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When I decided to take the internet along with me on this weight loss journey, there were a lot of things that I feared may happen. Perhaps no one would care, maybe people would mock me for having the weight to lose to begin with, or, worst of all, it was/is possible my efforts may not be successful and I’ve now put it out on the internet for judgement. One possible thing that I didn’t consider, however, was that the comments section of each piece would turn into an endless stream of nutrition and fitness advice and that I would have to find a million different ways to say “Thank you for your thoughts, but I pay a trainer and a nutritionist a shit ton of money to give me professional advice so take your ideas and shove ‘em.”
Let me be clear: this is not a me vs. the commenters slam, because I am just as guilty of it. Whenever anyone mentions they want to lose a few pounds, I instantly become a one-woman infomercial for a low-carb/high-protein diet. When someone says they may start lifting weights, I wax poetic about my gym routines like I’m Arnold Schwarzenegger circa 1970. It’s a struggle every week when I write this column to not sound preachy about what’s working for me, so trust me, I am just as big of an offender as anyone else. Since we are all guilty of it, it begs the question: what is it about weight loss and the main issues that play into it – nutrition and fitness – that seem to bring out the advice-giver in all of us, no matter how unqualified we may be?
Of course, even though most of us are not qualified personal trainers or registered dieticians, we are all well-meaning. None of us are throwing out our thoughts on good vs. bad carbohydrates or what amount of cardio is “correct” because we are trying to fuck with someone else’s health. I don’t think, anyway – although nothing surprises me these days. Even assuming we all have the best of intentions, what we tend to forget when we are saying “this is what you should do/eat/drink” is that every single person – and every single body – is different. I’m thrilled running worked for you to get in shape and shed the pounds, but I would legitimately rather shove a hot metal kebob stick into my eye than run anywhere. Seriously, if that was the only form of cardio that existed, I’d weigh 600 pounds because I (and my knees) hate it that much. I’m also super happy that cutting out refined sugar and processed food helped you lose that weight and give you back your energy. Frankly, I’m not down for living in a world that doesn’t involve the occasional piece of pizza with a Diet Coke chaser, so that’s just not going to work for me, but thanks for sharing.
The bottom line is that what worked for you, food-wise and exercise-wise, may not work for someone else, whether it’s because of their body’s make-up or simply due to their personal preferences. So while it’s fine to share in a “hey this worked for me” way, let’s make a deal when it comes to trying to force our wellness thoughts on others, my friends. How about we agree to leave the actual diet-and-nutrition advice to the professionals? After all, my nutritionist still has student loans to pay and we wouldn’t want to put her out of work, would we?.
Starting weight to Lose: 30 pounds
Week 1 Results: – 1.1 pounds
Week 2 Results: – 2.1 pounds
Week 3 Results: +0.4 pounds
Week 4 Results: – 0.2 pounds
Week 5 Results: – 0.2 pounds
Week 6 Results: – 0.1 pounds
Remaining weight to lose: 25.9 pounds
If you want to follow along with me, friend me on MyFitnessPal or FitBit !
Also, I’ll be chatting weekly about my progress with JR Hickey – Twitter
on our podcast, “Don’t Take It From Us.” New eps will be released every Wednesday, so check it out on Soundcloud below or Subscribe on iTunes!
Image via Shutterstock
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, documenting her love of all things cheese related, and hosting the new PGP podcast Don't Take It From Us. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
@JennaLCrowley
@donttakeitfromus
We can all agree Crossfit is bullshit though
This is true.
Crossfit: lose fat, gain muscle and get scoliosis!
Joke’s on you, I’ve already got scoliosis!
Gonna take the downvotes here. Been doing it for a year, I previously made fun of it because of the stereotypes, however after giving it a go, it’s the best workout you’re going to get in under and hour and helps keep me in above average shape. Just don’t talk about your workouts to anyone cause nobody cares. Does wonders for dropping post grad weight.
Until you inevitably get injured, get laid up for a couple months, and gain it all back.
I never understood and still don’t doing olympic lifts for speed when those lifts are 100% about form. Also wtf is up with Crossfit’s shit form pull ups? if you have to kick or momentum/swing your way up to get a pull up it doesn’t count. I’ve made the mistake of going to a few classes for a free trial and i wasn’t impressed with the level of trainers or the routine especially at the price point of the membership.
I will give you this: the format of crossfit is great. It’s crossfit gyms that are the problem. The whole culture inevitably leads to injury.
Happy to give this it’s 69th upvote
Meh’d this to keep it at 69 likes
Hard things are hard
That’s deep.
That’s what she said.
Every piece of advice I’ve ever given is unqualified. PGP
Colour me insensitive but if you stop drinking, have a nutritionist, personal trainer and work out, you should lose more than 4.9 lbs in 6 weeks.
I’ve actually lost over 80 pounds total, so the numbers have gotten smaller as there has become less weight to lose, and I have definitely been gaining muscle. But I also have not been as strict with low carb lately, and I have to tighten up on that.
Tighten the diet. Tighten the booty. You can do it! Got faith in you Jenna.
Just looking at numbers isn’t always the best way to judge weight loss. If you’re losing fat but gaining muscle, the numbers might not go down but your body composition could change drastically.
I understand that and I suppose it could get too in depth to go the lengths of having measurements, etc so we’re following a column based solely on the premise of “weight lost.”
for a woman an average of .5-2 lbs lost per week is generally considered sustainable weight loss. It’s better to lose slowly and keep it off then lose quickly and gain it back quickly
I’m Going To Lose This Weight: Everybody STFU
Even worse when you have friends involved in certain pyramid schemes and they chime in with their “You look great! But would you like to lose weight even quicker with this all natural, super awesome supplement and skin patch for just 6 easy payments of $79.99 and your soul?”
“Get Shakeology for ONLY $120/month!”
You know what really made me lose a lot of weight that anyone can do is get food poisoning
This is really funny and I’m sorry you’re not getting recognition for it
mono worked like a charm for me
There is so much noise out there when it comes to health and fitness, it’s hard to figure out who has any idea what there talking about besides what worked specifically for them
Losing weight is actually pretty simple…. it’s 100% mental. If you’re committed to seeing real change, then you’ll do what is actually necessary, nutritional & fitness wise.
Self discipline costs nothing. You can do this Jenna. Get after it.
Glad to see you don’t want to live in a world without the occasional slice of pizza. I’ve been losing weight as well but it makes all the difference mentally when I let myself eat that occasional slice of pizza or some other non-low carb item. I think I would fall off of my diet more often if I was cutting out those types of foods all together.