Mikey Moon's health and fitness column: Patience is a virtue

The biggest mistake people make when they start to think about losing weight is to underestimate how long it will take to do properly.

We are so used to getting everything at the snap of our fingers or the touch of a button that the idea of waiting for something seems crazy.

Often weight loss does not happen fast enough for us or as fast as we believe it should.

That’s where fad diets and crash diets step in, offering really fast solutions only to cause problems further along the line.

Sure, the weight goes off quickly but then people return to their old eating habits (actually eating) and pile it back on. This is where the term ‘yoyo dieting’ comes from.

As a nation, we are no longer focused on what is best for us – we are obsessed with what is quickest. We are no longer patient enough to wait for what we really want.

Everything can now be obtained at the click of a button ... except quality weight loss.

Weight loss takes time, it’s a process you have to learn. Losing weight is not as glamorous as magazines would have us believe – it’s the ticking of multiple boxes along a journey of getting everything right.

Calorie deficits don’t sell any more, even though that is the only way to truly lose weight.

Patience is boring, even though it is the only way to get anywhere with your weight loss.

If you think you will lose 10lbs by dieting for two days you have another think coming.

With weight loss it is important to play the long game. Learn everything you can with regards to nutrition, exercise and mindset.

Get the fundamentals right and learn how to utilise them to fit your lifestyle.

Then enjoy benefits for the rest of your life – not just for the next four weeks.

Patience is everything. Trust me, it’s worth waiting for.

Fortitude Fitness is on the Poulton Industrial Estate, Beacon Road. Visit www.fortitudefit.co.uk for more details.