Why Our Fat Loss Programme Works and gets Results

You won’t find glossy before and after client photos on the walls and marketing campaigns at Foundry, and we are far from promoting ourselves as a body transformation gym. Nevertheless, we do get excellent fat loss results.

Our ethos is about promoting lifestyles and habits that allow you to move and feel better: helping you become the best version of yourself. However, often once you find a place to train that you enjoy, you’ll become consistent with training and soon this will mean you’re stronger, fitter and you’ll end up getting in shape as a by-product (even if that’s not the main focus).

The 45-Day Fat Loss Accelerator:

Having said all of that, we do run a 6-week fat loss programme (45-Day Accelerator) 3 times a year at the gym. This gives members the opportunity to dial in their nutrition in order to lose some body fat. We’ve helped hundreds of our West London gym members get great results.

What is it?

Outside of the training that members are already doing, this programme has a nutrition focus and includes:

Initial consultation and body scan with goal setting over the 6 weeks
Individual nutrition set up, including calorie and protein targets
Seminar to launch programme and educate on nutrition and behaviour
Weekly weigh-ins and check-in with an assigned coach
Before and after photos

So why do we do it?

What’s the rationale behind it? And more importantly, why does the 6-week time period mean that members see great fat loss results?

Here are 5 reasons why it works:

1. It provides some focus with a clear time-based goal

Those starting the 45-Day Accelerator are often enjoying training but just might not be seeing the results they are after aesthetically. They may have lost their way when it comes to their diet, or they have a big event they want to look and feel good for (a wedding, birthday, holiday, etc.).

This fat loss programme gives them the opportunity to have some focus around their nutrition and the set end date often means that they’ll be committed to making some sacrifices in the short term in order to see results. Motivation increases with the drive to get results within the time frame.

2. Fast rates of fat loss often lead to better long term results

You might have heard that losing weight quickly over a shorter period just means that you’ll pile the weight on again more quickly afterward.

This isn’t actually true, and evidence would suggest that often it’s the opposite – in that faster rates can cause weight loss to be maintained in the longer term.

In a fat loss study (Nackers et al 2010), 3 groups were compared: fast, slow and moderate rates of weight loss. There were actually no significant differences in the groups when it came to weight regain. Added to this, 50% of subjects from the fast rate weight loss group managed to maintain more than 10% weight loss after 1 year, compared to just 17% from the slow rate weight loss group.

With a slower rate of weight loss vs. faster rate, it can just mean that you need to be on a diet longer in order to reach your goal. And being on a calorie restriction for a long time is usually not that fun, and it’s no wonder why many people find they’re in a constant state of lose 1lbs, gain 1lbs, lose 1lbs, etc. Wouldn’t it be easier if you could lose 5-10lbs+ and then be able to maintain that weight?

3. Seeing results = greater adherence

Once clients see the scales move in the right direction early on, motivation remains high and they’re more likely to adhere to the diet. This is backed by the study mentioned above, where the fast rate weight loss group had more adherence to the programme (they attended more sessions, completed more food records and consumed fewer calories).

4. You’re provided with accountability and extra support

Once clients start the programme they are given an assigned coach, who checks in with them each week. There are agreed terms that require them to do a body scan each week and to check-in with their coach to see how progress is going. This in itself often promotes more adherence as there is someone else to watch over them and doesn’t just rely on their own motivation.
It’s quite simple… more care and guidance = more desire to stay on track and adhere to the programme.

5. You learn the tools to keep the weight off long-term and get results

The programme’s initial seminar provides education in terms of where individuals usually go wrong with diets, dispelling some common nutrition myths and understanding how to track their food.

Once individuals have an idea of where they’ve been going wrong in the past, and they start to get an understanding of the nutritional content of food – this knowledge carries them way beyond the 6-week programme. Once the 45-Day Accelerator is over, they have a better understanding of calories, what a ‘good’ plate of food should look like, which means they’re more likely to make better choices in the long term.

From our experience, 6 weeks appears to be the sweet spot when it comes to getting results and staying motivated. It’s long enough to see a noticeable body composition changes and make the necessary lifestyle changes to longer-term habits. But it’s also not too long, where there’s a chance that people will drop out and feel demotivated.

If you have any questions on the above or would like some advice on how we could help you with your fitness goal, don’t hesitate, visit our personal training gyms and try one of our personal training sessions.