POSTED: 15 FEBRUARY 2010

According to research from Oxford University, 80% of people in the process of losing weight will have regained their extra pounds within 3-5 years. According to the National Weight Control Registry, the figure is as high as 95%.

Based on these figures, it seems fair to conclude that the greater problem facing weight losers is not losing weight in the first place, but how to keep the weight off on a long term basis.

Many people who want to lose weight make the mistake of putting themselves through a harsh dietary and exercise regime which they can't possibly maintain on a long term basis.

Together with a lack of planning, careful goal setting or honest appraisal of personal values and lifestyle, it's hardly surprising that so many people quickly regain the weight they lost and become more disillusioned than they were before.

Coaching offers a manageable and long term approach to weight loss, acheiving certain short to mid term goals but always with a firm grasp on the longer term goal of permanent weight loss.
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POSTED: 4 JANUARY 2010

The Guardian published a front page article on the 28th December about the futility of New Years’ resolutions. Apparently making such resolutions “is pointless because we break them, become dispirited in the process and finally more despondent than we were before”. Perhaps even more worryingly, the article later points out that failing to achieve your resolutions, is psychologically harmful because it robs you of a sense of self-control.

In their survey, the most common goals were giving up smoking, gaining a qualification, starting a better relationship and losing weight. Those who failed (78% of those surveyed) relied heavily on self-help books which encouraged them to focus on the downside of not achieving their goals whilst imagining what success would feel and look like, as well as adopting a role model and exercising some good old fashioned willpower!

Those who kept their resolutions on the other hand (22%), broke their goal down into manageable steps, kept records of their journey and achievements and recruited assistance from other people to hold them accountable as they progressed towards their goals.

As a coach, I do think there is a place for self-help books, many of which offer useful tips for self management. I also believe that strong willpower and vivid imaginations play a very important role in bringing about long-term change and moving forward. However, unless they are accompanied by thoroughly constructed plans and ongoing support from someone who is able to stand objectively on the outside, they are not enough on their own.

If anything, the article in the Guardian lends further support to the benefit of employing a coach if you are keen to give yourself the best chance of achieving your goals.
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POSTED: 20 DECEMBER 2009

On the 17th December 2009, the Birmingham Post published a front page article highlighting the problems local mortuaries now face as a result of the rising rates of obesity. Not only are they having to purchase super-size refrigerators, they are also having to hire specialist cranes to help lift the “larger- than- life” bodies into them.

Given that the UK diet industry is worth some 2 billion pounds annually and the countless government initiatives, (including most recently in Birmingham, free gym membership for thousands of local residents), as well as the many television programmes drawing in Jamie Oliver and Gillian McKeith and other fitness gurus to educate us on our nutritional and exercise habits, I wonder what it will take before we see a genuine change to the increasing rates of obesity?

Surely, we all know that we need to move more, eat smaller portions and bin the processed food! So how hard can losing weight really be? And where are all those bankers who have presumably retrained as fitness instructors in order to help us lose our pounds in weight rather than in monetary savings?

The problem is that effective and long term weight loss is not a "quick fix" process and it won’t be solved by fancy diets, self-help books, crash weight loss schemes or exotic pills. It can however be achieved over a long period of time by working closely with people, examining their values, belief systems, life challenges and aspirations and then carefully addressing each and every aspect of their lifestyle.

The recent initiative from Birmingham City Council offering free gym membership is a nice gesture but there is no supporting infrastructure to assist those people who live too far away from the gym and who don’t own their own car, nor is there any support for the many people who work inflexible hours in the day.

This may seem like a minor problem on the surface but for those looking to use the gym for perhaps the first time, a word of advice..... if you arrive at my local gym any time between 7-8:00 am or after 5 pm, you may as well put your feet up and stuff your face with crisps and chocolate, you certainly won't get on the running machine or the rowing machine or anything else for that matter! Furthermore many of those who need the exercise the most are likely to be too embarrassed by their own body image to make it to the gym in the first place.

As with the diet industry and television programmes, the gym membership offers very little in the long term although I am sure that council officials will be able to pat themselves on the back for being proactive in the face of an obesity crisis and tick yet more boxes.

Long term change is brought about by empowering people to make their own choices about what they want and what they need and then standing alongside them for weeks and months as they move forwards to achieve their goals. Until that is accepted by the government and the public, the mortuary cranes will continue to groan and the mortuary staff would be well advised to use the free gym membership so they can build the muscle power they are clearly going to need.