Weight / Scales / Numbers / Bodyfat
I've been trying to write this for a while, but wanted to get it right, which I think I've done here...
I've decided to stop using weight/bodyfat/scales/numbers as a way to track progress with my clients.
If it's something they are set on, then yes, I'm happy to incorporate it, but it's not something I will lead with.
Creating and honing Fitter Confident You (my 12 week online PT programme) over the last four months has been interesting, challenging and most of all, inspiring. Seeing the original guinea pigs go through it and throw themselves into it has just been brilliant.
And the whole point of my ethos is there in the programme name: Fitter (ie. fitter than you were) Confident (ie. more confident that before) You (errr... You).
None of these things are quantifiable and from personal experience I know how much happier I've been when I've stopped trying to hit a specific number, taken a step back and looked at A what I've done and B how I'm feeling.
The worst part of running the programme has been seeing guys who have done SO well - in some cases going from doing no exercise to fitting in a healthy three sessions a week - getting disheartened because the scales didn't say what they hoped/believed they would say, even though they had been 'good' all week.
When you put a goal down on paper in black and white, it can become the most important thing in the world, taking all of your focus. And if you hit it, great! You feel great, get a little dopamine rush in your head and carry on. But if you don't (for whatever reasons, both within and beyond your control) you can feel like you've failed. Some people handle this well, others it can really hit hard, and I would never, ever want me or one of my programmes to be the cause of someone feeling shitty.
Fitness/fat-loss/muscle-gain progression is never linear and there are billions of influences on this, beyond diet and exercise. Also, the scales could be wrong!
So in short, the main goals I will be encouraging my clients to aim for, is to feel better, more confident, to do things they might not have done before, to have a better relationship with food and with their partner, to sleep better, to have more energy, to have more sex, better skin, ask for a promotion, volunteer for something, apologise for something that's been on their mind for a while, buy new clothes and ultimately: be happy in and of themselves.
Finally, as a few people have asked recently how to lose fat in a specific place: you can't. Sorry. I wish I could say that 100 crunches a day would get rid of belly fat, but I can't, because it doesn't. You cannot 'spot reduce' fat, you can only lose fat all over and see it reduce bit by bit from your different areas holding it, in the order your genes tell it to.
Book you FREE consultation call with Matt to find out if his 12 Week Programme, Fitter Confident You, is right for you and your health, fitness & mindset goals: www.fitterconfidentyou.net/onlinetraining