My stepfather used to tell me that I should try to tan slowly throughout the whole summer and not try to tan excessively during one day. He said the rule was, the faster the tan appeared, the faster it would disappear!

Being a very white Scandinavian (he was Italian), I was always quite keen on tanning during the summer. We, pale white skinned, just look a little healthier when we have some colour on our skin. As a teen, as soon as the sun came out, I would get my bikini and lie in the burning sun. Most of the time I would get an actual burn and be in pain for days! And all of the time, he would be right. As fast as the tan appeared, it would disappear. But if I was smart about it and tanned little by little, then I would stay tanned for longer, also when summer ended.

Now, let’s not focus on how bad this was for my skin, although the vitamin D was good if I didn’t overdo it, but let’s focus on the concept of how wishing for fast results will just end in failure.

If you try to lose weight faster than your body is willing to, then you are just setting yourself up for failure.

“Lose 10 kg in 4 weeks!”

Guess what is going to happen? You may lose the 10 kg in those 4 weeks (although 2,5 kg/week is a lot!) but if you don’t find the underlying causes of why you gained weight in the first place, then the weight will just keep coming back. Maybe not that summer, and maybe not even the year after, but I can assure you that eventually it will come back.

Weight loss is about lifestyle change and really figuring out what’s behind it all. Rushing to see results will just end in failure. Be patient with your body, be good to it and be kind. Nourish it with good things that it can thrive on! Your body will thank you and repay you in ways that are unimaginable to you, including dropping all that extra weight, and keeping it off!

So before you spend money on the new diet trend or on the next 21-day challenge, really think about it! Are these changes sustainable? Will I keep doing them? What happens after the 21 days? Will my body thrive on this?

My baby is 15 months and I still haven’t lost all the weight I want to. But that’s ok. Because I know that all the weight I am losing now, bit by bit, will stay off forever!

Think about it!