Why 9/10 people fail to ever reach their weight loss goals
Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes
Instagram: @samlukejones
Let’s talk independence (and individuality), trust me, it will be worth the few minutes of your life!
Why do 9/10 people never achieve their fitness related goals? besides the fact they are fighting that greedy and lazy primitive brain of theirs (actually a real thing), they also live in a world where they are placed into the same dam box (WE AIN’T NO ROBOTS YO).
Whether it be those pesky generic ‘meal/exercise plans’ that make me want to shove raw onions in my eyeballs (alright, a bit dramatic, but you get the point), or people trying to copy what someone else is doing. Both, on the face of it, can be appealing because you’re being told exactly what to do.
But here’s the catch…only you know you. Now, that may sound obvious, but it is something often overlooked by many who want to improve their body shape. In the long run, you make it more difficult because you try to overhaul your life and habits to unnecessarily suit that generic meal/exercise plan, or to match what that person on Instagram is doing. When it should, in fact, be the other way around!
This is exactly the approach that helped one of my students Nathan lose ten stone in a year (image below). Individuaility in ones weight loss journey cannot be overstated.
Your approach has to be individual to you;
How many times a week can YOU train?
What foods do YOU enjoy eating?
How many calories should YOU be eating?
How many meals a day do YOU want to eat?
Do you get my drift here?
Here’s how I educate my clients, and how I lead my own life; [comes closer to the screen in anticipation of a jaw-dropping secret tip] I lay the fundamental principles out bare like a blank canvas. I simply give someone a guideline calorie target for their own body/goal (coupled with a daily protein target) and then teach them how to use a food tracking app in a non-obsessive, stripped back way. They view their calories over a seven-day average; allowing them to over-consume on some days if out socialising, and pull them back other days.
This allows them to answer those above questions themselves, it allows them to be individuals. They decide what they fill their calories up with, they decide when they eat! They become independent because the ball is in their court; I highly recommend you do the same!
The same applies to exercise. I ask how many times on average a week they can train, right now. Then build a workout routine based on that. It evolves if they start exercising more.
Heed my advice on this one. Those fancy named ‘plans’ and Insta workouts are unlikely to get you long-term results. It has to be about you. The process is complex, yes. But you need to be mentored in a way that allows you to eventually walk away independent. People come on board with me for varying periods of time; some only six months, some two years. But the end goal is always that they walk away knowing what they are doing (hello lifestyle change).
Sustainability is key. And that comes from being independent in how you apply the fundamentals of weight loss (or weight gain, depending on your goal) into your life, both nutritionally and exercise wise.
For daily weight loss tips, dont forget to follow me on Instagram – @samlukejones
Keep eating the cake,
Sam Jones Fitness
