Q: Five weeks ago, I began an exercise program and so far I have not lost any weight or gained in muscle tone – which is my goal. Regardless, I intend to keep it up, knowing that the results I want will occur if I give it time.
A. That’s so true, yet here is what happens with the majority who begin an exercise program:
- They start out feeling excited, knowing it will be successful in the long run, if they stay with it. (They’ve read the books, they know this stuff works).
- They begin to feel and look better, although the scale shows no difference. (Results take awhile to build, they know this but it gets harder and harder to wait.)
- Their clothes begin to fit looser. People start to notice, asking “What are you doing?” (Things are starting to happen, albeit slowly.)
- They do “all the right things,” such as eating well and getting good rest. (Consistency, a good discipline.)
- Since they’ve been “so good” they decide to step on the scale. (Where’s the evidence? They’re getting impatient.)
- The scale shows a three pound weight gain and they throw their hands up in despair saying, “This doesn’t work!” (The scale doesn’t show us what is going on inside, it only weighs the total package.)
- They dismiss the real evidence (how they feel, how they look, how their clothes fit) and rely instead of the wisdom of the bathroom scale, known for wildly inaccurate results, but nevertheless trusted implicitly. They have likely gained some valuable muscle, active tissue that supports and sustains the body, and creates beautiful curves, but without the result they had in mind, they quit.
Your body is made up of fat, skin, bone, and muscle (not to mention water). When you exercise the goal is to increase muscle and decrease fat. A pound of muscle takes up much less space than a pound of fat, so regardless of what you see on the bathroom scale, if you have been exercising, you are building a better, healthier frame. Give your body a chance to display the results you seek. Instant results take time.
