Fast Weight Loss-Can You Really Lose Weight Fast?

by Jennifer Nastasi

People ask me all the time about fast weight loss. Is it possible? Can it be done? If so, how? They tell me their story and then say something like, "I just want to lose weight fast. I'll do WHATEVER I have to do!" My favorite is when I have a client who needs to lose weight fast because of some sort of event that is coming up. I get this one all the time. "Hey, I have a wedding to go to in three weeks and I need to lose 15 pounds fast. What can I do?" I know they really expect me to give them the answer they are hoping for. I also love the ones that I get a few weeks before summer starts. "Summer is coming up soon and I need to lose 15 pounds! What should I do?" I realize that no one wants to workout and make healthy food choices if they’re going to get their results slowly, but is fast weight loss really possible? Is there a diet and/or workout you can do, a pill you can take, or a machine you can use that will make the pounds come off faster? I'm going to crush a lot of people's hopes and dreams here, but the answer is NO. And here's why.
First of all, the healthy amount of weight that the average person should try to lose a week when eating and working out correctly is approximately 1 to 2 pounds. That is a healthy, safe, smart, and effective amount to lose. To me that qualifies as fast weight loss. So if you are losing weight at that speed, then hold on tight, because you are cruising at the maximum weight loss speed limit! Now I know this is not as fast as most people would like, but sadly, that's just the way it is. You just can't lose weight fast, or at least, as fast as many people would like to. Aside from all of the obvious health risks and possible negative side effects of losing any more than a few pounds a week, losing anymore than 1 to 2 pounds a week usually means you are losing muscle, not fat. As you can probably guess, that is not good. I don’t think anybody wants to be a “skinny fat person.” This is someone who is down to 125 pounds (their target weight loss goal), but still has an unhealthy amount of body fat.
The next question someone might have would be about all of those pills and products that promise fast weight loss - and they back up their claims too! They show before and after pictures of people who lost a lot of a weight in a very short amount of time. They even have pictures! This is proof that the product works, right? They only want to help people lose weight fast. They would never lie just to get your money! Before and after pictures are so fake. Just thinking about these “truthful pictures” that supposedly show the incredible results someone got from using whatever weight loss product they are trying to sell you makes me laugh. Aside from the obvious “easy ways” of faking them such as putting the head on another body (it's been done) or showing real before and after pictures, except that they were taken five years apart instead of six weeks like they claim (it's been done too), another misleading method is used that some people don't think of. They take a person with an already great body (who got that way by working out correctly and eating right for years) and call that the "after picture." They then have this same person gain weight. Once they gain enough, they take a picture and call it the "before picture." Yes ladies and gentleman, fast weight loss at its best!
My all time favorite lose weight fast attention-grabber is still to come. There are commercials on TV for all kinds of weight loss diets, pills and products that all promise fast weight loss. First they tell you the amazing features of their product and then show you people, actual people, who used this product or diet and were able to lose weight fast. Sometimes they just show their "real" before and after pictures, but sometimes they have the actual people standing there talking. They show you a before picture while this person talks over it and says "I hated my body. I tried everything but nothing ever worked... UNTIL NOW! I lost 50 pounds using: insert useless crap here: in just 4 WEEKS and look at me now!" As funny as it already is, there’s more. Here comes the best part. At this point in the commercial, if you put on your glasses, walk all the way up to your TV, bend down, and put your face two inches from the screen... if you look close enough, in tiny little letters that you can just barely read, you will see writing that says something like: "These results are not typical." Excuse me for a second... what! Sometimes it might say "Just like every body is different, so are the results." Most weight loss commercials do this. They just want your money and really don’t care if you get any results at all. Don’t be fooled.
This just helps prove the fact more and more. Fast weight loss just doesn't exist, unless of course your idea of fast weight loss is losing 1 to 2 pounds a week. Remember, it took years and years of bad habits to get you where you are today. Don’t expect to lose it all in a few weeks! There is no machine, no special type of cardio, no special diet, no special workout, and no special pill that will allow you to lose weight fast and safely. If these people who want such fast results so badly got off their couch and put half of the effort that they put into finding a fast "quick fix" into actually working hard, they probably would have reached their goals by now! I've said it once and I'll say it a million times, just make healthy food choices and workout correctly. Do it and keep doing it. It won't happen fast, but it will happen. Be consistent. Never stop. Keep yourself motivated. Work hard and stay committed. Don't be satisfied until you get EXACTLY what you want, and like magic... without any weight loss pills or products, weight loss will happen.
I am currently certified by the National Sports Conditioning Association, Apex Fitness Group, and the International Sports Science Association. If you have a question and/or topic you would like me to discuss please e-mail me at championsfitness.com. If you would like to set up a free consultation with one of our certified fitness professionals please call Champions Fitness at 452-5522.