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Article: Not Fast Enough?
by Phil Kaplan
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I regularly speak in front of audiences made up of personal trainers from around the world. They all have the best of intentions. They all have an undying desire to help people. They all have a common frustration. Results can't happen fast enough, at least not from the client perspective. Trainers are plagued by false expectations. Their clients want too much too soon!
People are easily lured by quick weight loss solutions, and by utilizing some tricks such as forced water loss, appetite suppression, and muscle catabolism, unscrupulous product marketers can deliver weight loss to the tune of 30 pounds in 30 days. That synthetically sets the bar. In other words, once someone experiences a 30 pound drop on the scale in a single month, they begin to believe that type of weight loss is possible.
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The part of the equation that is crystal clear to trainers but often elusive to victims of the fraudulent offerings is . . . they gained the weight back!!! In fact, the odds are they’re fatter shortly after the residual weight loss began.
If you want “overnight” results, you have quell that little voice in your head that makes you feel as if “energy shifts” or “clothes fitting differently” just aren’t enough. Energy shifts and clothes fitting differently are indisputable evidence that positive shifts are taking place.
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Here are some of the thoughts, sensible thoughts, that can help you wrap your arms around the idea of results manifesting slowly.
Have you been on a diet in your life and lost weight? If you're like most Americans the answer is "yes," but was that the only diet you ever went on? If you're like most Americans the answer is "no." If any diet "worked," would there be need for another?
With all of the "quick results" offerings, if even a handful were legitimate, would our population be more deconditioned than ever in history?
When you went from being 3 feet tall as a child, to 4 feet tall, were you able to see the growth happening moment by moment as you looked in the mirror?
If you've put weight on over the past decade, were you able to watch your belly or your thighs grow, to videotape the expansion?
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The body has an amazing ability to shift, to actually alter its composition, but those alterations take time. The human body has to build new cells, has to gradually release energy substrates, and has to go through metabolic and endocrine changes that coax physical transformation one step at a time. You can't "see" the changes as they're taking place, not from day to day, not from moment to moment, but you can lose weight quickly by losing water or by kicking the body into a catabolic state where it sacrifices valuable, metabolically active muscle.
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In the quest for physical change, there are several challenges including a need for commitment, a bit of discipline, and a willingness to summon up some effort and willpower, but patience may be the greatest challenge of all. Here’s the real struggle. Without patience, you become your own worst enemy.
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Quick results are temporary results. Quick weight loss equates with metabolic impairment. Attempting to "lose weight overnight" or "build muscle in minutes" is an exercise in futility, and while there are many people in the world willing to promise unrealistic miracles, not a one of those people are as committed to the fitness truth as yours truly.
If the goal is “long term physical improvement,” then recognize that you’re a human being, and as a human being you are subject to the innate limitations nature has placed upon us.
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Here’s the good news.
If you’re willing to accept and recognize that gradual results can be consistent and ongoing, you’ll recognize that in a short period of time (not overnight, but in a matter of weeks) you’ll see glaringly clear evidence that you do in fact have control over your body.
Next time the little voice of discouragement says “not good enough,” use those two simple words that quell that nagging little pest. Very politely ask it . . . no, command it . . . to Shut Up! Then go ahead with the plan, with the program, proceed along the journey with the confidence that you won't ever need to travel down this road again. You're on your way to the destination and when you arrive, new potential awaits!
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