Michelle Bridges explains the REAL reason you can't lose weight
Personal trainer and all-round health and wellness expert Michelle Bridges isn’t afraid to say what others may not want to admit – losing weight is hard, and keeping it off is even harder.
“It’s not really a very sexy message,” she told 9Honey Supermums, adding, "But the reality is, 80 percent of Australians, when they lose weight, they put it back on again.”
Bridges takes aim at faddish diets that promise dramatic results in just a few days. They’re just not sustainable, she says, increasing the likelihood of putting weight back on after losing it by 95 percent.
The mother-of-one is now on a mission to understand why it’s so hard Aussies to lose weight and why we pack it back so quickly, resulting in her latest book Keeping It Off.
“I want to understand this … the psychology around it, the science behind it and I want to understand what creates someone who’s able to keep (weight) off long-term and one who doesn’t,” she says.
She asked her fitness community 12WBT, of which there are thousands, to share the ups and downs of their fitness journeys.
“I said bring me your stories – the good, the bad, the ugly and everything in between,” says Bridges.
“The people who were able to keep the weight off long term had honed their habits, their rituals and routines,” revealed Bridges. “The ones that kept on the rollercoaster, ‘I’ve got it off for six weeks. Then it’s back on’ - they had the routines and rituals – but just let them go.”
It really is as simple as “every single day – same bat time, same bat channel.”
But for everyone who finds it difficult to maintain the motivation (don’t we all?) Bridges advises: “All the commitment phobes out there, rather than thinking forever — because that’s what it is — just think every single day make the same choices.”
It sounds daunting but when you think big picture, as Bridges does, it puts the importance of your health into perspective.
“If you don’t want to look after your health on a daily basis – what else is there?” she implores.