Of course the answer to this question is tied to several different factors.
The first one always comes down to what is your motivation level and how hard are you willing to work when it gets challenging. Everyone starts off with a lot of motivation and they want to change 5 or more things about their lifestyle to make a massive change. This is just setting people up for failure because they will quickly get overwhelmed and go back to their old habits. We know you want results fast but our first objective is to not overwhelm you with too many things to work on even if we know they are going to help. Even the most advanced clients can get overwhelmed and lose motivation if they have too many behaviors to implement into their already busy life. At Nutrition1st we start with behaviors that will be keystone habits and then we anchor other habits to these behaviors. A common example is the behavior of planning and prepping your nutrition the day before. Once you can do this consistently, then it’s just about execution of your plan. It sounds simple but it’s not easy to make this a habit. Once it becomes a habit, then we can anchor another behavior to it, like timing your nutrition around your workouts. If this habit stacking is done out of order then it will eventually lead to failure because the planning process will break down and the nutrient timing won’t even matter. We like to focus on the big rocks, those behaviors that have been lost or were never learned over time because as you put those behaviors in place, a lot of the little things take care of themselves.
The second factor to consider is that weight loss is never a linear process. You may lose more one week, less the next week and then even have a week where you don’t lose any weight at all. This can be discouraging but it’s a normal part of the process. That’s why a weekly check-in with an objective coach who can make adjustments to your plan will save you frustration and keep you motivated. So how much weight can you expect to lose each week? We give people a range of weight they can lose on a weekly basis based on their current weight which is anywhere from ½ pound to a 1 ½ pounds of weight loss a week (.05% to .08% of body weight). This is true fat loss and not just fluid and muscle glycogen changes. It’s not only realistic weight loss but it is sustainable. Sustainability is what we are looking for with our clients and this leads to not only long-term success but a lifetime of health and happiness with who you are inside and out. We want you to lose weight, build healthy habits, and go on to live a healthy life long after you are done working with us. How does that sound? If you are interested in making a change but still have questions, go to our website and sign up for a free phone consultation.
Talk to you soon!
~Brant