A recent article written in Business Insider about the biggest loser contestants has been the talk at the gym, some people have found it shocking and even frightening.
Shocking? No, not to me. But the questions and concerns from people around me have been weighing heavily on my mind. I thought I would take a minute and write from an actual perspective of having gone through a transformation like that and losing over 120lbs and keeping it off.
I want to start by saying this is from my own perspective, I encourage you to read the article and then form your own opinion.
The article discusses cutting calories, hormones and metabolism. Well guess what, you have to burn more calories then you consume in order to lose weight. And the average American diet over consumes, and sadly over consumes “empty” calories. In my opinion, I doubt the leptin hormone was actually normal in the contestants, (for more about leptin here is a great read.) The article also talks about your metabolism slowing down, … if your eating the right nutrient rich foods and strength training, your metabolism actually increases.
I think what bothers me the most about this article is that it does not dive far enough into the real reason why people are obese. I didn’t get to be over 256lbs because I sat and ate what’s in that trifle bowl pictured. I was morbidly obese because I didn’t believe I was worth living my best life, which then contributed to eating and not exercising. Seriously, people don’t carry over a hundred pounds of fat because they eat 3,000 calories a day. We put on fat because of a deeper reason.
And that’s what’s missing.
I’m sorry OPRAH it’s not about the bread. I secretly obsess that if I could have OPRAH in our gym for 3 months, her yo yo weight would be gone forever. But for those contestants on the biggest loser, that walk in and for 3 months straight, have the right foods in front of them, physicians, therapists, trainers and the gym at their fingertips 24/7….. I feel very sad for them. I watch them physically work so incredibly hard, But I have yet to see any one of those contestants put in the true hard work of changing what’s on the inside.
Jay Altman would frequently tell me through my journey, “losing fat is easy, it’s changing the way you think that’s hard.” And I would think to myself, are you kidding me? Losing fat is not easy, Losing fat is HARD! Next time your in the gym go pick up two 60lb weights and try to walk or even run with them. Easy… your crazy!
Well, my friends losing fat IS easy (I have earned the right to say that now :). Look at how many TV shows we have about fat loss, and how many people lose a ton of weight in 3-5 months. Easy.
But they haven’t put in the actual hard work.
Until you find a program that forces you to look at who you are, what your belief is about yourself, find your truly compelling reason WHY and then work through the process of really changing ……. You will never be successful at keeping the weight off.
I know first hand what it’s like to lose weight, feel good about myself for a minute because I fit into anew pair of shorts only to put the weight on again, for years I did the Yo Yo diet thing. I’m sure reading this you can relate to that same feeling, right? It’s like WHY can’t I just take 20 or 30 lbs off and keep it off?
And the reason is…… you are only dealing with the surface stuff.
If your currently more then 25lbs overweight let me ask you this, “what’s holding you back my friend?”
If your answer is: Money, time, or I just like food to much or don’t like exercise….. That’s just surface stuff.
Now , I want you to be truly honest with yourself.
….. “what’s holding you back?”
Right now, your thinking it. It’s ok, don’t push it aside and don’t make a joke about it.
I want you, right now, to say your reason out loud.
I mean it. Say it out loud to yourself. This is the tough stuff I’m talking about.
Good. I’m proud of you.
What you just did, that’s change. That’s hard work. That, in my opinion is better than minus one pound of fat on the scale.
Because just doing that, is going to keep 5 more from coming back on.
When I started at Altman Fitness, I thought I walked in the door for a boot camp class praying I would not die my first day. I had know idea that 4.5 years later, I would be where I am today; Crazy fit, extremely healthy, mindfully strong, over 100lbs lighter and so much more. I only wish those contestants could experience the same programs and solutions to weight loss that we offer. A program that sets you up to be successful ……long term. A program that has you put in the hard work first so that your future can be so much better.
You still reading this so that tells me some of this resinates with you… Let me know if your ready to put in the hard work and keep that fat off forever! I would love to hear from you.
612-454-6409
Jen