A more fit body, improved sleep, increased self-confidence, the benefits of shedding weight are pretty much endless. But why do we still find it challenging to begin a weight loss plan? Once we finally start, why is it so difficult to adhere to the diet and exercise regimen in the long term? If you have previously tried to lose weight but failed, maybe it’s time you get the help of a weight-loss coach.
You Cannot Do It on Your Own
It’s relatively “easy” to start when you first decide to start losing weight. After all, there are so many diets and exercise regimes for you to choose from (also potentially part of the problem). Plus, you are very motivated to do away with those extra pounds at the beginning of any weight loss effort.
But after a few weeks of staying away from alcohol (and sweets or whatever your weakness is) and following your given regimen, you begin to go off track little by little. A little taste of something not on your weight loss plan, then dinner out with friends starts to sound perfect. You begin to remember how much you’ve missed a glass of your favorite wine, and those early morning exercise sessions start to lose their appeal.
Before you know it, the weight-loss plan you were so gung ho about becomes a stumbling block to doing what you would rather be doing. You then skip an early morning workout for a couple of days or decide that a glass of wine or cocktail isn’t going to kill you. You promise yourself to work harder at the gym the next day, but don’t.
Next thing you know, you are back to skipping meals, eating whatever is available at your work lunch and missing exercise sessions. You’ll be back to those habits that prevent you from living a happy, healthy life. What’s worse is that this tendency can throw you into an unending cycle of yo-yo dieting.
A Weight Loss Coach Can Help
The fact is, life always happens. The important thing is whether you allow it to stop you from changing your bad habits or hinder you from beginning new ones. It would help if you have an outside perspective, helping you remain focused and motivated when losing weight.
And that’s where a weight loss coach can come in. Without someone who is advising and holding you accountable, it’s natural to go off track – or completely stop your diet or exercise plan. A weight loss coach will help you maintain focus on your goals.
Frequently, we are too close to our challenges to see a way to get around them, and our emotions and negativity don’t make things any easier. A weight loss coach will provide accountability, helping you look at your situation from the outside and suggest ways to stay motivated. They will remind you of your initial motivations to lose weight, improve your health, and help ensure you stay on track.
Below Are Five Things A Weight Loss Coach Can Do for You:
1. Evaluate your weight loss needs objectively
A coach will look at your health from an outside perspective and help you establish an objective target. Many times, clients at our weight loss clinic begin with an arbitrary number in mind. They may have an antiquated idea that weight is weight, but that’s not true. Relying on the scale weight alone can work against you, keeping you from achieving your goals.
At BioIntelligent Wellness, we do full body composition analysis (BCA for short) to evaluate your lean mass and fat mass and set your weight loss goals. Body composition (and a resting metabolic rate test – if required*) allows us to establish your goal and monitor the success of your diet. Why? It’s a well-known fact that there are three physiological body types (somatotypes): endomorph, ectomorph, and mesomorph. Each body type will have a different “ideal weight” based on a combination of lean mass (muscle mass) and fat mass. If you are only basing your success on the number on a scale, you may be inadvertently sabotaging yourself and your ability to maintain your goal weight.
Moreover, while you may achieve your weight loss goals on similar diets, these body types are predisposed to gaining and regaining weight differently. A weight loss coach will help you lose weight and show you how to live off a diet without worrying about regaining weight. For most men, the target body fat is typically between 12-20%, and for most women, the target body fat is between 18-25%.
An over-reliance on scale weight alone prevents you from seeing your real progress and may even discourage you from continuing a plan that is working. We find this very often when clients come to our weight loss clinic with high body fat. Their BMI may not be in an obese range. However, their body fat puts them at more risk than their BMI. When on a weight loss plan, it’s common to lose focus and be overwhelmed, especially if you can’t see the progress you expect on the scale. When the scale isn’t moving quickly enough, it’s also easy to criticize yourself and allow negative feelings to prevent you from persevering. These scenarios are precisely where your weight loss coach can come in.
2. Create the ideal weight loss plan for you
A weight loss coach will design a weight loss plan that suits your individual needs. It will make sure of striking the right balance between exercise and proper nutrition to fit your body’s metabolism – and your lifestyle.
While many body types can find success on similar diets, there are more considerations for maintaining. Our nutritionists will first begin with a complimentary consultation to learn more about you, your history, goals, lifestyle, and more to help you select the most effective plan to suit your desired results.
Nothing is worse than being on a diet and not getting results, disliking the foods, or engaging in workouts you dread. A coach will help get you started on the right track and eliminate wasted time, effort, and money.
3. Help you remain focused on your weight loss goal.
A coach will get you back on the weight loss track if you deviate from your diet, have a schedule change that prevents you from getting in your planned workouts, or navigate challenging social requirements. Sometimes, life presents us situations we can’t easily handle. Hence, we often use these experiences to make excuses to deviate from our goals, or as excuses for our failures.
Your coach will help you be more objective about your individual needs and issues. This will ensure that you learn how to offset hurdles and regain focus moving forward even if you get off track.
4. Motivate you when you are not feeling motivated
Initially, when starting diets, clients are gung-ho about their goals and desperate to get started. Without a coach, they will typically begin to lose interest in their original purpose, and the motivation begins to wane. After a few days or weeks of this, they stop following their program altogether. This illustration is the definition of human nature and occurs even to the most committed of us. There are many reasons for this. But, a weight loss coach will motivate you and get you back on track even when you are least motivated.
Remember, you are not the first person to suffer from a lack of motivation when losing weight. By being focused and objective about your needs, a coach will motivate you and keep you going.
5. Keep You Honest & Hold You Accountable
It is easy to regress to our old bad habits when there’s no one to keep us honest and accountable. You cannot expect your partners or friends to do that for you in the same way you can while relying on a coach. Like you, your friends and family are untrained and have their issues to manage and address. That aside, who wants additional pressure in a personal relationship?
Conclusion
With experienced coaches tracking your progress and reminding you where you are and where you want to be, you will achieve your weight loss and fitness goals very quickly and effectively. While many people may resist the added cost of a weight loss coach, what is the price of not achieving your goals or staying on a diet longer than you need to be?
Are you still wondering if a weight loss coach might be your key to success? Click here to schedule a FREE consultation with one of our coaches today or call us at 858-228-3644 to get started.
