3 days Ago By [email protected] (Katie-Ann Gupwell)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Many individuals set out to become fitter and lose weight as part of their New Year resolution, especially after festive season overindulgence.
However, personal trainer Shannon Collins – better known as "The Gym Nurse" on Instagram where she regularly doles out health and fitness tips – saw fit to caution her followers about embarking on New Year fitness journeys. Although she acknowledges the benefits of adopting healthier habits in January, she reminds enthusiasts that effective weight loss is a gradual process. It requires the alteration of numerous long-standing habits to effect change in one's body, the mum explains.
Shannon wrote: "Whether you want to believe it or not, you didn't end up with 20+ lbs of fat gain overnight. It has been a consistent pattern of being in a surplus over several months/years. "It takes consistently doing something (positive or negative) for the effects to surface.
You didn't gain all your fat eating in a surplus for a week, just like a week of working out and eating in a calorie deficit doesn't give you your dream body." She added: "This should be reassuring because can you imagine if having one off day truly made you gain fat overnight? That wouldn't be great. Our bodies are not that sensitive thankfully, but this does mean when we have a goal to lose fat we can't really expect a different timeline.
" She often reflects on the adage, 'Don't walk ten miles into a forest and expect to come out in five; ,when considering fitness progress. You don’t accumulate a lot of weight within weeks, so it’s unreasonable to assume you’ll shed it rapidly either. If losing weight takes time, she believes that doesn’t suggest there's anything amiss with you.
Change naturally isn't instant. "The only thing wrong with you is your expectations don't match reality," she further expressed. "And you need to be more patient while being consistent.
" Since her post was shared, it has garnered hundreds of likes, with many users chiming in. Some readily divulged details of their personal fitness journeys alongside Shannon. One user posted: "It took me almost two years, three to five days a week training and mindful eating to lose 50lbs and gain some muscle.
" Another remarked: "Sooner you accept it takes years the faster those results come! People get stuck on quick fixes but end up stuck for a lifetime." And yet another joined in, saying: "Definitely need to manage expectations on how long it's going to take!".
