Lose Yourself - Eminem

Grab those 'Sliding-Door Life-Moments'.

Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment would you capture it, or just let it slip?..

Yikes, it’s 16 years since Marshall Mathers (AKA Eminem) hit the UK charts with the double-platinum selling #1 Single – ‘Lose yourself’. I feel it’s a great fit for today’s blog as I want to discuss a very hot topic in my ‘Average2Awesome World’ right now – namely ‘Weight-loss’. 

You see, the question I’m asked over and over again is ‘What’s a Good Amount to lose per Week?’  with a close second being, ‘How long will it take to get to my goal weight?’ Two tough questions, and not so easy to answer as no-one lives in a perfectly controlled nutritional environment.

But I’ll share my thoughts as how long is that piece of string? I mean, what is a ‘Good Amount to lose per Week?’. According to some of the well-established, weekly weight-loss clubs, it’s 1kg per week or about 2lbs. Is this limit as a health precaution or is it because they are looking for a slower weight-loss process to maintain their revenue stream? I’ve always been cynical about that one I’m afraid as I believe that a ‘Good Amount to lose per Week’ is more than that.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. Take a 100kg man - 1.83m tall looking to be 80kgs and a 70kg woman – 1.67m tall wanting to be 56kgs - I wonder how the 1kgs loss a week theory works out? Who gets to their goal first? 

Before you try and work it out, I’ll tell you the answer, the man takes 21 weeks and the woman 15. It’s a long time to stay super-vigilant and focussed and that’s why, I believe, folk get caught in the weight-loss yo-yo doldrums. Poor food choices and cheating breed nicely in these conditions and one of the slimming clubs even has a big picture of a bowl of chips on their promotional material to entice more dieters… no comment needed on what I think of that one? The success rate can’t be high with this encouragement.

With this in mind a 1kg a week loss is far too optimistic.

In reality a 1% weight-loss per week might be more realistic - but it’s an even longer period at 23 weeks for both sexes.

I therefore try and speed things up with a very strict diet and aim for a 2% a week loss for my clients to complete their goal in around 12 weeks – perfect timing in my book, and just the right time to keep folk posted.

But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down…

Having that goal, really helps as folk never write their goals or vision. It means over time, they lose their way, get distracted and lower their bar of expectation. Even one week can be a deal breaker but with even the slightest amount of encouragement, the fog clears, and the weight-loss merry-go-round starts again.

Snap back to reality. Oh, there goes gravity…

And failure – what a killer yet funnily enough, the ‘Reality’ of what’s needed is there all the time, just like ‘Gravity’ it’s just that it’s ‘chosen’ to be ignored. Snapping back to it, well with the right team-talk, it’s easy. The right mindset is easy to reactivate and with the right encouragement, everyone can reach their target weight.

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime…

Everyone’s a winner, as after plucking up the courage needed for change, the open goal of success is there. A winning goal in the ‘Cup Final of Life’ there to be enjoyed every morning when you look in the bathroom mirror and catch the slimmed down version of yourself looking proudly back.

Without the courage and single-minded approach needed the ‘Good Amount to lose per Week’ question is immaterial. I’ll leave Marshall Mathers to put it to you in his own no-nonsense approach. 

And these times are so hard, and it's getting even harder, success is my only motherfucking option, failure's not…

Lose it, not necessarily to the book or at a particular rate – just lose it yourself. It’s a good message and I agree with him whole-heartedly.

You can do anything you set your mind to…

1,020 Marathons - 246 Ultras - 15 Marathon des Sables - 9 Guinness World Records