I know you’ve done this before…

Shortly after (a few days or a week) of starting a new exercise program and doing well on your new diet plan you begin checking yourself out in the mirror and looking for those RESULTS.

You do various quarter turns in front of your bathroom mirror while pinching and squeezing your most vulnerable areas and feeling disappointed that there is still a significant amount of flab to grab…

Just a few days into your new program and you’re already doubting and questioning weather or not it’s going to work…

Have you ever done this???

I know I have, a day of ‘clean eating’ and I’m already looking in the mirror to see if my abs are showing…

Accept and embrace the truth – results take time!

With that said, I do believe that you are totally capable of losing weight rapidly and keeping it off (I’ve had many clients that do it that way with great success). But most are not willing to do what it takes long term to go through the process that doesn’t lead to rebound weight gain.

So its’ best to align your expectations and the quality of commitment and effort you’re putting forth right from the start so that your expectations don’t overshadow the progress that you are making. Otherwise you’ll always feel like you’re not progressing fast enough.

For example…

Here is my personal Case Study

Here you see a series of photos taken a month (4 weeks) apart while training and dieting consistently for many months.

Even though I wanted to look like the very last photo you see, I knew that I was not going to get there overnight.

Each month the scale continued to shift in my favor but I did not look much better than the previous week or month (or at least as much as I had hoped) until the later stages of my transformation.

As you can see even on the third month I was still soft and pudgy, my clothes where still fairly snug and I wasn’t seeing much progress aesthetically.

On the fourth month however that’s when it began to show for me (slightly) but it wasn’t until the fifth month (after five months of consistent training/dieting) that I had actually began noticing some serious changes in my body.

Now, what if my expectations where as clouded as everyone else? I would have probably stopped and quit three month into my training because I did not look a whole lot different than when I had first started my program and I would have missed out on the end results that I did achieve!

The truth is, no matter how committed you have been on your first day, week or even the first month into your program, progress may not be as noticeable as you think it should be or as it will be a few months in (considering you’re consistent) and that’s because it takes a while to really see those changes (especially if you have 50 or more pounds to lose).

When it comes to weight loss, there are no short cuts, if you’re doing it the right way you must embrace time as your align, not your enemy.

I see the same thing in our clients at Transformation Fit Camps, when they embrace the 1% solution that I’m going to introduce to you here they are always successful at losing weight and keeping it off long term.

And anytime there is urgency or a desperate need to lose weight fast that usually shows that a person is not committed to change, they just want a quick fix and they are the ones that will continue to lose the same 10lbs year after year.

The 1% Solution

Aiming to lose 1% of your total body weight each week is a very realistic and doable goal for most!

So for example, if you weight 150lbs that would be 1.5lbs/week you’re going to aim to lose.

Reason being, to push the pace and lose more than that 1% will require a lot more effort both in training and diet which will cause friction and tension in most peoples lives. I found that losing weight at about the rate of 1%  each week allows a person to stay fairly flexible with their diet and enjoy their workouts without having to suffering through them.

And both consistency with a fat loss based diet and a joyful training experience are key concepts in permanent weight loss solutions. The only way to be consistent at them is to enjoy what you’re doing both at the gym and at the dinner table.

With that said, anything’s possible, you can lose more then that 1%/week but are you willing to do what it’s going to take to push the pace and the million dollar question remains – will you be able to sustain it afterwards?

Conclusion

When losing weight don’t expect to see overnight results and don’t get discouraged if your body is not changing as rapidly as you had wished it would. Embrace the process and make time your align, best results will begin to show a few weeks/months into your program considering you’re been consistent with everything! This also shows that you’re serious about change, once the urgency is gone and patience is present you’re bound to succeed!

Aim to lose that 1% each week and if you chose to lose more then that be aware of the consequences!