Did you recently make a “resolution” to lose weight? Personally, I find it troubling when so much time, money and energy is spent to convince us to lose weight and really, what is weight loss? When we lose weight are we really losing the excess body fat that is jiggling all over our bodies? If we run enough, or sweat enough, will we see weight loss or less jiggling? Ultimately, will we be healthier and fitter? Probably not!
The right reason to get into a personal fitness program is not because you are being shamed into it and not because everyone else is doing it (the gyms are at their busiest right now). And, it’s definitely not because there are sales on all over town. The best reason is because you know, deep down, that you need to do something. You feel more jiggles than last year, your weight gain is steadily going up no matter what you do and you generally feel “blah”. Listen to your inner self, that “gut instinct” that tells you – you need to/want to do something!
With most diets, the weight loss you experience in a few short weeks is usually NOT fat loss. If you aren’t eating right, it can easily be muscle loss and if you are not drinking enough water it can simply be water loss. Both of which are unhealthy and it’s pretty much guaranteed that you will put that weight back on.
We all know that “yo-yo” dieting doesn’t work and it’s now being widely reported to be detrimental to overall health in the long run. Seriously, the whole concept of “dieting” doesn’t work. Looking at your nutrition as a lifestyle change (not a short term diet) along with following a consistent fitness training program is the best way to combat weight gain (body fat gain) and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In a healthy fitness and nutrition program, the most weight loss (that can easily be calculated with that scale you have at home) you should see in one week is 1 to 2 lbs. That’s it! (Did you just do the math in your head calculating how long it would take you to get to the number you seek? Stop that!)
If you consistently lose that, then you KNOW you are probably doing things right. You’re NOT letting yourself become dehydrated (because you know to drink 10 to 12 cups every day) or losing muscle (because you are working out consistently 2 to 3 times a week). And, usually, the norm is that some people don’t see the number on the scale move too much for the first 4 to 6 weeks (and sometimes up to 12 weeks!) because they are gaining muscle but the excess body fat is still there. In my own personal body transformation, I lost over 10% body fat but saw only a 5 lb weight loss on the scale.
For those of you not understanding the change a 10% body fat loss means – to me, I lost 5 dress sizes – but ONLY 5 lbs! But, with all that muscle gain, the weight on the scale kept moving down. By this time I was convinced that number on the scale wasn’t the answer. Muscle gain, clean nutrition and consistency in both nutrition and training were what was needed.