6 Week Transformation
Charley has lost 22lbs in exactly his first 6 weeks since joining the Cor Carp Fit family. We are extremely happy with his progress and excited for the continued success. His mentality toward health and well being has drastically changed since beginning his training. When joining, like most people, it was obvious that he was coming to the workouts because he felt like he ‘had’ to. He did the workouts, didn’t complain (too much) and trusted in the game plan. In just a few short weeks it is now very apparent that he ‘wants’ to come to the workouts. While most people don’t recognize or acknowledge these mental shifts I believe it is extremely important to note and celebrate all small victories along the way. Switching from the ‘I have to’ mentality to the ‘I get to’ mentality is one of the toughest things to do in a journey that makes you uncomfortable day in and day out.
Losing weight is great. That is why most of us are at the gym, but it doesn’t matter how much weight you lose if you feel like shit all the time. When people go to extremes to lose a bunch of weight they are almost certainly going to put it back on as quickly as they lost it. There are 2 simple questions you can ask yourself regularly to be sure that you’re losing weight the proper way:
1. How do you feel physically?
2. How do you feel mentally?
That’s it. If you can’t answer them without at least a 7/10 stop what you’re doing. Obviously, the workouts are tough, so don’t answer that physical questions in the middle of your workout! We’re talking physically day to day. How are you sleeping? How do you feel upon waking in the morning? How is your energy throughout the day? How do your muscles and joints feel? Mentally speaking, are you happier than before? Do you feel more positively about your life? Do you feel you’re gaining confidence in your abilities? But, the most important questions pertaining to diet: Do you feel like you’re depriving yourself? Do you feel hungry all the time? Do you feel you could continue with your current diet for the rest of your life? If the answer is NO it’s time to call an audible!
I am very honest and make no secrets about it, this does not get easier. In fact, it only gets harder. That is why it is so important to get stronger both physically and mentally. If you don’t really need the weight your body will ditch it fast. That is basically the easiest way to explain rapid initial weight loss when beginning a new diet and exercise routine. That is why I like to change as little as possible when starting out. I like to make one small changer per week. Imaging going to a war. You’re not going to come at your enemy with all your best weapons right at the start. You’re going to take it slow and focus on winning one battle at a time. If you bring out the big guns on day 1 that leaves you with nothing left to fight with on day 247. This is very common amongst failed weight loss journeys. They change too much too quickly unnecessarily; then when they hit a plateau they do not know what else to do so they give up. This is part of the reason a good coach is so important. These are things they can help with, but that’s another story for another day.
This is what we’ve done in Charley’s journey and he has embraced this approach wonderfully. We’re always sure to break a good sweat during our workouts, but we’re sill really working on the fundamentals. His independent workouts are focused on repeating small functional patterns to get the body used to moving in ways it hasn’t in a long time. He understands that this will advance the level of effectiveness of his workouts in the gym with the trainer. As far as the diet goes, very small changes as well. You can’t just cut everything you love to eat out of your life and expect to not fall off the wagon. In fact, we don’t even cut anything out of our diet the first month; we just focus on adding in small healthy additions that we were lacking. But again, another story for another day.
In closing I want to recap these takeaways; and my hope is that you embrace them as well as Charley has. If you’re waiting, just start. Recognize and celebrate the small victories all the way. Expect a dramatic weight drop initially, but don’t expect the weight loss to continue at that rate. Make very minor changes as slowly as possible while continuing to progress forward. Be aware of how you feel both physically and mentally. Focus on gaining a positive attitude toward fitness. Lastly, BE PREPARED TO GO TO WAR!