should be your reward
The reward to keeping up the habit and continuing to change
And that is why 'do this, do that' coaching is not right and will not get you the results you want
Your focus should be around habit creation
With habits come long-term results
Remember though... old habits are still there
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