Your Ideal Form

Helping you on your journey to your best self!

weight loss

Not Being Patient is a Mistake

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Why not being patient with your weight loss goals is a mistake

The journey to get to your goal weight may be a long one, but it is worth the wait. It can be difficult to be patient while you wait to see results. But a lack of patience can be a big mistake that can make the road to success even longer. Let’s look at some speed bumps you’ll want to avoid on your trip to your best self.

Don’t Compare

Comparing your journey to someone else’s can be a big mistake if you choose the wrong person. Contestants on shows like The Biggest Loser are not models for healthy weight loss. Those contestants don’t have to deal with life while on the show; their only “job” is to lose weight. They are severely restricted in what they eat. Even the food you see them eating is often spat out after they do their commercial for whatever company sponsored the segment. They spend multiple hours in the gym. It’s not sustainable, which is why most of them gain the weight back. You don’t want to lose the weight only to find it again. You want to get rid of it for good, so take the long view and don’t get discouraged if it isn’t coming off at a ridiculous rate. Aim for 1 pound per week of loss. Also, don’t compare yourself to other peoples’ before and after photos if there is no timeline or date associated with the photo. The pictures could be years apart. Focus on your own habits, and you will get there!

Ignore the First Week

Very often, when starting a new weight loss plan, people will see a very large loss in the first week. This is often the body simply shedding excess water weight. After that initial drop, then the body begins to burn off fat. But rarely will you see another large drop like that. Be prepared for it, and don’t let it discourage you. Again, you want to aim for losing 1 pound per week. If you lose more, that’s fine, but don’t let that become your goal, and don’t fall for the trap of thinking that it will be indicative of future loss.

Don’t Quit

Because the process is slow, some people get frustrated and quit. But not you. Even if you only lose half a pound each week, that’s still 26 pounds over the course of a year. How would you feel if you were 26 pounds lighter? Again, this isn’t about getting to some magic number as quickly as possible. It is about being healthy for you, for your family, for the rest of your life. Don’t let another January 1st roll around where you once again make a resolution to lose weight. Instead of starting over, don’t give up!

Be realistic

Many people quit because they compare themselves to what they see on TV, or photoshopped pictures in magazines. They have unrealistic expectations of how quickly they can lose weight. Don’t fall prey to this sort of thinking. Do the math, and see what is realistic for you. If you lose 1 pound each week, where will you be in six months? A year? How long at that rate will it take to get to your goal weight? Keep in mind that 1 pound is just an average. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you will likely lose more at first. If you are struggling with those last 5 pounds, it is going to be much harder and much slower going. But it is possible and within your reach. With persistence and consistency, you will get there!

Relying Solely on the Scale is a Mistake

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Weight Loss Graph
We wish our weight loss progressed like the graph on the left, but more often it looks more like the one on the right!

 

So you’ve calculated your TDEE, picked out a diet plan, did some planning, took some “before” photos, and prepped your meals for the week. You go out for a walk every day and hit the step goal on your fitness tracker. You are feeling pumped about this new journey you have embarked on. And then, at the end of the week, you step on the scale, (making sure to do so correctly) and… ugh. It hasn’t budged. It can be easy to get discouraged, but please, don’t lose hope! Here’s why the scale might not be reflecting progress, and other tactics you try instead to track your progress.

Weight loss is rarely linear

As much as we would like the graph of our weight loss to be a nice, gently sloping curve, more often than not, it has spikes and twists and turns in it. This is normal. You will have periods where you feel like you are doing everything right, but the scale just does not move. And just when you’re about to give up, you’ll have a huge “woosh”, and appear to lose many pounds in a short period of time. The trick to getting to that “woosh”, however, is to not give up!

You may be retaining water

One reason for the scale not moving may be water retention. A big meal, or a salty one, can cause your body to channel fluid to your stomach rather than your bladder. If you are on your period, you may have some bloating. Even a tough workout can send water to your muscles to help with recovery. If this is the case, your only recourse is to be patient, wait it out, and let your body return to normal.

You may be building muscle

If your new fitness regimen includes lifting weights, you could be putting on some muscle (ah, those newbie gainz!). So while you may be burning off some of that stubborn body fat, the muscle you are putting on might make it look like you’ve made no progress on the scale. Be patient, because you are going to look fantastic!

You may be in a plateau

It is a somewhat inevitable occurrence in a weight loss journey: the dreaded plateau. As you lose weight, your body simply needs fewer calories to sustain you. And so, some adjustments need to be made. Shaking up your routine a bit can help get you out of a rut if you are stuck.

So now we know why the scale might be stuck. Let’s look at what you can do instead to keep pumped about your progress. Try one of these tactics:

Try comparing photos

This is when those “before” pictures you took really come in handy. Take some new pictures to compare yourself to. We don’t really register the teeny tiny changes that happen every day, but compare yourself to a picture from even a month ago, and you’ll see some big changes.

Try tape

Taking measurements with measuring tape is also a good way to measure your progress. Sometimes the scale won’t move, but you’ll see that you’ve dropped inches from here or there. I like to measure myself using tape about once a month.

Try on old clothes

If you don’t have measuring tape, you can use an old pair of jeans as your yardstick. Try on some old clothes that you haven’t worn in awhile. How do they fit? This can be especially eye opening when putting on clothes from your summer wardrobe after a long winter!

