Why Slow Weight Loss is the Key to Your Glow Up
In my time as a bikini fitness athlete I saw some slow weight loss tactics that really worked, and some fast weight loss tactics that had disastrous consequences.
I know you're impatient to lose weight fast - but imagine the person you want to become. How does that person look and how does she FEEL? It cant all be about looks, surely you want to feel amazing and glow from the inside out too?
That brings me to the first reason why fast weight loss is not the answer.
Fast weight loss and the health implications
Losing weight too quickly can cause so many inner health problems like massive dehydration, a huge loss of nutrients and minerals from the body, extreme fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, muscle loss, sagging skin....the list is endless. The results of this are that you may have lost some weight but you will look and feel terrible! I'm sure that wasn't the picture of yourself you had in mind. I saw so many girls backstage having to glue in fake hair, because they had massive hair loss and brittle hair caused by the extreme dieting regime that had just put themselves through. There is nothing attractive about malnutrition I can assure you.
Fast weight loss & the habits that didn't go away
The habits that got you to be overweight in the first place didn't just disappear overnight because you did a crash diet for a couple weeks. As soon as the crash diet is done, you slip back into your usual lifestyle & habits and the weight will creep back on. One of the first things we did when starting our 'competition prep' would be to make instant lifestyle changes that would create an environment that would support our plan over the next 4 months (socialising at events that involved drinking alcohol immediately got excluded for example).
Fast weight loss and the "spring-back" effect
One of the unavoidable side effects of trying to lose weight too quickly is that your mind and body will fight back almost immediately. If you suddenly massively decrease calories, there is a huge impact on the mind and body and our base survival instincts will kick in leading to massive and uncontrollable bingeing. This happened to me during my second ever bikini fitness prep about 3 months in. I dropped my calories too fast one week and I pretty much blacked out and binged so hard that my stomach got so upset and I didn't even make it to the bathroom before it all started coming out of me again!
My advice:
1. Block out 4 months to lose the weight slowly (this is a good amount of time for the average person who has up to 20lbs to lose). If you are morbidly obese your program will be longer term and you should consult with a doctor to give you a more accurate time frame.
2. Start with a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day (see my other blog on how to calculate this)
3. Make a conscious effort to analyse your lifestyle and create an environment your diet can survive in. Notice sources of stress or things that trigger comfort eating eg.. job, relationships, past trauma.....and start fixing these things so that you can build the lifestyle that supports the person you want to become.
4. Failing is part of the process, its not a signal to stop. Each time you eat something off plan or break the diet, you need to journal and reflect why this happened and what plan you can make to replace this habit with a healthier habit for next time. Go slow and aim to get better at managing this habit long term. Strong habits die hard, don't get disheartened.
Trust me when I say the confidence you are going to feel each week that you successfully execute slow weight loss, and bring yourself closer to a genuinely better version of yourself (that will stick), is going to be life changing
Nicky x