I had this member who used to be slim in her twenties but couldn't get rid of the gained 10kg bodyweight after giving birth to her two kids. She was then 168cm and 72kg, overweight, and unhappy with her appearance. She was mainly taking care of the kids every day, which meant little sleep and unregular and unhealthy eating patterns when they were too young to go to kindergarten. She tried different diets, including intermittent fasting, carb-cycling, keto-diet, and vegan. Every time she lost two or three kilograms, she regained them within a month.
There were a few things that I wanted to understand when I started working with her. It is essential to look at a person with a holistic view and treat her based on the findings. In my time as a coach and life changer, I have not seen a person who starts working out, loses 10kg of body fat, and then stays there without making significant changes to her life, her perspective on life, and herself.
Our body shape reflects, quite some extent, how we treat ourselves. Not only can we see someone overweight or underweight but also how that person carries herself. A person's body posture improves in most cases when this person starts to work out regularly. With every workout finished, self-worth is elevated, re-established, and directly impacts how this person looks at the world and how she perceives herself. We all feel great after a challenging workout.
Now you could argue that posture and bodyfat ratio have nothing in common. The thing that connects not only these two visible features of each individual but everything, including the person's health and cognitive ability, is the mind. The brain, as the center of the mind, must be reprogrammed if we want to achieve long-term changes in our appearance and health. One of the most critical aspects of a life-changing experience and a fat-loss journey is the mental challenge of neglecting previous cravings, exchanging old habits with new ones, and being persistent.
My point is that everything is connected through the mind and can be positively or negatively impacted by it. We need to use the power of our conscious mind to change the unconscious mind. The conscious mind tells us to lift iron, run or play football after a tough working day. The unconscious mind tells us to sit down and have ice cream while we indulge ourselves in Netflix productions that are made for such situations.
Why does one person go to the gym after work while another orders pizza and beer? It may even be the same person! One day she works out; the other day, she falls back into binging pizza. What's wrong with that person? NOTHING. She has not yet found a way to break her habit of consuming such foods after work.
For now, I want you to understand that the mind shapes the body. If we wish to achieve long-term change without Jo-Jo effect, the first step is understanding our problematic habits. This can be sleeping late at night, eating lots of processed foods and simple sugar, consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, or regularly consuming other drugs. Once we know these habits we can start working on fixing them. I will talk about habit-breaking and building in one of my following articles.
Stay strong!
Constantin
Personal Training in Beijing, Personal Trainer Beijing, Fitness Trainer Beijing