How would you deal with a client who wants to lose 60 pounds in a couple of months because of upcoming wedding?
Explain how loosing weight so fast will lead to a rebound later. After the wedding is over and she starts easing of the diet and training, the weight will come back with a vengeance. Losing that much in a couple months is nearly impossible, and if a large amount of weight is lost in a short time, the body receives it as a signal of starvation, and it will react by slowing down metabolism and holding on to fat. I would recommend either postponing the wedding until goal weight is achieved slowly, or coming to terms that she won’t be able to be 69 pounds lighter for it and realizing that the wedding can just be the beginning of her journey, not the end all! Hope this helps and good luck!
It is not possible to lose 60 lbs in two months no matter what approach you will try and you will need to explain it to the client. All you can offer is to help this client achieve the best possible weight reduction and optimum fitness level within that time frame without putting his/her life in danger.
Hi Fabian,
If I have a client who indicates they want to lose weight quickly, I always let them know my job is to help them achieve their fitness goals–but in a safe, effective, and healthy way. I try to help my clients set realistic (part of SMART goals) goals and give them a very real picture of what to expect. 60 pounds in a few months is not only unrealistic, it is not the healthiest or safest way to lose weight. You could let your client know that a weight loss of about 1-2 pounds per week (give or take) is considered safe, and that losing weight slowly–with a combination of clean, healthy nutrition and exercise–is the best way to achieve that goal and maintain the weight loss. It will also help her realize that her goal will be more doable at a slower and healthy pace, and she will not feel unhappy or deprived (as she would with a very low calorie and unsafe calorie restriction).
You can keep your client focused on a healthy goal, and perhaps break down her larger goal into smaller amounts, so she can feel a sense of accomplishment in the short term–while keeping her eye on her full goal.
Encourage her to go slow, and re-evaluate every week to check her progress and keep her motivated in a healthy way. Let her know it’s more than just weight loss–it’s also about making long-lasting healthy lifestyle changes.
Good luck to you–and keep us posted!
Christine
Personally, I don’t think it’s possible, at least not in a healthy way. And even if it is possible in the short term, the long term health consequences are detrimental. Extreme, quick weight loss isn’t in my scope of practice.
You might not want this client. There will be some hard discussions that need to happen, and when you are real with him or her, you might have to agree to part ways.
Have a discussion regarding what is possible and realistic, given the client’s existing weight, ability to exercise (injuries?), time and willingness to exercise, AND ability and willingness to change eating habits.
Then, have a discussion about short versus long term results. Although the wedding might be the reason this client suddenly decides to lose weight, as others have written, weight loss that isn’t backed with behavioral habit change will come back.
This is a very hard job to reduce the body weight 60 pounds within 2 months. But you can reduce the body weight in natural way without any side effects with the best natural remedy. Because the artificial method is gives results very quickly but gives some side effects afterwards.
http://www.angelmeds.com/blog/side-effects-linked-with-rapid-weight-loss…