As we get lazier or older (or both), we start to lose our original shape and things start to go south. Don’t blame gravity for this! And if you have no underlying health conditions that might exacerbate your physical shape, the responsibility falls entirely on you.
In today’s world, we perceive excess body fat as a physical anomaly that is weighed (pardon the pun), against many variables. Whether it’s the latest fad, the most recent hype or scientific research, the most popular trends or incessant marketing coupled with the most popular celebrities, they all, unfortunately, influence society and project an unrealistic and distorted image of what we should aspire to, or how we should look.
While this may create an impact and in many cases, induce an exercise regime, it does not support the hard fact that weight loss begins in the same place where weight gain first took its roots, and in the most unlikely of places, at that – in the head!
For a moment, let’s consider how we might find ourselves in the predicament of being overweight to the point whereby it impacts our quality of life. For the most part, we have to enact some key variables that have an overlap with the steps required for weight loss:
- Firstly, it merits ‘effort’ (albeit what might be perceived as comfortable and enjoyable effort in the short term, but effort, nonetheless).
- Additionally, this goes hand-in-hand with ‘consistency’ – another characterise necessary to pile on the pounds.
- Consistency therefore is the precursor of ‘habit’ – another remarkable ingredient in the journey to getting heavier and out of shape!
- And conclusively, all tossed into the melting-pot of ‘time’ for without this, there would be no excessive weight on anyone’s frame as I am unaware of any individual that goes to bed at night in good physical condition, and wakes up in the morning out of shape or with excessive fat on their body.
So there you have it – effort, consistency, habit and time! Very often, the very steps that got you into your unfavourable predicament in the first instance, are the same ones that you must first incorporate to get you out of that same predicament and into a better way of living.
When I worked as a registered art therapist, body image and its implications for clients was profoundly impacting. It could incessantly encroach on a client’s quality of life. In our fitness service, the issue of body image is equally evident with both mind and body intrinsically interlinked when it comes to the whole area of weight issues and the desire for weight loss. I am continuously trying to convey this to clients and members. Clients are surprised to learn that a very large portion of the responsibility for getting results out of an exercise regime, falls to them. On the whole, it is primarily their responsibility and necessitates a change in lifestyle rather than a just an exercise plan or change of diet. Upon realising this, it can be daunting at first but empowering thereafter and much of our work as a team, is in trying to empower our clients to work hard with us, in order to achieve the body shape they aspire to.
Of, course these are simplified assertions that omit many other factors such as body type, body age and a plethora of scientific or physiological factors that impact on body shape and weight, or on a weight loss journey in general.
In the next blog, I’ll be touching on these areas in more detail and recommending some important supplements from Holland & Barrett, to assist with losing weight and toning your body.
It’s a step by step process but as the old adage goes, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.
Image: David Coughlan, embarked on his weight loss journey by integrating some fundamental practises into his lifestyle. He originally clocked the scales at 26 stone and lost over 8.5 stone in the process. It all begins in the mind!
You can read about his journey here.
Johnny
