Willingness To Change

I never understand why fat people are so attached to their diet. It is making them fat, ill, much less attractive, unhappy and it is shortening their life. Working as a Glasgow personal trainer it can be hard to get some people to realise how bad they really feel or how much better their life would be if they lost weight. Why would anyone choose the self imposed misery of living as an overweight, unhealthy, unattractive and unhappy version of themselves? There are people who through no fault of their own are trapped in a body that robs them of the health and independence that the able bodied take for granted. It's hard to think of being fat as anything but a self inflicted disability, but one you can easily reverse if you want to.

I have worked with people who claimed they wanted to lose weight that failed completely to do so. They were all in the perfect situation to lose weight because they had professional help; excellent nutritional advice, 2 or 3 weekly training sessions and all persisted with the training for many weeks. Yet they all failed to make any impact on their weight. Why? They wasted all that time, effort and money because they were unwilling to change their diet. The changes I asked them to make were simple, essential and effective. I know this because I am a "normal" guy who lost 28lbs in 16 weeks following them. Once I was past the first 10 days or so I never felt like I was consciously on a diet of any kind. In hindsight I realised that the process was actually pretty easy, but lots of people never commit for long enough to realise that. Unfortunately I learned that you can only help those who are willing to change and that the only thing that can stop you losing weight is you.

Anyone wanting to lose weight needs to accept that their body is a direct reflection of their lifestyle. If you are fat then 99% of the time it is something you are doing is making you fat. Change whatever is making you fat and you will gradually and inevitably see your body change from the one you are trapped in to one you can be proud of. Making the required changes and sticking with them doesn't just leave you looking great, you end up feeling like a different person. All the aches and pains you live with disappear, energy levels shoot up not to mention a huge boost to your self esteem and general mood. It is worth the effort, but the benefits are rightly reserved for the people that deserve them. So make the effort, then realise that there is very little real effort needed.

Iain Smith (MPhil/CSCS) owns Standout Gym, an independent warehouse gym in Glasgow, focusing on weight loss. He offers small group training as an affordable alternative to Glasgow personal training. Iain is a former international decathlete with 17 years coaching experience. www.standoutgym.com.