When a person begins to lose weight, you want to see changes almost the next day after the first workout. But, unfortunately, such miracles do not happen. To get the desired result, you need to work long and hard. Together with coach Ruth Dushkina
We figure out when the first changes become noticeable and how they manifest themselves.
Conscious choice: how to start exercising every day?
When will the first results appear?
To begin with, it is important to understand what exactly is considered a result. If we talk about the number on the scale, the first changes can be seen after two weeks of training.
Ruth:
If a person loses weight, at first excess water leaves the body. It could be 1-2 kg, for some – 3 kg. Naturally, the scales immediately show a different number.
Photo: istockphoto.com
But it's not just about kilograms. After about a month of training, you can do a body composition analysis - now this service is offered in almost all fitness clubs. Then it will become clear how the quality of the body has changed: how much fat, muscle, water, etc. it contains.
In general, you shouldn’t overuse weighing. After all, people with the same weight but different body composition will look completely different.
Ruth:
If the weight is 60 kg, but there is more fat and less muscle, or at the same 60 kg there is more muscle and less fat, the person will look completely different in the mirror. Body parameters also change. But the number on the scale will be the same - so this is far from the most important thing.
Without breaks and days off: how to safely exercise every day
I decided that it would take me a long time to lose weight, but it would be right.
By depriving yourself of food, you can lose a kilogram per day, but they will be lost mainly due to water and muscle tissue. The first one will then easily return back. The second, on the contrary, will not be so easy to dial. Nutritionists are confident that it is safe to lose weight by no more than 500 grams per week (or 1 kg if the person is very overweight). In addition, after a strict diet, the body will begin to gain calories literally out of thin air (read the article “What prevents you from losing weight and how to deal with it” ).
What if the weight still increases?
Sometimes, when starting to exercise and switching to proper nutrition, a person, on the contrary, gains a little weight. And that's okay.
Photo: istockphoto.com
Ruth:
This is either water retention in the body from training, or the result of muscles attracting water. Therefore, the number on the scale may be 1-2 kg more.
But there may be another reason. For example, a girl always wanted to lose weight and ate 700 kcal a day. This is very little. The trainer increases the caloric intake. But the body, thinking that this is temporary and the person will again eat very little, begins to delay everything. Before this, he was stressed and is now hoarding resources.
Ruth:
It is necessary, with the help of a good balanced diet and constant training, to launch all the processes in the body. And this will take some time, which is why there may be weight gain. But as soon as everything starts up, everything functions as it should, the weight will begin to decline.
Experiment: checking why training according to a general program is ineffective
Three weight loss stories: before and after photos
Harriet Jenkins watches a video from seven years ago. She stands on stage in a little black dress, pearl jewelry, and blond hair combed back. The host calls her name, and Harriet can barely contain her cry of surprise. The whole hall applauds her wildly.
You'd think it was the Oscars - Harriet looks like a real star. However, at that moment she was: Harriet, a teacher from Southampton, became a celebrity in the Slimming World fitness community, winning the title “Woman of the Year” for her exceptional results in the fight against excess weight. With a height of 172 cm, Harriet weighed 165 kg, but in 15 months she was able to lose almost 100 kg and change her clothing size from “XXXL” to standard “M”.
Harriet Jenkins with a friend before losing weight
Tired of being attacked about her weight, Harriet and a friend began working out through the Slimming World fitness community program. According to Miss Jenkins, “losing weight is very healthy, and when it’s such a joy, there is an incentive to continue. I wanted to be the record holder of the week, the record holder of the month. The spirit of competition awakened in me. For many years I dreamed and wanted to look like this.”
After 15 months of losing weight, Harriet achieved her goals. But, having become the face of the Slimming World community, within just a few weeks she began to gain weight again: “At about the same speed at which I lost it, 6 kg per month. Most likely due to intemperance in nutrition.”
Harriet Jenkins, seven years later
Seven years later, Harriet does not advertise her parameters, but it is quite obvious that they exceed the previous competitive indicators.
Harriet is one of the heroes of the series of documentary programs “Weight Loss Records”, dedicated to the problem of maintaining weight. All the “record holders” at one time won the world’s largest weight loss competitions, but most of them were unable to maintain these results.
According to expert observations, about 40% of people who were able to lose more than 100 kg eventually return to their previous weight and even gain even more weight. We're not just talking about weight-loss champions: 30 million people try to lose weight every year, and 10% of them gain the weight back within three years.