Try a body scan

If you want the best data available on how you are truly progressing, then getting a body scan is the way to go. Unfortunately, they can be expensive, but you can check to see if your insurance will cover it. Do a Google search for “body scan” + your city, and you can find clinics in your area that offer the service.

How do you feel?

I’m a big fan of tracking progress with cold, hard numbers, but there is much to be said for stepping back from all of that and just reflecting on how you feel. Are you more energetic? Do you feel “lighter”, either physically or mentally? Is your face clearer?

There are so many more ways to measure your progress aside from the scale, so don’t let your least favorite appliance bring you down!

How Selfies Can Help You Lose Weight

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How Selfies can help you lose weight

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you were really “good” all week, did all your workouts, ate really healthy, you’re feeling really good, and then you step on the scale at the end of the week and… nothing? It can be really demoralizing, so I want to share a tip to help you get through those inevitable plateaus.

Taking pictures of yourself can offer a great alternative to the scale for measuring your progress. This is especially useful if you don’t have your own scale at home. Or, if you do have a scale, sometimes the numbers might not be going down, but your body composition is changing. Your pants are looser, you feel better, and even if the scale doesn’t reflect the changes, the photos will. Even after a significant weight loss, many people still report feeling “fat”. Since the weight loss is gradual, they see themselves as looking the same as they always have. Comparing how you look now to a picture you took months ago can show you just how far you’ve come.

Taking a before picture can be very uncomfortable, especially one where you strip down to your underwear and take a full body shot. It forces you to confront how you truly look right now. Don’t let that deter you. Summon up a few seconds of courage to snap some front and side shots. On various internet forums, I’ve seen many people say they regret not having taken a before picture once they reach their goal weight, so learn from their mistake and take a few selfies.

Set a reminder to periodically go back and look at that before picture. It will remind you of just how far you’ve come in your journey. Be proud of the progress you’ve made! Let the picture serve as a reminder to make a permanent lifestyle change so you don’t end up back at your starting point. You can also use the pictures as motivation to keep moving forward.

Don’t forget to periodically take “during” pictures, as well! A good rule of thumb is to take pictures once a month.

I do want to caution you about comparing your pictures to others. Sometimes people will post amazing transformations of themselves online, but fail to mention how long it took to get from “before” to “after”. Let their pictures motivate you by showing you what is possible, but don’t let it discourage you if you aren’t quite there yet.

If you are concerned about others seeing your pictures, take them with a regular camera instead of your phone. This significantly reduces the chance that the pictures will accidentally end up online if your toddler gets a hold of your phone!

Challenge: Take some pictures of yourself. Really LOOK at them. How do the pictures make you feel? What are you willing to do about it?

Why Simply “Eating Less” Won’t Help You Lose Weight

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Eating _Less_

A big portion of weight loss advice gets boiled down to: “Eat less, move more.” Let’s tackle that first part: just eat “less”. That’s not very specific though, is it? How much less are you supposed to eat? And less than WHAT exactly? Less than before? Less than a breadbasket?

People generally go wrong with eating “less” in one of two ways. In one camp, we have those who cut way, way, WAY back, and start eating very little. Inevitably this leads to them being hungry all the time, and eventually they give in to their hunger and eat the entire kitchen. Then they feel awful about it, and give up, thinking they’ll never be able to lose weight.

On the flip side are those who know they should take things gradually, so they cut back a little based on their previous eating habits. Often, however, they aren’t relying on hard data. It could well be that previously, their eating regimen had them gaining weight at a slow creep of five pounds a year. Now they’ve cut back a tiny bit, so they’re only gaining at two pounds a year. While this is a step in the right direction, when they step on the scale and don’t see a change, they get frustrated, decide that eating less is of no use since the numbers aren’t going down anyway, and give up, thinking they’ll never be able to lose weight.

While eating “less” is generally accepted as true, one important piece that is missing is just how much less to eat. Eating the right amount will keep you on a steady pace to reach your goals. It is also important to eat enough, so you aren’t left “starving” and frustrated and wanting to quit.

So, exactly how much “less” should you eat so that you hit the sweet spot of not eating like a bird while still seeing results? For that, we’ll need to do some math. We need to determine, based on your current height and weight, how many calories your body burns just keeping you alive. Pumping blood, digesting food, breathing… all that stuff our brain handles for us without us having to think about it. Then we’ll multiply that by a factor of how active you are. That is how many calories total your body burns each day or your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). I won’t make you actually do all the math; you can use any number of online TDEE calculators to come up with your number. Take in fewer calories, and your body makes up the difference by burning some excess fat. Take in more, and your body stores the extra as fat. The generally accepted equation is that one pound of fat is around 3500 calories. So to lose one pound a week, we can divide that by seven, and you come up with needing to eat 500 calories below your TDEE each day to hit that one pound a week goal. If you are currently eating well above your TDEE, cut back slowly. Don’t make the mistake in the example above of cutting back too quickly without getting used to it!

Keep in mind that despite all the SCIENCE! and MATH! that goes into this, your TDEE calculation is still an estimate. If you are not seeing results after a few weeks, and you are certain you are tracking your intake correctly, you may need to adjust how many calories you are taking in.

Have you tried eating some arbitrary amount of “less” before? How did it work out for you? Let me know in the comments!