If you, like us, have taken the past few weeks of self-isolation as permission to let your healthy habits slide (less sweating and salads, more Netflix and naps,) listen up real quick: you can’t snap your fingers and immediately return to your former fitter self now that lockdown is lifted – no matter how hard you go at the gym. In fact, body transformation coach James Kew reckons its likely to take much longer than you think.
“If you’re already lean, or just have 10-15 pounds (4.5-7kg) of fat to lose, 90 days can be a realistic amount of time to see results,” he captioned a recent Instagram post. “But if you’re hoping to lose 40+ pounds (18kg) or go from “fat to fit” in a mere 12 weeks, you’re only setting yourself up for failure.”
RELATED: How Long Should You Rest Between Sets For Muscle Growth?
He reasons that changing deeply-rooted behaviours (say, picking up the banana bread over a banana) is a long-term project, and therefore unlikely to happen overnight. Several of his followers agreed:
“Been working hard and gained a bit of muscle and lost some fat. It’s been 6 months and I am still far from where I would like to be but this post is real. Persistence. Perseverance. Patience,” one wrote.
“It really is a process,” added another. “I’m 1yr into my journey & not as lean as I thought I would be. Realistically won’t reach those results until mid-next yr.”
It’s simply a matter of setting realistic goals for yourself and realising that while you can’t go from 30 per cent body fat to “lean ‘n’ mean” in a couple of months, “you can make some awesome progress towards it.”
“There’s nothing wrong with pushing yourself and being motivated by physical results,” James continued the post. “Just don’t let that motivation blind you from what really matters — which is making this whole health & fitness thing an enjoyable lifestyle.”
Couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
RELATED: 6 Rules For Achieving Results, According To One Of Sydney’s Toughest Gyms