Jane Hall, before and after weight loss photos
Another record holder, 59-year-old Jane Hall from Lancaster, lost 50kg in two years and was awarded the Rosemary Conley Community Award in 2012.
“When you take part in a major competition, you feel like a celebrity,” said Jane Hall. - They write about you in newspapers, talk about you on radio and television. I participated in one of the programs of the culinary show Hairy Bikers, and hosted television crews as guests. That year after winning the competition was memorable. It took me an hour to get to the supermarket because passers-by stopped me, complimented me and assured me that by my example I had inspired them to lose weight.”
However, after losing weight, Jane gained 30 kg again: “I thought that I would be ashamed to even go out if I got fat again. However, that’s what happened soon.”
Jane Hall: plus 30 kg again
In the same year, Leroy Wilson, a 50-year-old DJ from Basingstoke, with a height of 193 cm, managed to lose 107 kg in 7 months and intended to get rid of an extra 19 kg. According to doctors, being overweight threatened him with a myocardial infarction.
“I kept telling myself, ‘do or die,’” Wilson shared the secret of his success and recalled the new opportunities that opened up for him. “After losing weight, I could run up and down the stairs or play squash for two hours straight. I skated and played hockey, which was great. Once I attended the funeral of a friend who was also overweight, but did not try to fight this problem, and I caught myself thinking that it could have been me in his place.”
Leroy Wilson after losing weight
However, Leroy, who three years ago appeared on the cover of LighterLife magazine in a black suit, elegant and slender, now weighs 150 kg.
Part of the weight gain is due to a blood disorder that forces Wilson to take steroids. However, Leroy himself admits that he also allowed himself to relax: “When I lost weight, I became a kind of celebrity. I received many letters from strangers who considered me a role model. Women began to show more interest. Still, it’s strange to be thin when not long before you suffered from obesity. The increased attention embarrassed me.”
Leroy weighs 150 kg again
How to stay motivated?
First of all, a coach can help with motivation.
Ruth:
I always explain everything to my clients: why, what and how is happening in their body. At every training session I try to motivate them with my example.
Also, the same visual changes can become an incentive not to give up. They are best seen in before/after photographs. As the trainer explains, she asks clients to take photos at a certain frequency and look at the result - something changes, and the person sees it.
Photo: istockphoto.com
Ruth:
When you see yourself every day, nothing seems to change. But if you take photos “before” and then a month and a half later “after”, in comparison you will see how you have changed. And it motivates. In general, you need to formulate and understand why you are training in the first place. After all, it’s not only about a beautiful body, but also about health.
Basque lost 15 kg before and after photos
Many people share their photos on social media in the before and after category. Nikolai Baskov pleased us with the most unexpected photo; we remind you that the artist is 43 years old. The artist signed a new post on Instagram as follows: “A real blond.” At first, the thinner and younger-looking artist published a photo in a red cap; in the description of the post, he admitted that he really wanted to go to the sea. There were many positive comments on this post.
After this, the People's Artist of the Russian Federation said that during self-isolation he lost fifteen kilograms. The artist published two photos “before” and “after”. Commentators on the social network noted that now the artist looks more brutal; he was asked if, having changed his image, he was going to sing other compositions? Fans couldn’t believe what Nikolai was like before and after isolation. Looking at the photo, you might really think that this is some kind of photoshop, but no, Nikolai lost weight and became a completely different person.
Soon the thinner artist appeared on a show called “Evening Urgant”. When the audience saw Nikolai, they were shocked and burst into applause. Nikolai emphasized that with age it becomes more and more difficult to keep in shape. The artist frankly admitted that he had to limit himself in food and it was not easy for him in quarantine.
“I went to the store, bought buckwheat, and for some reason bought vodka. Then they used candies, marshmallows, etc. I thought that stress needed to be eaten away. I love marshmallows, no one knew how long it would take for us to go outside. I thought it would last for a long time. What if the profession of an artist disappears after self-isolation? “I decided to take care of myself,” said the singer.
The artist’s “before” and “after” photo shocked not only subscribers, but also domestic stars. Also, the artist, after publishing his photo, turned to socialite Ksenia Sobchak:
“Ksenia, now they won’t recognize me either,” said Baskov.
This was a subtle hint from the musician that Ksenia Sobchak had previously shown photographs before and after processing in a special application. Of course, no one could pass by the artist who had lost weight; he really changed beyond recognition. Looking at what the artist was like before quarantine, many fans believed that this photo was processed using Photoshop, it was too huge.
