Why I Don't Help People Lose Weight
Why people insist fitness is about weight loss but I disagree
‘You’re not doing your job properly’
Is the response I get when I say I don’t help people lose weight as a personal trainer. Like weight loss and fitness go hand in hand, so entwinned together that it is hard to separate them. Like one depends on the other.
But my choice to stick to supporting people with their health & fitness goals without focusing on weight loss does not come lightly - its rooted in science.
You can name as many research papers as you like which show weight loss improves health. Yes, some of these studies show efficacy - that in ‘ideal’ controlled conditions, people can lose weight and health markers improve. But what most of them lack is effectiveness - and to a degree, safety - in the real world.
Not to mention, most interventions rely on a component of exercise.
So was it the weight loss, or the exercise, that made a difference to people’s health?
When you pair this with studies on cardiovascular health, motivation, weight stigma and disordered eating (to name a few) - for me, that real world effectiveness and the safety diminishes further.
I don’t think weight loss in every case is bad. Sometimes people adopt health promoting behaviours like exercise and lose weight. Sometimes people adopt health promoting behaviours and gain weight. Sometimes nothing happens to a person’s weight at all.
What’s important is we see body changes as ever fluctuating and not a direct measure of our success when it come to exercise and eating behaviours.
Below I’ll outline my main reasons for not focusing on weight loss as a fitness professional. These are things I like to be clear about so that if you ever feel like you want to sign up for the classes I offer, you know what my ethos is prior to working with me or joining my community.
Intentional weight loss is not risk free
I am neither qualified, nor have the tools, to assess who is at risk of disordered eating. Weight loss maybe considered a physiological change to your body but pursuing it can cause a hole host of negative psychological and social impacts. Poor body image and a poor relationship with food are just two of the reasons why I don’t think it is worth the risk.
Extra reading:
It reinforces harmful weight stigma
Until the narrative about fat bodies changes on a societal level, it is unlikely you can pursue weight loss without adding to the oppression of fat bodies. Many people are loud about their weight loss ‘journeys’ and no matter how much they yell ‘this is about me’ - the message it sends is always so much louder.
Extra reading:
Exercise is not that good for weight loss
A 2018 review looked into studies that were using different interventions to produce weight loss. What they found is that aerobic exercise didn’t lead to significant weight loss unless exercise levels greatly exceeded the physical activity guidelines. In other words, people had to over exercise in order to see weight loss results.
Resistance training also did not produce significant weight loss and neither did combined interventions unless, again, the aerobic exercise exceeded physical activity guidelines.
Yet improvements in cardiometabolic health have been observed in people who were exercising but didn’t lose weight. Bringing us on to our next point.
Cardiovascular fitness is a better marker of health than how much you weigh
We have an entire host of research which highlights that you can be both fat and fit. This research is heavily criticised for lacking certain things that weight loss research also has pitfalls in.
Generally the findings are that physically fit individuals, regardless of weight, have lower mortality risk compared to unfit individuals, even if they are of ‘normal’ weight. In these studies, individuals of a ‘normal’ BMI were some of the most at risk groups if they were not engaging in physical activity.
Extra reading:
Weight loss is a barrier, not a goal
‘When I lose weight I will…’
Weight loss acts as a barrier for so many people, putting their life on hold until they’ve lost weight.
Weight loss is the barrier, not your body, its the thing that you perceive to be standing in the way of the outcome.
Removing this barrier means you have to look at other ways to achieve your goal.
This is important because research shows that people who exercise for non appearance related outcomes (fitness/strength/health) are more consistent with their behaviours.
And they have more positive body image. (Something that is not guaranteed with weight loss).
Extra reading:
Weight loss is considered low quality motivation to exercise
In the same research as mentioned above, weight loss is considered a poor quality motivator and can disrupt your long term adherence to exercise.
It can also promote unfavourable psychological and behavioural outcomes.
The reasons why you engage in physical activity/exercise can reduce or even cancel out the positive effects on body image and eating self regulation.
For example, exercising to lose weight or change appearance has been found to be related to lower body appreciation, lower intuitive eating and higher controlled motivations to regulate eating.
Whereas exercising for autonomous motivations and intrinsic goals has been associated with higher body appreciation, increased eating self-efficacy and lower disordered behaviours.
For me, this is not up for debate.
My job is to support people in moving their bodies. To help them get fitter and stronger so they can live meaningfully. If for them this includes weight loss - that’s their prerogative and their choice.
My choice is to just focus on movement.
The algorithm also compels me to ask you to like, comment and restack this post (only if you enjoyed it of course) so that new people can find me. The best way to support me is to either leave me a little tip here or by joining my fitness community - The Snack Pass. There are no paywalls here and I’d like to keep it that way. Despite myself, I also still use Instagram, so maybe follow me there too.
Thanks, Amy! I am actually in the process of studying to become a personal trainer. I appreciate the insight.
Just here clapping from the wings. <3