It is really hard to stay on a diet, no matter how doable it is. It’s just not realistic to think that you can stick to any regimen perfectly. There will always be parties, special events, vacations and so forth that will include food that is likely not on any healthful diet. Does that mean you should always expect to gain back weight that you have lost?
I recently had a conversation with one of my clients who had gradually started to add foods and beverages to her diet that she had previously eliminated. Some of it was just a gentle relaxing of her plan, and the rest was due to a stressful travel schedule.
We had worked together on her nutrition a while back and she had successfully lost almost twenty pounds and improved all her lab results. So when she realized that it was time to not only take off what she gained back, but go for more, she asked me what she should do. I simply suggested that she go back to the beginning. And she did.
What is really great about her situation is that she didn’t look back at the plan we had worked on as some kind of torture. She liked the foods and not only did she feel successful at losing weight, but she also had established a baseline for the future. She knew she didn’t feel deprived or hungry on the plan so she had no resistance to do it again. And again she was successful.
There are two things that worked really well for her. First, we made some modifications to the plan that individualized it to her needs. That kind of flexibility is a must for any program. And second, she learned to manage her food intake not just in the short-term, but long into the future. She will always have a basic framework to return to that is comfortable and manageable.
The bottom line here is not to be shortsighted. It’s fun to have these “race to the finish” type contests, rewarding the “biggest loser”. But in the long run, members need to have long-term solutions. So have the competitions, but reward the winners with a chance to experience a weight loss plan that they can stick to successfully.
It’s not too soon to start thinking about the January “resolutioners”, if you haven’t already. Have a comprehensive weight loss program ready to go. In fact start now and suggest that members can lose weight before the Holidays. Why wait?
Judith Samuels, M.A. is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant and master personal trainer at Sport&Health Clubs in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. She can be reached via e-mail at judi@judisamuels.com.
