More...
Interval Fat Loss
Fat loss is easy, until you figure out how hard it is.
Actually, the act of fat loss isn’t all that challenging, its keeping the damn weight off where most people fail.
I have seen percentages as high as 97% of people are regaining the weight they lost or more within 3 years. The challenging part with fat loss research is much of it is focused on the short term, 18 months or less, so the results are a little conflicting.
Here in lies the conundrum of quick fixes. The client gets great results, but when the quick fix is over, they gain it all back because they don’t have a system to keep improving. They can’t sustain the motivation it takes to do a quick fix long term so they just fall back into the same patterns that made them seek out a quick fix in the first place.
What if we changed our approach where we got the awesome results of quick fixes but between quick fixes developed the long term habits to maintain that success. Change the conversation from having to lose every week to lose a ton really quickly then focus on not gaining for the next couple months with an emphasis on habit development.
Lets be honest, quick results get the client AND us, the coaches, excited. We feel validation in our work. We know though as an industry quick results very rarely signal long term success, about 3% succeed. That number is pretty sobering. Despite our proclamation as being fat loss experts 3% of our people are succeeding long term.
***Side Note: I don’t have any research to back this up but my thoughts are that people who are working with a coach have a much higher success rate. Just like business owners who have business coaches typically do much better than those on an island.
What Really Works
With the “all-out, all the” time approach I have found that most people can’t sustain the high motivation for extended periods of time. They can however sustain that high motivation for anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.
What if we approach fat loss like we program high intensity interval training.
We provide periods of high multi-habit focus and compliance followed by periods of singular habit focus. Much like interval training we would have sprints followed by a nice easy focused jog.
“Veronica and I are trying this new fad called jogging. I believe its ‘jogging’ or ‘yogging’, it might be a soft ‘J’, I’m not sure. But apparently you just run for an extended period of time.” – Ron Burgundy
This approach would give us the quick results of a short sprint but then the long term habits and skills of a one habit at a time approach, our “jog”.
The focused “jog” would allow the client to stop focusing on the scale or their body fat percentage but rather focus on the habits to live a healthier, happier life.
How to Implement
How does one go about implementing this?
This is how I lay out my calendar.
Transformation Contests in January (6 weeks), May (4 weeks), and September (6 weeks).
Between contests clients would be working on self-regulation, choices, and implementation. No counting calories, no Jenny Craig meals, but a system of habits, education, and social reinforcement.
Habits first that teach someone the “how” of eating like learning how to manage hunger, learning how much to eat, and learning how to listen to cues the body gives us.
Then moving into the “what” to eat like protein, carbs and fat.
Habits like….
- Eat Slowly
- 80% Full
- Take Probiotic and Fish Oil Daily
- Protein with each meal
- Vegetables with each meal
- Drink 2L of water
- Good fats daily
- Sleep 7 hours a night
- Earn your carbohydrates
This approach gives the client the spike in motivation that challenges provide but then emphasizes the skills for long term success that habits provide.
This whole process is cemented by a community of people and a coach. It can be a Facebook group, an accountability group that meets weekly, or any other safe place for clients to learn, question, and share.
Give it a shot and see how it goes. I think clients will find this a refreshing approach. Your bottom line will thank you so will your community.