“Another online coach promised me that I could lose 19kg (42 pounds) in 12 weeks. Can you do the same for me?”
This was a question I got from a online client a while back whom I started coaching through making a customized mealplan to fit her daily basal metabolic rate together with the new added strength training protocol.
My answer to my current client was:
“That it can never be guaranteed because it involves a combination of good nutrition & caloric deficit, effective training, good recovery and good stress management. So there are a lot of factors that come into play.
It is absolutely realistic that you could lose at least somewhere between 0.4kg – 0.8kg per week, but since you are not many kilos overweight, it is not as certain that you will drop that much weight because at the same time you will stronger and literally start toning, instead of what used to be the “hot thing”, which was slimming.
Think a toned body before a slim body, when you start prioritizing healthy food and strength training your body will change, fat will decrease and muscle mass will increase. I am absolutely sure that you will get incredible results after 12 weeks if you just follow the process and stick to the plan. But please understand the value of getting stronger, looking better in your clothes, having more energy throughout the day while maintaning a healthy relationship with food and your body.
And lets say that if you “only” lost, say 7kg during our 12 weeks, but you see a completely different body in the mirror and you feel a completely different feeling in your body, then that is also a good result, I would say.”
I believe it is about time we start redefining what a succesful fitness journey should look like. Ultimately it should not be about the weight on the scale, even though it can work as a great motivator to begin with but long term try to find the routines and habits that allow you to crush your goals, but in a sustainable and enjoyable fashion. Not for the upcoming 12 weeks, but as a blueprint on how to live your life.
This together with the 80/20 rule is something I have seen work over and over again with myself and clients I have coached, whether it be together in the gym or 100% through the online coaching service I provide.
