Upbeat News From Down Under
Nope, nothing to do with science today…thought I’d share a personal anecdote.
As regular visitors to UltimateFatBurner already know, I moderate two private, members-only forums: Brink’s Bodybuilding Revealed and Fat Loss Revealed. So I get to read success stories, as they unfold in real time.
One of the most recent on “Fat Loss Revealed” concerns a lady from Australia. When she joined at the beginning of September, she was 120 kg (264 pounds). As of today, she’s 107 kg (approx. 235 pounds). She’s lost nearly 30 pounds over the last two months. She still has a way to go, but she’s made great progress so far.
But that’s actually not why I’m happy for her…when you follow the program, that’s what’s supposed to happen, after all. But she just returned from a 2+ week vacation in New Zealand. And this is how it turned out:
I weighed in today at the gym and too my amazment l lost weight whilst on holidays, now thats a 1st….. LOL!
I weighed 109.4kg before l left and today weighed 106.9kg, which means l lost 2.5kg in 2 1/2 weeks whilst on holidays. I was really happy with this as the old me would have gained 5kg.
Emphasis Mine.
Was she perfect on her holiday? Nope – she had some indulgences, but kept them within reason. She used the gyms in places she stayed when available, and incorporated extra activity into her daily routine, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator and going on walking tours. She packed high fiber/protein snacks along and asked for substitutions at restaurants where she could (and kept an eye on portions when she couldn’t). All in all, she had a great time, and was flexible in her approach to her diet/exercise, without abandoning the core principles. And she stayed in touch with the forum throughout, to get feedback, ask for suggestions, and keep us updated on how the trip was going.
In other words, not only did she make progress on her immediate weight loss goals, she also made progress on her weight maintenance goals…her trip was a textbook case of how to cope with the “real world” in order to keep the weight off after the diet is done.
Her success so far has incorporated a lot of the points that Paul and I have blogged about here, such as:
- accountability. She kept in touch with us – her forum support group – to let us know how she was coping, and to get support when she needed it. She also kept tabs on her eating and workouts…she even arranged for a couple of sessions with a personal trainer in one area she was staying.
- “principled” eating. She didn’t count calories on the trip, but most of the time she ate according to the FLR program principles. While keeping tabs on how much you’re eating is a good idea, you don’t have to obsess on it if you keep certain values in mind.
- advance planning. She went into her trip prepared to face the challenges of living out of a suitcase, and facing the challenge of restaurants…and even survived a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory!
- realistic expectations. She’s not relying on pills or “superfoods” to get in shape; she’s not trying to “lose 30 pounds in 30 days.” Instead, she’s going about it sensibly, using the only method that actually works in the long term: diet and exercise.
Ultimately, this is what it takes to get lean, and – more importantly – stay that way. Needless to state, I’m proud of her, and am really looking forward to seeing her future “after” pics.
