I was in the garage a few days ago, queuing to pay for my petrol. There are always interesting conversations when 
you’re in a queue!
The woman at the front of the queue (let’s call her woman 1) started chatting away with the woman serving behind the till (woman 2).
Woman 2: “Ooh, I see you’ll be enjoying yourself tonight. That’s my favourite wine.”
Woman 1: “Yes, I’m letting my hair down tonight.”
[Note: I obviously couldn’t say that phrase due to a lack of hair!]
Woman 2: “What’s the occasion?”
Woman 1: “Oh, I just feel like it, feeling a bit down after work. But I’ve been really good recently.”
Woman 2: “Well, it’s not every day you can let your hair down is it? Eeh, I’m on a diet at the moment, I go to **** slimming group. I’ve lost 6 lbs already but I’m treating myself to a big bag of Space Raiders later.” [Me (thinking to myself): Space Raiders? Does she mean those things that are like crisps?! Are they actually FOOD?!]
Woman 1: “Wow, 6 lbs. That must feel great? How have you done it?”
Etc etc… [I won’t bore you with the rest of the conversation].
Why am I saying all this? Well, it’s a typical conversation in everyday life. Women go to slimming groups, or undertake the latest juice diet, or swallow slimming pills and rave about it. They lose weight instantly. But they still ‘crave’ their treats – the Space Raiders in this example.
BUT…that same woman (woman 2) won’t be able to sustain her weight loss in the long term. The initial weight loss with any diet (calorie controlled) will be water and muscle tissue. It probably won’t be touching fat stores.
In my opinion, a healthy weight loss would be 2 lbs a week BUT you would be eating normally – lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean meat and fish, nuts and seeds, wholegrains (quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice), coconut oil and milk, nut butters, health snack bars, smoothies, dark chocolate, green tea and much more.
Combining this sort of diet (rather than a calorie-controlled diet) with an effective exercise programme will mean better health in the long term. You didn’t put the weight on overnight so don’t expect it to come off overnight.
Exercise three times a week using intense interval training and don’t be afraid to use weights. Weight training will increase your strength and muscle tone – more muscle means you will lose more body fat.
Ps/ If you would like to talk to me about weight loss, just get in touch.