Unsolicited fitness advice

I read something this morning that put me into a bit of a mini rant mode. Nothing wrong with a little rant afterall. However, I have decided to make constructive use of this particular rant and address something that has been bugging me for a while.

Unsolicited fitness advice.

You can judge a persons actions based on their results, that is a fact. Or is it as simple as that? You get the results, excellent!! Then what? In a year from now will those results still be the same? Better? Worse…?

Behind all the weight loss/muscle building results there is the story of how that person got there. I’ve told you my story in this blog, you’ve seen my starting point. And I managed to do it without trying to flog you products from various supplement companies. Bonus.

While telling you their story though, quite often in there somewhere will be the line “you should try *insert product here* without that I’d never had done it.” Or… “I just gave up carbs and the weight fell off.” Or… “I cut out ALL toxins, no sugars, no meat, no beans, I just eat leaves now.”

Whatever the recommendation is it’s either unhelpful e.g “I just ate less” or unrealistic “I only eat for one hour a day” or downright expensive “I signed up to *insert company here* and paid *extortionate amount of money* each month and they worked it all out for me, I just need to sit and eat when they tell me to.”

After these conversations there is the inevitable feeling of being lost, feeling down, feeling that these people are all in on one big secret and you’ll never get there. After all, you refuse to give up your carbs/fats/meat, you want to eat for more than 1 hour a day and you can’t afford to pay £100’s to a company so they can send you shakes to drink.

If someone tells you that their story involved hard work, dedication, exercising when they didn’t want to and choosing healthy foods when they wanted to have a take away, if it involves the down days as well as the up days then that is a pretty typical picture of how it is to lose weight. This person may just be telling you the truth!

If you see a sensational story about how this person got from point A to point B without those hard days, without having to sacrifice foods or alcohol, without dreading their workout (at least once) or even worse not working out at all (!!!!), then do yourself a favour and stop them right there.

There are a few facts about weight loss that we forget, what needs to be remembered is this:

1. Weight loss takes time. Yes, TIME. It took you time, sometimes years, to put all this weight on, it will take you time to lose it too.

2. There are no safe short cuts. Yes you could cut out carbs completely, or stop eating altogether, you could drink nothing but water and go to spinning every day and you will lose an exceptional amount of weight, but it’s not long lasting. It’s not healthy. It’s not safe.

3. It is about calories. Sorry, but it is. You cannot ignore the rules of thermodynamics. Whether you over eat 500 calories of snickers bars or 500 calories of kale you WILL gain weight if you eat too much.

4. It’s not always as simple as ‘eat less, move more’. There are many aspects of fitness and health that get ignored. Rest, Sleep and Stretching are the most commonly forgotten activities that will determine your success.

5. Every technique works for SOMEONE, but you are not just someone. Everyone is unique and there is no point killing yourself with an unrealistic workout regime and diet if its a technique that is not suitable or safe for you.

In the fitness world there are lots of people just waiting for an opportunity to tell you what to do. And sometimes that is what you need. It is easy to get lost, whether it’s because someone is purposefully trying to confuse you, or whether there are just so many options that you can’t decide which is for you.

So, to help you out, some guidelines:

1. Approach someone who knows what they are talking about, a personal trainer (level 3 or 4) is the best bet. You can also go down the medical route and speak to your GP or dietician.

2. Anyone who says “you know what you need to do…” without first talking to you about what you WANT,  ignore them. They have NO idea what you need to do.

3. Listen to your trainer but question them also, you are paying them, if they’re telling you to do something and you don’t understand why – ask! Clients should be leaving each consultation or appointment fully informed of what the plan of action is and why.

I wrote this blog post because I am so tired of seeing advice handed out to people who need help, by people who have no idea what they are doing. Yes, the guy/girl who teaches your zumba class MIGHT be properly qualified to help you with your weight loss journey, but not necessarily. You *can* become qualified to teach classes in a matter of weeks, or even days, with no nutritional education and be set upon the world to give out your personal view on how it should all work with nothing to back it up.

The right advice IS out there, but like the weight loss itself, it’s not always easy to find. If you want help with your weight loss journey or with any aspect of your fitness, do get in touch with me and we can work out a plan.

– Ainzlie x