Is Train More, Eat less Really the Answer?

Are you getting results?

An OECD obesity update, released in late 2017, shows that 30.7% adults in this country are classified as obese, up from 26.5 per cent in 2007. That makes us the THIRD most Obese country in the world, behind U.S.A and Mexico. I will repeat that – THIRD. Let that sink in.

Why?

There are a number of contributing factors. Excessive fast food advertising, high sugar, lack of activity, poor food choices. And the painful truth - our health and fitness industry simply isn’t doing what it's supposed to. Isn’t our job to reduce this number? To inspire change? To motivate and guide? Why is this failing?

For us at ReDefined it's become pretty simple. We are screamed at, yelled at and almost indoctrinated into a philosophy of “TRAIN MORE! EAT LESS!!”. But quite simply, it's not that simple.

Just to be clear and concise, results for us are not just weight loss – its about changing body composition. More muscle and less fat = healthier bodies. Remember that as muscle weighs more than fat, we simply cannot be looking at weight on the scales as a means of results. While we are here let's kick BMI to the curb also - If we use BMI on Sonny Bill Williams it would tell us he is morbidly obese. Height divided by weight simply tells you nothing about your body!

Now back to the crux of the issue. If “TRAIN MORE EAT LESS!!” works then why are we facing an obesity epidemic? You will see all of your local fitness centres jumping on the bandwagon of 4,6,8 and 12 week challenges. Here are some quick numbers of the success of those challenges:

Out of every 10 who sign up, 5 will give up within the first week. Of the remaining 5, 3 more will give up by the the halfway point. And of off the remaining two who make it to the end, 1 will get amazing results and these are the ones showcased to you in all the promotional videos. “He did it, you can do it too!”

Of the two who finished the challenge, 1 of the will undo all of their hard work within 4-8 weeks by going back to original habits

Why? Because we are failing on 2 fronts

We are applying a 1 size fits all blanket approach, we are all unique and different human beings with different bodes that function differently We simply haven’t focused on behavioural change and mindset, and the staggering drop off rate proves this.

Isn’t habit and behaviour one of the first things we teach our kids? When did we stop teaching ourselves?

Changing your body composition numbers is a direct result from repeating healthy behaviours over and over again. Thus,

when starting out it makes far more sense to focus on just instilling healthy behaviours rather than be obsessed with silly numbers on silly scales!

All of this is food for thought, challenge what you are told and don’t take it as gospel. If you are not getting results think about why.

We are launching Project:WellBeing on May 2nd this year, and this will be where we aim to tackle these issues head on, and work towards sustainable habitual change. Stay tuned for more info.

Happy Moving

Jimmy August Co-Founder

ReDefined - Health Movement WellBeing