What do I want from Me?

We live in an age of instant gratification. All too often we want to see the immediate results of the work that we do. Especially when it comes to weight lose or health issues, if we don’t see the results we want, quickly enough, we judge that the method we have chosen for change isn’t good. What most of us really want is to make a few changes and lose all the weight we want in a short period of time, then go back to living a “normal” life. The problem is that most of the time, going back to our old habits, puts us back in our old body. The simple fact of the matter is that there is no quick fix. The only real and permanent answer is a positive lifestyle change. Most self aware adults already understand this, but we still can't stop looking for that "quick fix" to our perceived problems.

One great way to improve our health and weight is through exercise. The trick is in how you see exercise. Is it just something you think you will try for awhile to see if it helps, or are your ready to commit to improving your life (and health) through developing a good workout habit? If you're getting started in taking that next big step into lifelong exercise for health, there are a few thing that if you recognize may help you through the hard times. Knowing that these tough spots are normal may keep you from quiting.

Here is what most of us see when we start working out. After the first good workout, our muscles are sore and tired and we feel worn out. We continue to be sore for a day or two until we decide to try the workout again. This time it is a little easier, and the stiffness in our muscles begin to relax. We expect to see the numbers on the scale go down. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they go up (we’re gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat). Then we get to a point where exercise is a regular habit and we feel good about what we’re doing for our bodies. We see some positive results in weight loss.

Then the numbers on the scale seem to stabilize. We’ve stopped losing the weight that we wanted to keep losing. At this point there are a few choices we can make. We can give up the exercising, and lose “weight” due to muscle loss. We can assume the exercise isn’t enough, and increase our workout. Or we can keep up with what we were doing and hope that we will achieve our goals overtime. Each person faced with this issue will have to make his or her own decision. This plateau situation seems to happen to most of us. It’s just a part of what the body needs to do to stabilize our weight. It’s okay if you still feel that you have more weight to lose. Allow your regulator to do its job, and adjust to the new weight. If you panic and go on a crash diet you may lose a few pound immediately, but you may send your body into panic mode, decreasing your metabolism and eventually sending you back to the old weight you started at. Be kind to your body and let it do its job. Your job is to eat healthy and exercise, your body will take care of maintaining the proper weight all by itself.

If you have truly committed yourself to a new habit of regular exercise, don't worry too much what the scale says right now. You are looking for long term results. Don't settle for less. No more yo-yo diet and exercise programs for you. You are going to be great and this time it will be for good!