That’s right…a gym owner who constantly tells people to think long term and work at things for health and well-being.
And here I am telling you that crash diets DO WORK!
They really do…HEAR ME OUT!
It’s Summer Time and our minds naturally think about holidays, sun, sand, beaches and swimwear…
Which for a vast majority, fills us with dread! Parading around in swimwear with a body we spend most of the year hiding and covering up as we’re too embarrassed to show
And let’s not mention those nice clothes sat gathering dust in the wardrobe for the past 2 years as you have meant to get on that diet and finally nail it this time…only for it never to happen.
Perhaps it will start again this Monday? Just like every other Monday for the past 52 weeks…and beyond?
So your only real option now is to try another one of these ‘crash diets’ that promise that you will lose 2 stone in a month and give you that beach-ready body in no time whatsoever.
Sound familiar? Then join the club of hundreds of thousands who are in the same boat…
And I’m here to tell you that crash diets do work.
There are countless examples of people losing 2-3 stone in only a few months. We even have a vast number of them in our gym at Forever-Strong.
Doctors are now going on social media platforms advising people to go on 800 calorie diets and there are TV programmes that demonstrate that people have been shown to be cured of Type 2 diabetes in the process (again, we have several cases of this at Forever-Strong also).
And I agree that Crash Diets do have their uses:
They can reduce a vast amount of weight very quickly that will have several health benefits that shifting weight has, along with the added motivation it may bring and the possibility of being more active in the process.
HOWEVER! And this is a BIG However…
Is that there is only a very small minority that has the will-power and discipline to succeed once they ‘come off’ the crash diet.
What normally happens is that at the end of the diet, the person will go back to what they used to do, which is booze, take-aways and plenty of processed and junk food.
After all, they are now in much better shape and the odd treat won’t hurt. Before you know it the damage is done and you are back where you started…or even worse!
So if you are going to crash diet, here are 3 top tips in order for you to succeed long after the crash diet has finished and to keep the weight off forever! Just like these amazing ladies…
Tip #1 – Look to form Habits/Behaviour Change
Crash diets severely restrict your intake of all the things you are used to eating as the normal habit. And because the diet is only short term, the mindset is that once the ‘diet’ is over then you can get back to how you used to live.
Thing is, how you used to live got you into the position that wanted you to make a change. So when the diet finishes you rebound back to the crisps, chocolate, alcohol and sugary drinks and likely pile the weight back on.
Our advice is to look to make habit and behaviour changes along the journey and aim to keep them going long after.
Pick one habit a week and nail it.
For example,
Week 1 it may be to drink more water and less sugary drinks.
Week 2 maybe to eat more vegetables along with more water.
Week 3 maybe to get at least 7 hours sleep along with more water and more vegetables in your day.
And so on,
And when you approach the end of your ‘crash diet’
Tip #2 – Look to slowly reintroduce and increase your food and drink intake
This goes hand in hand with #1 in that you can slowly start to re-introduce those ‘bad habits’ back into your diet as you end your ‘crash course’. This way you don’t go from hero to zero and increase your calories from 800 to 3000 overnight. And you can do this by focusing on habit and behaviour change as advised in Tip #1.
For example,
If you have had no alcohol for a month, then don’t go out on a Saturday you finish your crash diet and drink buckets of Gin as a ‘reward’ for ‘being good’! This will only lead to the path of failure and rebound. Instead, tell yourself that you will have 2-3 glasses of gin tonight and you will have it with slimline tonic. And when you’ve had it, you won’t stop off at the kebab shop or raid the fridge when you get home or have that amazingly stodgy ‘hangover cure’ in the morning!
Likewise, if you’ve abstained from chocolate, then the end of the diet is not the time to crack open the 4 Easter eggs that have been lurking in the cupboard and that you have been saving for just such an occasion. Tell yourself that you will have a quarter of ONE Easter egg tonight and that you will finish it off over the next 2 weeks (set dates if needed).
This way you can programme in small periods of ‘treats’, whilst still nailing all those positive habits you’ve been working on over the past few weeks such as more water, more veg and more sleep.
And all this ties nicely with our last tip, which is…
Tip #3 – Set yourself some longer-term goals (6-12 months)
So, the crash diet happens and you have likely got yourself to a point where you are happy with your appearance and results. But then what? All of a sudden ‘the plan’ comes to an end and you’re at a loss at what to do.
Before you know it, you’re back to old ways and habits and have nothing left to aim for and nothing to stoke that motivation. You ghost walk into putting all that weight back on. You think, what’s the point and give up hope of ever getting that body you’re craving.
But what would happen if you looked beyond the 4-6 weeks of your ‘crash diet’. What if you mapped out a plan for the next 6-12 months that wasn’t so restrictive but still allowed you to eat whole, fresh and unprocessed foods, whilst still enjoying a bit of that stuff you feel you shouldn’t eat, such as chocolate, alcohol, crisps, pastries etc?
A longer term goal has been proven to give you direction, focus and enable the commitment and consistency that seems to go by the wayside after such a restrictive diet.
These goals can be a mixture of outcome and behaviour goals too. What this means is that you can chase the numbers on the scale or look to drop that next dress size (outcome goals), which you can also factor in with behaviour goals such as eating your 5 a day, getting 7-9 hours of sleep per day or drinking water daily (I keep using these things as examples).
AT Forever-Strong, we have run 100-day behaviour goal challenges in our gym with great results on people’s long-term habits, behaviours and more importantly…results.
We also have strategies such as our Success Solution Sketchpad, Habit Handrail, Nutrition Crash Mat and our Only One Meal Away tactic to really keep people on the straight and narrow.
You could do a lot worse than look to crack these things too and end up like our examples.
So, in summary:
#1 Aim to form habits that are positive towards the results you want (more water, more veggies, more sleep etc)
#2 Slowly introduce the processed foods following a crash diet instead of having a massive binge that ends up last a few weeks.
#3 Set longer-term goals (6-12 months to motivate you, help hold you accountable and maintain that consistency)
This may sound very simple and basic…but that’s what works.
It’s the actual sticking to it and execution of it that counts.
You don’t need more complication in your life. Hell, I’m sure it’s complex enough as it is.
Keeping it simple and getting it done will yield much better results than the complex diets that only last a few weeks.
You just need to look at these guys for inspiration
Both Gill and Dave had quick success. The real success though has come through their continued progression.
If this rings true and you would like to know more about how we do things here at Forever-Strong or how we get people to keep the results a few years later then get in touch and we can discuss whether you would be a good fit for what we do.
