What to do when we don't lose weight, and expect to

I’ve been thinking a lot about the chicken or the egg question. Well sort of.

It seems as though we all have our own chicken or the egg debate. Whether it’s with our fitness goals, career goals, relationship goals, or anything else we’re pursuing.

What came first the results or the effort?

It seems as though we're all obsessed with results. In fact, we work our tails off only for results.

We make healthy choices only for results. We run an extra 5 minutes only for results. We make a sacrifice worth making only for results. We stay late at work only for results.

But when the results don’t happen when we want them to happen, the first thing we want to change is the amount of effort we put forth.

It’s interesting, isn't it?

However, the amount of effort we put forth absolutely has a direct impact on the results we’ll get (at least with our health and fitness!).

And yet when we see results - we become even more motivated and are willing to put forth more effort!

It seems as though results can either make or break the effort dial. If we see results --> we’ll turn up the dial.

If we don’t see results, we'll sulk and complain and the first thing we'll do is ---> turn down the effort dial.

Here is what I can assure you of:

When it comes to our health and fitness goals, our body never lies. We can think we’re fooling ourselves (and our Body Tutors). But in the end, our body always tells the truth.

And if we don't like the truth - it's time we make some tweaks. It's as simple as that. But we must keep the denominator the same ----->

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effort

Why?

As Vidal Sassoon said, "The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary." (Wow, never thought I'd be able to quote a famous hairdresser!)

Whether it’s in the first 25 seconds or the last 25 seconds of a game, every basket counts towards the score. Individually, each basket may not seem like it matters much but collectively they matter immensely!

Whether it’s running for an extra 5 minutes, saying no when our short term self is begging us to say yes, pushing out an extra 3 reps when our muscles are fatigued, or preparing meals ahead of time - when we put effort forth, results will happen.

Our body has no choice but to work its magic when we’re eating right and exercising consistently.

There are a lot of things we can’t control.

But the one thing we can all control is the amount of effort we put forth when it comes to pursuing things worth pursuing like our health and fitness.

Want results quicker ---> turn up the effort dial.

Usually when we need the most amount of effort we wind up putting forth the least amount of effort because we're discouraged.

Instead, ask yourself, "how quickly can I recover?"

It’s very easy to get discouraged when we don’t see results when we expect to.

So, this week, let's stop playing the turkey (I mean, chicken) or the egg game and instead start let's start playing the effort one.

-Adam

P.S. Besides, when we focus only on the results, we're missing the journey. And my goal is to be as happy as I can be on this journey. After all, as tasty and as fun as eating junk and lounging around is, I always feel better, and happier, when I eat right and exercise. Always!

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Consider MBT as your partner. We’ll be with you from start to finish, 24/7/365 – helping you get through the ups and downs until we reach your goals. Support makes a critical difference when we're going through the inevitable downs, and that's why MBT has worked so well for our clients - when nothing else did.