What is fast tracking?
I was driving behind a driving school vehicle yesterday, the message on the sign on top of the car read ‘Pass in 7 days’.
Later that same day, I stumbled upon a website with the main message being ‘Make £15,000 in your first month’.
Then, when I was in the local newsagents, there were several health magazines with various messages but with the same theme. ‘Lose 7lbs in 3 days’, ‘Drop 2 dress sizes in 2 weeks’, ‘Trim 4 inches off your waist in 5 days’, and so on.
OK, why am I saying all this? I call it fast tracking. Fast tracking your way to legally driving a motor vehicle, fast tracking your way to making lots of money and fast tracking your way to losing lots of weight.
Why are we so obsessed with getting results as quickly as possible? What is the rush? Do you seriously think that learning to drive and passing your test will make you a great driver in only 7 days? I think you become a good (and safe) driver given time and experience on the roads.
Make £15,000 in your first month? Is that really possible and realistic? I’m guessing it’s not unless you have acquired some sort of money-making secret or placed a very large bet on a horse!
What about the quick weight and inch loss? Is this realistic and more to the point, is this sensible weight loss? It most definitely isn’t sensible. In fact, it could be dangerous. The problem with most diets is that they typically limit consumption of a certain food group, e.g. a low-carb or low-fat diet, and therefore tend to fight against what your body needs to function most efficiently. Diet means restriction and as soon as you restrict food, you’re body will fight it and go into starvation mode. Once you return to any normal eating, the weight will go back on. Hence the yo-yo dieting effect.
There is no reason to go on a diet. Strive for a healthy weight loss of 1-2lbs per week. This will maintain your muscle tissue and ensure your body still gets the nutrients it needs to function properly.
So, is fast tracking a good thing? Not in my opinion. Don’t rush into things when a more controlled approach would be better.