At first glance, it can feel unfair when you hear about your friend who lost 15 lbs in a month on a diet.
But a lot of the time, what you’re seeing is not a better long-term strategy.
They hit a breaking point.
They get highly motivated.
They decide they’re going to change everything at once.
So they start exercising a lot.
They eat “perfect.”
They cut way back on calories.
And because they may have been inactive and overeating beforehand, the scale moves quickly. 
That fast progress can look impressive.
But here’s the problem:
Many people confuse fast results with a good plan.
And a lot of fitness programs and diets encourage that mistake. They sell the quick fix. They focus on the short-term win. They don’t talk much about what happens after that first burst of motivation fades.
That’s where the trouble starts.
Because the person who loses weight very quickly is often the same person who:
- misses one workout
- has one tough weekend
- gets tempted by food
- “cheats” on the diet
- and then slides right back into the same routine they were living in before
That is why so many people live in extremes.
Extreme motivation.
Extreme dieting.
Extreme exercise.
Then extreme backsliding. 
So do not envy the person who gets results quickly.
Envy the person who has been an exercise person their entire life.
Envy the person who built habits they can maintain.
The person who doesn’t need to “start over” every Monday.
The person who doesn’t swing between being all in and all out.
The person who made fitness part of who they are. 
That person may not always get the fastest results.
But they usually get the most lasting ones.
Fast change is exciting. Sustainable change is far more valuable.
Takeaways:
1. Fast results do not always mean smart results.
2. Extreme motivation often leads to extreme backsliding.
3. Quick fixes are easy to sell, but hard to sustain.
4. The goal is not a great 3 weeks. The goal is a great 30 years.
5. Long-term consistency beats short-term intensity.
– James Pratt