Faster Progress
“I Want Faster Progress”
by the Precision Nutrition Coaching Team
“Weight loss itself is like winning the lottery. It’s terrific, but many lottery winners, like weight losers, wake up at some point where they started, wondering what happened. What happened is that the recently rich aren’t always able to develop the attitudes (emotion), knowledge (intellect), and/or consciousness (spirit) necessary to maintain prosperity. Same goes for the suddenly svelte.”
–Victoria Moran
I WANT FASTER RESULTS!
—“Ryan, I’m perfectly content with my progress/results.”
Gosh, I can’t tell you how many people stop me and tell me that.
Oh, wait a minute, yeah I can. None.
And it bothers me today as much as it did 5 years ago.
On the surface, it’s easy to understand why someone might want rapid progress. They want the dream body now. They want the six figure income now. They want the mansion now. Faster is better, right?
Well, I challenge you to consider the following 2 questions…
1. How would faster results change your current behaviors?
2. How would faster results change your current habits?
But It’s Sooooo Motivating
—“Ryan, seeing results is really motivating and it keeps me going.”
Okay, I can understand that.
But you best enjoy that while it lasts, because when you reach “maintenance land” you can no longer rely on those rapid results for motivation.
(“Maintenance land” is the place you’ll all reach sometime or another where you look pretty darned good and simply want to maintain what you’ve achieved…you won’t be actively pressing to lose fat, gain muscle, etc).
It’s for this reason that I always encourage clients to use “plateau weeks” as practice for the future.
Why? Because that’s what maintenance is all about. It’s week after week of healthy behaviors/habits, with no results occurring (and this is on purpose).
So, instead of cursing the physique gods during a stagnant week, use it as practice. Maintenance is about healthy habits with minimal visible changes.
Here’s a personal story…
I’ve had a lean body composition for about 13 years. And once I’d built this body, and was pretty happy with it, all I wanted to do was maintain in. Which I’ve done. For 13 years.
I exercise at least 5 hours per week, eat healthy foods at least 90% of the time, listen to my body’s hunger/fullness cues, sleep 7-9 hours each night, deal with the criticisms of our unhealthy society, and do this day after day. Year after year.
With no visible changes for “motivation.”
• Do I expect to see more body fat melt away? Nope. I don’t have any that I want to lose.
• Do I expect my cholesterol to get better? Nope. It’s already great.
• Do I expect my waistline to tighten up a few more inches? Nope. It’s already less than 32 inches.
I simply do all these healthy things just to hang steady.
When I Get To My Goal, My Life Will Change
I hear this all the time…and it’s a lie. Folks, “change” proceeds from the inside-out. You change on the inside first, then your life changes.
As a result, yes, it is possible to STILL be overweight but have a mind that’s healthy and ready to impel physical progress. However you have to believe it. You have to hang in there while your body catches up to your mind.
However, on the other hand, when the magical caliper reading shows up, the pants finally fit, or the scale drops to what you consider “lean” - the self-confidence fairy doesn’t fly down and grant you a new outlook on life.
Self-confidence and how much we believe in ourselves is a daily challenge we all deal with. No matter what our body fat percentage.
I don’t think anyone ever wakes up one day and feels their body is perfect. The “Enjoy What You’ve Accomplished” blog helps to put this in perspective.
Quote:
Have you recently lost body fat or gained some muscle? Maybe you were able to stop using all those medications for your high blood pressure. Didn’t you put up 10 more pounds on squats last week?
Hopefully you are nodding your head up and down to one of those statements – but maybe your not. Maybe you don’t have any tangible measure of progress lately – all you have been doing is plugging away at those behavior based goals.
What do all of the aforementioned examples deserve? Some recognition and enjoyment!
As humans, we never seem to be satisfied. Nowhere is this more apparent than with body composition goals. I hate to break this news to you, but you will probably never be perfect. I have worked with fitness, figure and bodybuilding competitors who are never satisfied with the amount of body fat or muscle mass they carry. These athletes are at the pinnacle of body composition mastery. However, when you ask them – they are never lean enough, muscular enough, or in good enough condition. They could always be a little bit better.
What does that illustrate? Your physique may never be perfect. Acknowledging this can be reassuring. This week take a minute to enjoy what you have accomplished thus far on your health/fitness journey. Learn to enjoy the process and not just the outcome of everything you do. If you begin to love what you are doing – then you’ll waste less time splitting hairs over the final product.
