“Do you have anything that will work faster?”
There wasn’t anything about her goal, her level of understanding, or her numerous previous attempts that surprised me.
I was taken aback by her urgency.
It was 2018 and I had just met this woman (we’ll call her Nicole because it’s pop divas Wednesday at the gym and I can hear the Pussycat Dolls blasting on the speakers), and we were nearing the end of her initial nutrition consultation at a luxury fitness club.
Her goal was an extremely common one. “I’d just like to lose the baby weight. I’ve been hanging onto this extra 30-ish pounds since my son was born.”
“How old is your son?”
“Fifteen.”
I didn’t raise an eyebrow. That timeline isn’t uncommon either.
We talked about why she wanted to get back to her lighter weight, what it meant to her, and how she thought this attempt would be different from previous attempts.
She told me she had tried every non-surgical quick fix in the world. Specialty diets like Atkins, South Beach, and Keto. She had done some (frankly dangerous) detoxes and cleanses. She had gone vegan for a whole year.
Anything that worked in the short term failed to be sustainable. Most didn’t work at all.
We laid out a sensible eating plan with no extreme restrictions. We calculated her daily calorie intake range and protein requirements. This is more than enough for most folks to achieve their goals.
I told her the goal of her 500 calorie per day deficit was to lose roughly one pound of body fat per week. 30 pounds would take her 4-5 months if things went well.
“Do you have anything that will work faster?”
Nicole had been trying every crash diet under the sun for 780 weeks and still thought a 30-week plan was too long.
This is the fact that fitness magazines and influencers have twisted in order to sell you stuff: fat loss takes time and consistency.
There are no quick fixes. The real cheat code is consistent work.
Honestly, it doesn’t even need to be hard work. Just daily commitment without quitting.
One of the toughest parts about being a fitness professional is helping a client set realistic expectations.
At The Lift, one of our core tenants is to stick to the science and not make any promises we can’t keep just to close a sale.
We’ve had dozens of Nicoles come through our doors. Every pound they’ve lost has stayed off.
Did some of them take longer than they wanted? Yes.
Did some take longer than we planned? Yes.
Did they eventually succeed? Also yes.
Don’t let impatience distract you from achieving your goals. Sometimes the “slow way” is the fastest route to lasting results.