Over the past 13 years I have worked with hundreds of weight loss clients. Most of them get results initially, some play the yo-yo game, some plateau, some gain the weight back, and a select dedicated few get the results they wanted and keep the weight off. Looking back there are definite personality traits and behavior patterns that are unique to each type of client.
The first three client types share the initial trait that they view weight loss as a short term project. In their mind they can lose the weight then return to their original lifestyle.
The yo-yo client is unique in that they realize that they are putting the weight back on and repeatedly cycle through the process. They lead extremely healthy lives and go all in on exercise and diet until something derails them. This could be a holiday, vacation, or big event. They then slip back into old habits until they realize none of their clothes fit. Every time they go through this cycle it becomes tougher to cut the weight.
The plateau client usually goes really hard after one aspect of fitness and ignore the others. They hit the gym hard but half ass the diet or they hit the diet hard and half ass the gym and they rarely ever adopt an active lifestyle outside of the gym. This is the client that gets with in 10lbs of their goal yet never quite reach it or they become more athletic and definitely become healthier yet their appearance and weight do not really change much.
Finally the gain back clients simply find the process overwhelming, they have little family support and often have family and friends sabotaging their efforts. They do not think they can be social and eat healthy at the same time and often refuse to give up drinking habits. These clients are more worried about fitting in with unhealthy friends than their own health.
Now let's look at what the few clients that succeeded had in common. I would love to say that it was having me as their trainer and from all the great information I taught them, but the truth is they all took my advice to find an active hobby that they truly enjoy. To truly be healthy you have to lead a healthy lifestyle. To lead a healthy lifestyle you have to find activities that you enjoy and you become passionate about doing. That is why the best advice I can give is to get out and try things. Go for bike rides, nature hikes, swim, go skiing, snow shoeing, climb a mountain. Simply put never pass up an opportunity to try a new activity. You never know it might be the activity that saves your life.
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