Losing Weight Fast Is Complete BullSh!+

     Ok so this is yet another article that my honesty will never allow me to make the truly big bucks in fitness, I'm going to have to stick with being a firefighter and setting realistic and honest goals with my personal training clients instead I guess. Going through internet forums, talking with clients, and standing in line at the super market watching people load their carts with crap I am constantly bombarded with the notion that is possible to lose significant weight in a month or less. This is complete and utter bull$^@T!
    Now, if you are looking to lose 2-4 pounds in a month, congrats, you can definitely do it, and you are on your way to getting the body you want. If you are looking to lose 4-8 pounds in a month, it is possible, the work will be hard, and your diet will have to be nearly perfect, but it's certainly possible to do it in a HEALTHY way. Now if you are looking to lose more 10-20 pounds in a month, you are either completely fooling yourself, you are severely overweight and 20 pounds will not even change your waste size, you will end up rebounding with weight gain, or you are doing something extremely dangerous to your health. Let's look at why then discuss realistic weight loss.

Losing weight fast does not work.

Ok that being said... How many readers did I just lose? Blogger tracks my views ya know? Sorry everyone, but here are some problems with rapid weight loss...

• The crazy fad diets: Yeah if I only eat a piece of toast for breakfast and drink tea all day I'll lose weight. What if I only eat protein? How about if I take a hormone I know nothing about and only eat only 500 calories a day, I'll lose weight right? Yes you will, you'll simultaneously dilute your body of a whole crap load of essential nutrients, and like every crash diet....
• They don't work!!! Everyone sets their "goal", it's always the wrong goal because the goal is to lose "X" number of pounds. The goal has to be a lifetime goal. Instead of "I want to lose 15 pounds in 21 days for my wedding", it should be "I want to lose 4-5 pounds by my wedding, but after that I want to continue weight loss until I am down to my ideal body weight, after that I want to stay committed to fitness for as long as my life will allow me to." Unfortunately even when people hit their "goal" they quickly rebound and gain back the weight or more weight!
• Losing weight fast can be dangerous. Again I'm not a doctor or a scientist, I'm a personal trainer/firefighter, so as always consult a doctor or medical professional, but out of all the damn drugs I've heard of in over a decade that people shove into their system to lose weight, they have resulted in either rebounding weight gain, health problems (typically heart) or both. The $20 pills you got to help you speed up your metabolism will cost around $3,000 for your first heart stent.
• Losing weight fast=losing muscle fast. Now for the women who are just looking to have a bikini figure and don't want to be muscular, this may not be big loss, although even for a female I think it is as muscle is a great way to advance your metabolism and keep a great shape,  and for the men, gaining a pound of muscle back is going to be a hell of a lot harder than losing a pound of weight.
• Losing weight fast will never commit you to total weight loss, and learning to lose weight and eat right takes much more than a month. Even if you have a dietitian on your payroll, you will not learn the proper diet in a month unless you've had some prior nutritional training.

Ok I could go on, but I know we are busy people and that should be a good start, now realistic weight loss!!!

Yeah, I've had a few extra pounds too, so I know how you feel.

• Start a commitment to change your diet for good not for only a month or so, you can check out some of my diet articles here, or do your own research. But the basics, you are going to start to have to GRADUALLY burn more than you take it. It's not totally that simple, but that is where you will start.
• Start a weight lifting program you can commit to, if you don't like weight lifting THAT IS OK. You don't need to lift to lose weight, although it is definitely my favorite and in my opinion the best way, and will help the most with metabolism, but it is not the only way! And if you don't enjoy it, it won't be your best option anyway because you won't stay committed. Sports, yoga, hiking, swim, etc. Find the sweat breaker that you enjoy that is anaerobic and do it 3-6 days a week!
• Monitor your body fat levels, check out this article on how to properly weigh yourself to make sure you are losing weight right!
• Start a cardio program. 4-6 days a week, get your heart rate to the proper level, 20-45 minutes depending on your goal, and the type of cardio will also determine your goal, make sure you break a sweat and know how you should feel after the workout! 
• Get in touch with people that know what they are doing and doing it safely. Your friend that has been in the gym for 5 years and is always eating grilled chicken and vegetable will be better than your friend who now says it's okay to plow through ice cream because he or she just spent $3000 on lipo suction

   But Joe, I know a guy who went on the crazy fad diet and lost all the weight and never gained it back. That's great, and I believe you, but I also know my training partner Steve has traps I could only dream of and never does traps, I know 90 year old women that smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drink more whiskey in a night than I do in a month, but we are talking about the majority, not the exceptions.
    Overall, remember that being healthy should not be a chore, it should be something you are ready to enjoy and make a part of your life. I know it will be hard for you to make these changes, but make them in small steps and they will pay off in big ways. If you think it may take you 6 months to lose 25 pounds yeah that sucks, and you'll miss the wedding, spring break, beach, whatever you wanted to be cut up and lean for, but in the long run, there will be more holidays, vacations, and special events, and you'll be fit for a lifetime instead of rebounding.

Feel free to email or facebook me with more specific weight loss questions!


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Consult a doctor or medical professional before beginning a diet or fitness program.

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