Weight loss is a complicated thing and, if you've ever been through it, you know that there are often questions that are hard to answer and obstacles that stand in your way. You also probably know that there are lessons you have to learn along the way, lessons that, once learned, keep you going when times get tough.
One of those lessons is this: You won't always know if you're doing it right. You can track calories-in vs. calories-out, exercise every day and watch your diet, but you won't have any immediate feedback indicating you're on the right track. We know that losing weight takes time, at least intellectually, but deep down, we're still looking for fast results. When they don't come, we often feel frustrated to the point of quitting.
Giving your body time to respond to what you're doing is part of the weight loss process. We focus so much on the scale as a gauge of how we're doing, but, sometimes, the scale is the worst way to measure your success. In fact, your weight may not change very much during the first month or so of exercise, but that doesn't mean you aren't getting results.
So what do you do if you're working hard, but that work isn't showing up on the scale? First, embracing the uncertainty of the process, rather than fighting it, can ease a lot of your frustration. If you're doing all the right things to lose weight, allow yourself to focus on other ways of tracking your progress: Getting stronger, building endurance, feeling more energy, feeling good about yourself, sleeping better, etc.
If you're not sure if you're doing all the right things to lose weight, educate yourself on the basics of weight loss, or consider working with a personal trainer to ease your worries. Either way, there will always be some uncertainty in the process.
What do you think? Do you ever get frustrated and wonder if you're doing things right? How do you allow your body and mind the time they need to respond to what you're doing? Leave a comment and tell us what you think about the uncertainty of weight loss.
A great point you make! Weight loss always takes a while to kick in for me when I start trying to dial in my conditioning. It’s challenging to get the diet and exercise working in conjunction with each other. Frequently as I ramp up my workout volume, I also tend to eat more. It may be a month or so until I can maintain the higher workout volume and get by on a more normal eating pattern. Getting enough sleep is also very important. It’s natural to eat in response to sleep deprivation. If you’ve started getting up earlier to get your workouts in, this may be a challenge for you.
I really like this and appreciate that you made the point. You articulate something that I’ve often felt (sometimes with frustration, sometimes amazement, sometimes joy, sometimes surprise) and hadn’t put my finger on. Sometimes I don’t even know how well I’m doing until someone else notices the changes in my body.
This email came at the right time, it is only day two for me and although my brain is telling me it wants instant results, my logical side says, just wait a bit. I am using a book called One Change, it has some great advice as like yours. Thank you for this information it re-iterates that although weightloss is a challenge, if you get your head right the body will follow