The weight loss “miracle cure” and the fitness “quick-fix”. The world is full of these promises. With new and exciting trends in the industry popping up seemingly overnight, there are no shortage of options available to consumers. 2024 is here, and with it is a time of great promise and excitement towards making a change to our health and fitness.
Unfortunately, with New Years Resolutions, there is always the want/need to get the result as quick as possible.
In life, we are constantly looking for the quickest way to get a task done and, more often than not, that is a more than effective approach.
When it comes to health and fitness this is simply not the case.
Why?
Because we live in a world of instant gratification.
Everything around us is about speed, ease of use and quick success. Processes have been streamlined so much these days that we can place an online order and expect it at our front door within hours. Whilst these services are no doubt game changing, there are also areas in life where a ‘quick fix’ or ‘miracle cure’ is simply the wrong way of going about things.
Health and fitness is a prime example of this.
More often than not, a quick fix in health and fitness is a short term solution. I doesn’t involve knowledge, education and practical tips to ensure that the result is kept forever.
Unfortunately, the current state of the health and fitness industry is built around people chasing these quick fix solutions. Usually, in the form of the newest trend. If you combine that thought with big franchise and multinationals preying on those who are chasing them and you have a recipe for disaster.
So why should we be focusing on the longer-term solution instead of a quick fix?
Short-term often doesn’t take lifestyle into account
As previously mentioned, the health and fitness industry is built on the short term result.
All of these weight loss challenges, crash diets and newest workout trends are everywhere. Don’t get me wrong you will see some success with them…in the short term.
What they fail to take into account however is ongoing lifestyle.
Anyone can be perfect for 4 weeks, it really isn’t too hard to put life on hold in the short term. Once you start reintroducing a social life, nights out, dinners and all the things that make life enjoyable, often the wheels fall off.
These plans are either all-in or all-out.
Instead, how about this.
Healthy eating, consistent exercise and ongoing sustainable success factored in to your lifestyle. If you think you need to go without all those things that you love in order to see the success you crave, then your approach is all wrong.
Ditch the short-term view point and instead focus on ways that you have have the best of both worlds, it is entirely possible.
A short-term miracle can often lead to long-term pain
The rollercoaster ride of health and fitness success is a tried and tested formula. Everyone who has desired (and tried) to see success with their health would be familiar, in some way, with the up and down nature of a short-term journey.
Generally the rollercoaster health and fitness journey looks like this:
- Really motivated to make a change.
- Join a program that promises immediate results.
- Commit for the plan.
- Focus on it 150% for the first 4-6 weeks (and see some success).
- Lifestyle factors start creeping back in.
- Cannot maintain the requirements of the program.
- Motivation drops.
- Results go backwards.
- Quit.
This is the classic rollercoaster ride, and for most people it occurs twice a year.
When?
The new year, and the end of winter.
If you truly want to achieve the goals you are setting out for then the approach needs to change. It is vitally important that you understand that success lies with understanding that you must turn your goal into a lifestyle.
This allows you to ride the ups and downs of everyday life whilst learning along the way.
One bad week in a 4 week program makes a big impact. 25% of your success has been compromised.
What about two or three (or more) bad weeks over the course of a year? Not so much.
You (and your body) do not have time to learn and adapt to changes.
Drastically cutting calories and over training are 2 of the biggest factors at play when looking at a health and fitness miracle cure/short-term fix.
Why?
Well in the short term you will see success. Unfortunately it is not something that is sustainable long term.
This is because the body simply cannot adapt and keep up with a plan like this forever.
Yes, drastically cutting calories can lead to big amounts of weight loss. However, when a reasonable amount of calories comes back into your daily plan, more often than not, so does the weight.
The body starts to store them because it has gone so long without them, it is unsure of when it will be having them again.
This is disastrous for weight loss and is why people tend to put weight back on at the end of a big calorie deficit.
It is also worth noting that when there is a large increase in exercise there is also a higher risk of injury.
This comes down to the fact that when you go from zero to hero you are simply not giving your body enough time to adapt and recover between sessions.
When starting an exercise program, it is always worthwhile taking your time to ease into the program to avoid such risks.
A huge commitment to exercise in the short term will lead to weight loss. You are simply burning a lot more energy than you are consuming, but when that exercise drops off, so will the results.
How can you expect long term success when you are not putting in long term effort?
We are all aware of the importance of our health. Deep down we all know that we must be healthy in order to live a great life. So why with all this knowledge do we continually look for quick fixes and miracle cures?
The key to true success always lies with the incorporation of your goals into your life and not the pausing of life to hit your goals. The sooner you embrace this the better. You will be off the rollercoaster and on the path to steady success.
Unfortunately there is no weight loss miracle cure.
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