Principle vs method

Chatting to a client on a catch up nutrition video call yesterday helped them to realise that the principle of how we lose weight, is always the same.

But how we do it can change…

Well, losing weight is primarily all about putting less energy in to your body than you expend, over time. This is the principle and that does not change.

How you do this can vary massively and depends on many things like:

• Who you are
• Your lifestyle
• Your likes and dislikes
• The ways you like to learn and work

To name just a few. This is when we work on the method that best suits you.

The method can be altered and changed for each person, for whatever reason!

For example: You might have 5 stone to lose. Now in the past, I would have said the weight needs to be lost in a slow and steady way, logging everything, measuring weekly and chipping away.

This is one method, but not the only method.

This person might HATE logging, be impatient, demotivated and be horrified at the thought of measuring their girth weekly! So the likelihood is they will fall off the radar and not achieve their goal.

There is nothing wrong with the method, it follows the principle, it is just the wrong method for that person.

It might be that a highly restrictive calorie intake is adopted for the first few weeks to get some weight off, who cares that it is not ALL fat mass. But it will deliver quick results that are highly motivating for that individual.

This is another method.

After a few weeks the calories can increase and weight loss will slow. So we adjust the method.

Again this can be done an number of ways… you could:

• adopt a fasting protocol
• average out the calories for the week and allow for high and low days
• keep the calories the same everyday
• follow an example diet day where you ‘swap’ food options similar to the plan, to keep intake on par
• diet ‘hard’, then break, then diet hard and so on.

All of these are methods follow the same principle for weight loss and can be interchanged when needed. Even if it is to keep the process from getting boring!

As long as good habits are being promoted and taught during the process, many methods can be adopted.

Altering the method and/or finding one that really works for you, is important to achieving progress. Consistency is key. Find something that works for you, and stick to it.

If you need help in finding one that works for you, or need to change one you are currently following, message me at Target Active Fitness. I’d be happy to help.

DT