The First Deadly Weight Loss Sin

The first one of my sins needs addressing very early on if you are to succeed in a weight loss goal. This sin is the sin of "looking for external tools to fix internal problems." This is the stuff that a lot of people don't want to hear because we don't like to be responsible. This has to change for us to avoid a global obesity meltdown.

I must admit I do talk a lot about this but I believe as a weight loss coach, I have a responsibility to be honest with people and help them to understand themselves better before trying to invest time and money in exercise or diet. I want to help a small number of people achieve their weight loss goals and maintain a consistent healthy lifestyle. In order to do this, I feel I have to keep hammering home the message that exercise and diet alone is not enough.

Write this down and underline it... Behaviours will rarely change beliefs. This is a basic concept from neuroscience and the way the mind works. If you work in a job and the boss tells you to do something that you perhaps don't enjoy, you will change your behaviour to complete the task but your belief doesn't alter. This is the same for diet and exercise. A good example is the low fat lie. We have been bombarded with messages that low fat is good and high sugar, low fat foods are healthier. The truth is, this is nonsense at every level. The problem you may encounter is the faith to let go of this belief no matter want a professional tells you. The same goes for eating more of the right foods. The concept of "we need to eat less to lose weight" is so deep rooted in people, it is virtually impossible to change.

This then leads nicely in the behaviour change caused by a diet or a new exercise plan. All that can happen is that we try and outwit our beliefs by changing our behaviour. This doesn't work and anyone who has lost weight and gained back (like me) can testify to this theory. People run the risk of hurting themselves and making themselves ill by trying to "force" the change instead of looking at beliefs and really questioning ourselves on why we do certain things. Forcing the change can lead to excessive dieting and over exercising, which is not great. It also can create a "I can out train my diet" mindset which is very dangerous to long term weight loss goals.

I could go on forever on this point so let me leave this sin with the following comment. In my opinion, trying to use behaviour to change belief can create a escape from responsibility. This can give the option to blame the diet or the exercise when in reality the problem was far more deep rooted than that in the first place.

My advice as a personal trainer and paid up member of the weight loss club is to ask yourself whether you are prepared to change your beliefs about diet or exercise prior to getting involved in any sort of weight loss activity. If you are not, then you may need to accept that results will not be as great as you expect. It's a tough one but needs to be said!