Home > Getting In Shape > Fat Loss

Weight Loss - Considering Fat Loss - Perfection isn’t the answer

By Paul Stephen Lubicz – The Wellbeing Manager

Are you training your butt off day in and day out, week after week, trying your best to eat well - yet you always seem to end up getting nowhere and finishing up without the results you set out for in the first place? Looking at how we view a health and exercise regime is a good start to help get results. Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Do you eat a meal not in your desired eating plan then decide to gorge yourself with every bit of junk food you can get your hands on for the rest of the week, thinking that you will start again on Monday but never do?

Do you beat yourself up if you were unable to make a session at the gym or in the park due to work or family commitments?

Do you weigh yourself every day, then on discovering you've put on half a kilo, freak out?

Do you decide that after your first month of training that if you aren’t in the perfect shape you will throw it all in?

If you recognise some of these examples it is very likely you are being way too hard on yourself!

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment. Setting goals and focussing on them is essential to become successful with your program - but expecting yourself to perform a miraculous transformation within a short time span is unrealistic and can be negative towards achieving your ideal weight. Setting achievable goals is the way to go, each time a small goal is met it will spur you on towards your ultimate target.

Try using some of these strategies to help work towards balance in your lifestyle exercise program.

Avoid trying to please others and not yourself

Being focused on trying to look a certain way to impress friends, family, work mates, partners etc can be detrimental to your progress, because if the goal isn’t yours the drive will not be the same and you will find it harder to stay on track. Set out to reach a health and well being goal that you want and you will find it much easier to reach.

Be Realistic

Trying to look perfect all of the time for the most part isn’t possible. I know many of us would like to look like someone from the cover of the latest magazines 365 days per year.

• Perfect body
• Chiselled abs
• No cellulite
• Veins or muscles sticking out everywhere

More often than not the model on the magazine cover has been dieting to get into shape for the picture shoot also has been airbrushed by a computer graphics artist, had the benefits of a make-up artist and the added effects of lighting to help with definition and shape of the body.

I am not saying you can't look great - you can - but don't be so hard on yourself because you aren't able to look perfect all of the time. So what can you do about this issue of wanting to be perfect?

Give yourself some flexibility

Eating foods that don’t fit into an eating plan needs to happen once in a while, it’s always recommended having one day off per week from your workouts and eating plan so you can enjoy some of the foods with high calories and don’t let your balance shift. This doesn't mean going all out and attending an "all you can eat" restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It just means that you can be more lenient.

Re-assess why you are following a lifestyle exercise, nutrition plan in the first place

Getting into shape is about improving quality of life and your health - not stressing you out! Get real about your program and set goals that are so easy to reach that you know you will achieve them within the allotted amount of time. This ensures you will never let yourself down and it will encourage you to be enthusiastic about your new goals.

Make the effort to change your behaviour

Take control and choose to be "ok" with no expecting a strict regime of perfection. Think about it, what’s the worse that could happen? You could actually start to enjoy the experience and benefits of feeling healthy and getting into shape and having that bit more energy to get through the day.

Its all in the Attitude

The wrong attitude towards your health and fitness plan can and will, in most cases, ruin your chances of reaching the results you want. It's your choice to make your program fun or a chore and whether you're going to succeed at your goals or not. Be honest with yourself and challenge your original thoughts of what is involved in getting into shape. Working intelligently and realistically will help avoid the unintentional ruining of your receiving the benefits of an exercise program.

With exercise and nutrition we do all have ups and downs there's nothing new about that - so there is no need to torture ourselves when moderation and consistency is the key to results?