The idea behind this course was to target people as they returned from their summer holidays!
Let me explain the format of the 6 week course.
WEEK 1
A brief introduction to the course was followed by 7 individual mini-questionnaires relating to how much water people were drinking, what their current eating habits were like, what daily symptoms they may have been suffering from, what their antioxidant intake was like and what stimulants they were having on a daily basis (some of the results were astounding with some people taking on more than 80 stimulant units a week! Not good for overall health or well being). Also as part of the course everyone was given the opportunity to have 1 personal training session per week with me.
WEEK 2
Feedback from the previous weeks questionnaires were fed back to the group with some shocking results to reveal.......it was clear these people were in serious need of detoxification! Some of the symptoms that were being suffered on a daily basis included headaches, lethargy, tiredness, cravings for sweet things, low blood sugar levels and dry skin & lips (there were many more but you get the picture)
Something needed to be done....and fast!
It was at this point that I gave them The 6 Rules to Detoxification.
The rules were very simple. Over the following two weeks the group were not allowed to have any stimulants (coffee, energy drinks, caffeine pills), no alcohol (wine, beer, spirits), no processed foods, everything had to be fresh & natural, they could only drink pure bottled water and they had to cut out wheat (in all of it's disguises!)
WEEK 3
Confession time! Victim number 1 (Caroline) fell at the first hurdle and told the group that she'd had two glasses of wine and a Chinese take away at the weekend. Needless to say she dropped out soon afterwards and lost NO weight!
The rest of the group (5 remaining) all lost 1-2lbs each and were now into a regular exercise routine.
WEEK 4
By now the group had been following the 'Rules' for two weeks so I asked them if they had noticed any physical, mental or psychological changes. Once again, the feedback was excellent. We had people sleeping better, we had spots that had cleared up, we had more regular visits to the loo, we had money being saved from not buying endless coffees all day, we had more energy amongst the group and one guy was having a better relationship with his family due to not being tired and grumpy all the time! All this was after ONLY 2 WEEKS of making healthier food choices and eating good, wholesome fresh foods.
WEEK 5
By week 5 we'd lost victim number 2 (Sam), giving into the temptations of wine, vodka and take away at the weekend. Once again, she lost NO weight (unsurprisingly). Everyone else in the group (now 4 remaining) had lost between 4-6lbs.
WEEK 6
The final week and the final weigh-in. The 4 remaining guys had managed to maintain their new way of eating for the last 4 weeks (originally 2 weeks was the goal) and they had all continued to lose weight over the 6 week period. They had all lost now between 7-14lbs (1/2 to 1 stone)
They had also kept up their personal training sessions and were exercising at least twice a week, some of them 3 times.
SUMMARY:
The two ladies that continued to drink alcohol and eat take aways whilst doing very little exercise lost NO weight at all. They were in completely the wrong frame of mind to see the 6 weeks through, they were not prepared to make the small lifestyle changes necessary for their bodies to change and to begin to lose weight and as a result, they are no further forward than they were 6 weeks ago.....nothing changed, therefore, nothing changed!!
However, the four guys that stuck to the 'Rules' for 4 weeks whilst being alcohol free, ate more fruit and vegetables than they've ever eaten before and made those very small but significant changes to their lifestyles are STILL losing weight at a rate of 1-2lbs a week. Is this just a coincidence?? Absolutely not......
So the moral of the story is this:
Healthy food choices combined with regular exercise is the BEST, most EFFECTIVE way to lose weight and keep it off. No calorie counting, no points counting, no red or green days, no meal replacements, just normal, healthy everyday food that can be bought in a supermarket!
TO READ SOME OF THE TESTIMONIALS TO BACK THIS BLOG UP, PLEASE LOG ON TO MY WEBSITE AT www.markefitness.co.uk/testimonials.php
Tony Marke
Personal Fitness & Weight Loss Coach
m: 0781 809 5619
skype: tonymarke1
