Real, life-changing examples of success, to demonstrate the formula works for anyone

Book preview: In his new book, ‘Achieve The Impossible’ former Olympic Athlete and physical activity expert, Professor Greg Whyte OBE advocates a new approach to achieving goals

Top British sports scientist, physical activity expert and former-Olympic athlete, Prof. Greg Whyte OBE believes society needs a new approach to achieving goals, and that quick-fix solutions simply aren’t working when it comes to making changes for the better, particularly when it comes to physical activity and diet.

“Much of self-help messaging out there, has provided advice for the collective, without really understanding individual differences and providing best fit solutions that optimise success. This encourages short-term results, which in most cases leads to more severe relapses. The key to success is focusing on an individually tailored approach and working on lasting change.

“People increasingly want to gain results in weight loss or fitness faster and faster with as little effort as possible,” says Whyte. “10% of dieters maintain weight loss in the long-term, with over half gaining more weight than they started with. People who follow fad diets tend to gain more weight in the long term.” 

Prof. Greg Whyte OBE (PhD DSc FACSM FBASES) is an internationally recognized expert in the field of physiology, sports and exercise performance. Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University and Director of the Centre for Health and Human Performance in London's Harley Street, he has extensive experience of assessing, treating and improving the performance of people ranging from cancer sufferers, celebrities attempting charity challenges to elite athletes. An Olympian and both European and world championship medallist in modern pentathlon, he was awarded the OBE for his services to Sport, Sports Science and Charity in 2014.

In his new book, ‘Achieve The Impossible’ – published on March 12,2015 by Penguin Random House UK – Whyte states that long-term health and fitness can only be achieved if the mind and body is trained and prepared for a longer journey.

“Nothing good comes easy,” writes Whyte in his book ‘Achieve The Impossible’. “Committing to working hard is the first and most important step when attempting to achieve any goal, including weight-loss or fitness. Online guides and books which claim to help achieve these goals in days or weeks are promoting the very opposite, which often leads to failure and disappointment when results don’t last.

Unfortunately, the relationship between effort and reward is not linear. As you move closer to achieving your goal you will be required to work harder and harder to continue to progress. But we should be embracing this law of diminishing returns, not attempting to hide it away.”

Said Whyte: “In the UK we are becoming obsessed with short-term abstinences or quick-fixes. But if you stop doing anything suddenly and successfully abstain for the month, what’s the first thing you do at the end of that month? In most cases, the following month you drink or you smoke more heavily than ever. We should be considering ways of fixing these endemic health issues with an eye on the future.”

Whyte has previously organised 18 challenges for Comic Relief and Sport Relief, including coaching comedian David Walliams to swim the English Channel in 2006 and Eddie Izzard to run 43 marathons in 51 days in 2009. These challenges have raised £33 million for charity, for which Whyte was awarded an OBE in 2014.

“Achieve the Impossible’ seeks to educate people in overcoming the four key factors limiting success: the body, the mind, the technical and the environment. Only when these are understood and the challenges laid out ahead of us can we truly overcome a challenge – be it weight-loss, education or climbing Mount Everest. ‘Achieve the Impossible’ provides real, life-changing examples of success, to demonstrate the formula works for anyone; proving it is possible to achieve success, whatever challenge life throws at you.”

‘Achieve The Impossible’ by Greg Whyte will be published 12th March 2015