How I lost a stone in a week

So you’ve probably been bombarded with emails and ads this week telling you that you can lose weight and look great in the new year!... all you have to do is work-out more, sign up to some “detox” or cut out lots of food groups....

easy right? Well unfortunately, the diet industry loves to sell quick-fixes and false promises to hook you in. Be cautious of anything that promises you drastic weight loss. So NO - I did not lose one stone in one week - and you should not aspire to either. When weight comes off that quickly - it very rarely stays off. Even the NHS warns off drastic diets and restrictive plans that encourage anything more than a couple of pounds weight loss a week.

Many of the clients that I work with feel frustrated and down after 2-3 weeks of following new healthy habits - not noticing that suddenly they have dropped 2 dress sizes. It is not that they aren’t losing weight - they are - but they are losing a pound or two a week, in a way that is sustainable long-term, rather than dramatic amounts of weight over a small period of time. Their frustration, unfortunately, is the result of all of those fad-diets, drastic cleanses and dramatic before and after pictures ... we all want dramatic and immediate results. Yet at this time of year - when anyone and everyone will try and push their new quick-fix on you - it is important to remember that lasting change comes about slowly and progressively over the course of time and by building new habits that you feel you can live by for the rest of your life.

So yes we all want a quick fix - but remind yourself that yo-yo-ing through a diet and then eating “normally” again - only seems to leave you worse off. Most people re-gain any weight they lose on a diet, plus more. Rather than aiming to do anything too drastic, perhaps focus instead on what you can do to build small but powerful healthy habits that you will be able to keep going for the long-term.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going” - Jim Rohn

If you would like to build some new habits around food and your body that you can sustain over the long-term - you can find out more about my 12 week online course in food psychology here: www.thefoodpsychologyclinic.co.uk/onlinecourse