Once the decision to get healthy and lose weight kicks in, we want it now!!
It’s a mixture of excitement, expectation, and a need for instant reward.
Most people on AstonRX will lose a maximum of 10 per cent of their body weight in 28 days. So, if you weigh 70kg, you’ll likely lose 7kg in 28 days.
But it doesn’t happen at the same pace for everyone. There are many factors that interfere with your ability to lose weight, chiefly that everyone is at varying stages of disrepair on entering the program.
Maybe you’re extremely insulin resistant, your liver is in bad shape, or your muscle mass is severely depleted, affecting the efficiency in your body’s ‘engine’.
There may be medications you’re taking that can interfere with your blood sugar or you may be super stressed and we all now the impact that has on our body to function well. It particularly affects insulin levels and the body’s efficiency at accessing stored fat.
Some people blame their age but it’s only relevant as a marker of how much muscle tissue you’ve lost by not doing any strength training. We lose 8-10 per cent of muscle tissue each decade after the age of 35 and that rate accelerates after the age of 50. Most people in their 50s who don’t do regular strength training have already lost 15-20 per cent of their lean muscle tissue, impacting the size of their metabolic engine.
It’s important to be kind to your body. Think of it as your car that may have a few missing parts and is in dire need of a service. It won’t be able to roar out of the garage and hurtle down the highway with the power of a Ferrari. It needs help and attention before it will be running at peak performance again.
Until your body is at a level where it’s repaired and able to function at the level where you’re able to lose 10 per cent of your body weight, it may take longer. It will happen but at your own pace, commitment level and by the way you maintain your health. This is not a race.
It’s important to have realistic expectations and not think you’re failing because the number on the scales may not be moving as quickly as you’d like. Coming back to life and good health just takes some of us longer than others. Be kind to yourself, be patient and the rewards will be lifelong.