Getting Past The Results Thing
You know the people that constantly “watch their weight?”
I think this quote can help shed some new light…
“In spiritual terms, what could be more inane, in a world with so much need and so many places to put our efforts and our love, than expending mental energy keeping track of numbers on a scale? Instead of watching your weight, watch the sun rise. Watch your garden grow. Watch your nephew so your sister can get away for the weekend. This puts your focus on living instead of waiting until some scale tells you that living is allowed.” – Lit From Within, By: Victoria Moran
That’s some good insight.
Finally, I remember outlining a study that reviewed the thought patterns of people embarking on weight management plans. Again, it opened my eyes to how many people can have their eyes fixed on a “false” destination. Check it out in the “Overweight Mind” blog.
Quote:
A new study from the Journal of the American Dietetic Association gives us insight into the mind of a person who is overweight.
This was a descriptive study examining individuals’ prior experiences with:
• Weight-loss treatment
• Treatment preferences
• What they found to be most and least satisfying with treatment
Before I looked at the results of this study, I made predictions.
Guess what? I was right on.
Let’s review the results.
What is the preferred method of weight-loss treatment for people who are overweight?
—Doing it on their own with new eating and exercise behaviors
This is most likely due to their need for control. That’s cool – I am all for making gradual changes and not letting a diet coach dictate your every move. But then again, I don’t know if their strategy is working very well?
What is the most satisfying feature of a weight-loss program?
—Noticeable or quick results
Come on. Are we still playing that? Does anything worthwhile come quick? 15 years of typical North American habits may very well take 15 years to reverse.
And why the hurry? Are they anxious to get into “maintenance?” I can tell you that the world of maintenance isn’t much different from the world of weight loss.
Same habits, different day.
Why is it hard to be successful in losing weight?
—Difficult to make/maintain changes & No time
Yawners. I’m bored with those responses.
What isn’t difficult in life? Oh yeah - Holding down a job, raising kids, a lasting marriage, volunteering, budgeting, etc… What a minute. Those are all difficult too. What else is new?
And no time? Please.
What is taking up so much weekly time for these people? Seriously.
Most people I work with are “busy” with the following:
• Commuting to work (just move closer)
• Watching TV
• Playing video games
• Shopping for junk food
• Being sedentary
The only valid response I have ever heard to the “no time” question is high work hours. If work hours are too steep, cut back. Well, unless they can’t budget their money.
Quit the pity party and do it already.
What are the barriers to weight loss treatment adherence?
—“When I’m hungry I have trouble controlling what I eat”
—“I have trouble staying motivated”
—“No time to plan”
—“Resisting tempting foods” & “Feeling deprived and restricted”
This is where the media and “code of belief” regarding weight loss screws with success.
Here are my answers to the above responses:
“When I’m hungry I have trouble controlling what I eat”
When people are truly hungry, they should eat. It’s not unlike any other physiological response. Just like if you have to go to the bathroom. Go. But if you don’t have to go, don’t. Eating is no different. If deciphering biological hunger is too tough, then you are eating too many fake, man-made foods.
“I have trouble staying motivated”
Motivation is fickle. Build habits.
“No time to plan”
Time to plan? It takes about 159 seconds to plan a menu for the week. If you don’t have 159 seconds, you need to re-evaluate your schedule. Or better yet, don’t even plan. The only requirement for not having a plan is this:
—Don’t be a nutritional degenerate and eat healthy foods.
“Resisting tempting foods” & “Feeling deprived and restricted”
This one is tough to grasp for regular dieters, but the answer is simple.
Don’t resist them. Don’t put any foods “off limits.” Only when we feel deprived and put foods off limits is when we can’t resist them and desire them more.
—Who always thinks about money? People that are broke.
—Who always thinks about junk food? People who are hungry.
Check out this image for a great example.
Summary:
• This study tells me people are ill informed, still making excuses and being lazy.
The last thing I’ll leave you with is this. When you are doing the healthy behaviors, consistently, you will have results. Patience is key. Give less power to the scale. There are laws of nature you’re working with, they cannot be rushed or cheated. This is a life-long project, there’s no reason to hurry.