The Holy Trinity of True Transformation: Nutrition, Exercise and Patience

When it comes to transforming our bodies or our athletic performance, we always hear that the two main components are nutrition and exercise. It is a common understanding that changes made in both the kitchen and the gym are the primary factors that will help anyone to achieve their physical goals, be they aesthetic or an improved physical output.

However, I am of the belief that there are actually THREE main principles for a truly effective lifestyle change. That ‘Holy Trinity’ is nutrition, training….and patience.

“A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but its persistence”

— Jim Watkins

Everything in health and fitness takes time. No one made instant changes overnight; those who claim they did, I can guarantee, never kept the results.

How do I know they were never able to maintain those ‘magical’ gains or losses? Well, such dramatic transformations would be the product of drastic lifestyle changes. The problem with such drastic measures is they are, of course, unsustainable. And by very definition, what is unsustainable can never truly last, leading a person to slide back to where they were before and oftentimes, to a worse place than they originally were.

The reason they can often revert to a worsened state is because they relied solely on the latest dietary fad or craze without properly educating themselves on healthy nutrition and the correct training. We most frequently see this occur with those on juice diets. These basically replace food with expensive juice alternatives and unless you continuously pay the extortionate costs and eat via a straw for the rest of your life, you’ll eventually return to your previous poor eating habits and lifestyle. It’s inevitable. As there has been no effort to become educated on improved diet and how to exercise effectively, there will be no actual change to the way food or activity is perceived. Their outlook and knowledge on these subjects remain lacking.

A diet can be considered successful only if it is lasting and therefore must be sustainable. We don't simply want to look better for just a few days or weeks - if that was the case, an overweight person could just not eat for a few days. They'll lose weight, of course, but it's obviously not sustainable. So an improved, healthier diet cannot be drastically different; not initially. Instead, a truly successful diet will involve small, incremental changes to what they would ordinarily do. Results will be slower but they’ll be continuous - with the benefits being reaped over the course of years, as opposed to just the next two weeks.

This leads me on to the concept of meal plans. Now, I don’t wholly disagree with meal plans - they offer the client an insight into what is considered to be a ‘good daily/weekly diet’ and can help to set nutritional aspirations. However, I always ask clients what their current eating habits are and what they would consider to be a normal daily diet for them. Firstly, this gives me a genuine idea of how the client chooses to eat and what their preferences are. This can then be tweaked with simple changes and alternatives. As mentioned earlier, this initial advice may not be ‘world-changing’ in itself; I don’t want it to be – but that’s the whole point. Just as I wouldn’t ask a client new to exercise to suddenly attempt a 100kg Olympic Snatch, I wouldn’t ask the same drastic feats of the individual in the kitchen. Small, simple changes to their current lifestyle can be adhered to and employed without much fuss or disruption to their lives. Then, once these initial amendments become habitual and fully ingrained, we can begin to implement further changes.

It is important that the transitional process is slow and wholly manageable. This way, we are truly changing lifestyles.

As well as nutrition, these same principles apply to training. An improved physique, achieved by fat loss, muscle gain, improved posture or enhanced physical performance, cannot hope to be achieved in a matter of days or weeks, but rather months and years.

Those who I know to have properly lost body fat (and successfully kept it off) are now some of the fittest individuals I know because in their pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, they began a fitness regime. Initially, this may have grown from a simple 20-minute walk each evening into a short run. Gradually, they started to attend group classes and leisurely take part in social sports. They learnt how to correctly train with weights and introduce certain interval-circuits and HIIT (High-intensity interval training). They now have a healthy, active and fun lifestyle. What started as a small step with gentle walks has transformed into a complete training program. As a result, both their health and their physiques have been dramatically transformed.

This was a revolution for them that took place over the course of months and years, and with this consistent and dedicated approach, without the urgency or immaturity for instant results. Correct habits have been formed and successful mentalities developed, ironically leading to actual, incredible results.

A further argument for the importance of consistency and patience is for those (which should be everyone) pursuing improved strength. A weight lifter cannot realistically hope to add 20kg to their bench press or 50kg to their squat/deadlift in just two or three weeks and if they do achieve such a superhuman feat, the progress is doomed to plateau.

Instead, with a more mature approach of trying to increase their lifts by 2.5kg and 5kg in the three respective lifts each and every month, results can be maintained and continued at this steady pace for years.

At this rate, a lifter will have an improved bench press of 30kg in a year and 60kg on the squat and deadlift. These are significant improvements, all achieved with a more intelligent, patient approach, with further improvements to be heaped on in future years.

In summary, the key to true, lasting change and becoming a success story is to leave the ego at the door. Forget about unrealistic time-frames and promises of a '3-week complete body transformation'. As with everything, meaningful and sustainable results take time, effort, patience and perseverance. Stay disciplined with the nutrition and the exercise, and KEEP GRINDING AWAY.