A problem we face currently is that social media and diet culture lead us to believe that we can achieve our desired transformations in a very short period of time. We’re constantly seeing marketing focused around drastic weight loss within a 30 day challenge or even 60-90 days.
As a result we struggle with committing to the actions intended to help us reach our goals because we have a short-term focus and unrealistic expectations.
Does this sound like you:
✔️ You have great intentions at the beginning of your journey as you begin to shift your habits whether it’s how you eat or how often you exercise. Often you start really strong and find it easy to follow through because your end goal is clearly pictured in your mind.
✔️ You can typically commit to your plan for a certain number of days or weeks - maybe even months - before your motivation begins to wane. Usually this is onset by a lack of visual progress setting off feelings of frustrations. After all, you’re working so hard so why aren’t you seeing any change?
✔️ You start to think you MUST be doing something wrong so you quit or you pivot to a new strategy leading you to jump from diet to diet without experiencing the results you desperately desire.
If you're working towards ANY health goal - whether it’s weight loss, body recomposition, or a healthier relationship with food - it's important to have realistic expectations about what progress looks like. The more realistic you can be about what progress looks like, the easier it's going to be to reset your mindset so that you can set yourself up for success in your journey.
Let’s get real about what to expect in your health journey so you can shift your mindset, stick to your plan better, and get the results you’ve been working for.
WEIGHT LOSS
Realistic sustainable weight loss results for men are on average 1-2lbs per week and for women 0.5-1lb per week. The key word here is “sustainable” - you could speed up your weight loss results but it would require drastic measures that are impossible to sustain over a long period of time leading to regaining the weight eventually. These drastic measures are also often very harmful to your health.
In the beginning of a weight loss journey it is possible for someone to experience greater weight loss in the beginning as they shift their eating habits and increase their exercise, but eventually the rate of weight loss will level out.
Every single person’s weight loss journey looks different based on their starting point, how much they desire to lose, hormones, and lifestyle factors. Understand these stats are averages.
BODY RECOMPOSITION
Body recomposition describes burning fat and building muscle simultaneously. This kind of strategy is excellent for those who have less than 15lbs to lose and are using resistance training at least 90 minutes each week as part of their program.
Body recomposition can be more difficult to track because the scale is not a good measurement tool. A person is not guaranteed to lose weight on a body recomposition journey, but will reap the benefits of getting leaner and more muscular. In some cases, a person may gain weight from an increase in muscle. Instead, photos or measurements are used to measure progress, but for many these changes are very small and gradual over time.
Once again, each person’s journey will look different - someone new to building muscle will notice greater changes than someone who has already been building muscle for some time. Regardless, anyone on a body recomposition journey needs to be committed to consistency for anywhere from 6 months to a year or more depending on their end goal.
RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD
Thanks to diet culture and the pervasiveness of fat phobia, weight loss products and programs, and diets in our everyday life, many people develop unhealthy relationships with food and their bodies. While some will develop an eating disorder, many will develop disordered eating behaviors.
Disordered eating can look like obsessively tracking macros, calories, or food, restricting total food consumed or specific foods, exhibiting binge and restrict patterns with food, and more. Many people on diets are exhibiting disordered eating behaviors without being aware of it.
As mentioned in the previous two sections, how long it takes for an individual to heal their relationship with food and eliminate disordered eating behaviors depends on many factors such as their professional and social support systems, how long they’ve been engaging in the disordered behaviors, and willingness to change.
I personally struggled with disordered eating for over 10 years, and the good news is I am proof that you can heal. I can also attest to the fact that even though I haven’t exhibited disordered eating in over two years, I am still consistently working on my relationship with food.
MINDSET SHIFT: SETTING YOUR EXPECTATIONS
I want you to take a minute to consider how long you’ve been in the current situation you’re in where you’ve decided you need to make a change. How long did it take you to get here?
A person who has been steadily gaining weight over the course of five or ten years cannot lose the weight in a 21 day fix.
A person who has spent 20 years of their life avoiding the gym and eating a nutrient-void diet is not going to build a large amount of muscle after only committing to a 6 week transformation challenge.
A person who has exhibited disordered eating behaviors for the past 30 years cannot commit to healing for a mere three months and expect to be cured.
The good news is that with strategy, consistency, and support each of these individuals can transform their lives in less time than it took to get to their current circumstances, but it will still take time.
HOW TO GO THE DISTANCE
So how can you get out of the on-again-off-again relationship with your nutrition or fitness or healing so you can create the transformation you desire?
Create benchmark goals to celebrate your wins along the way. Benchmark goals should be created based on check points and specific actions that will get you to your end goal. If your ultimate goal is to lose 30lbs, you can celebrate each time you lose five pounds or when you’ve hit your 30th workout at the gym or successfully hit your water goal 2 weeks in a row.
Focus on metrics that are outside vanity metrics such as weight lost or pant sizes dropped. Notice in the prior point I called out consistency with exercise and water consumption as benchmark goals to celebrate along the way. You can also track weight lifted in the gym to celebrate increasing strength or, in the case of healing your disordered eating, celebrate eating a food you previously restricted.
Accept that no journey is linear and setbacks are part of the process. It’s normal to see the scale fluctuate, to have a bad day at the gym, or to relapse into an old bad habit. You might be able to objectively spot the why behind it and course correct or learn a valuable lesson about what might be a weakness you need to work on. What determines your success in the end is whether you’re able to maintain consistency when you hit a bump in the road as opposed to pivot your strategy or give up entirely.
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