The results process
/I thought I would touch on this topic, as people have probably started a new fitness regime in lockdown, and we are now 7 or 8 weeks in (I cant even remember I’ve stopped counting), and this is where progress may be starting to slow down. Seeing results is a very touch and go process for many, we think it is smooth sailing. But in actual fact, the progress is not linear, it’s an up and down journey.
For someone that has never trained, and is just starting out, it is normal to see fast results in the first couple of weeks if you are doing everything right. This is great, because it keeps you so motivated and you then associate seeing results with knowing your process is working. However, when you get to about week 3 or 4, it is totally normal for the progress to slow down on the outside. This can be a bit of a hard hit mentally. As we stop seeing progress, we think we have plateaued, but in actual fact progress is still well and truly happening internally, it is just not as obvious on the outside. Week 5 and 6 you may then see another spike, and then a trough following this.
The moment we feel like we are not progressing, and we can’t see results, or the scales are not budging, can be the point where we lose motivation, because we cant see all this hard work we are putting in paying off, but when this happens, it is so important to remember that we are progressing and any sort of healthy behaviours you implement, your body is going to reward you for. Where focus goes, energy flows. This saying is very true for much in life. If you are doing everything right, you will see results, but you need to remember it is not going to happen over night. Patience is one of the most important factors of progress.
If any kind of plateau goes on for a significant period of time, there are a number of factors that could be the cause, and I am going to touch on each of the following below:
your calories do not align with your goals - this is the most likely factor. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, and you have been tracking and in a calorie deficit for a long time, and everything is working really well - it is possible you may start to cut corners here & there, not track this & that because you are dropping body fat, so these old habits may slowly start to creep back in without you even being aware of this. This is often the case, so if you are not seeing results, I encourage you to really look at your diet, your NEAT and your fitness - are you implementing exactly the same tools as you did when you started? Or have you shifted gears a bit. Alternatively if you are not seeing any progress from day 1, you may just not be in a deficit for your body, please remember any kind of calorie calculator is just an estimate, it takes a bit of trial and error to find out the right calories for your body and your goals.
certain times of the month (for women) - your cycle has a huge impact on your weight, body’s likelihood to store more fat, and your training progress. When you are in the luteal phase, you are more hungry, irritable, and your performance in the gym is sometimes 50% less than your usual. This can be a huge knock, especially if you don’t realise your cycle is having this effect. This phase is also about two weeks long so you can experience these setbacks for that time - two weeks is a long time! Especially if you are trying to cut calories, and these setbacks can have a spiral effect causing you to binge out. I would urge you to track your cycle and increase your calories by a couple of hundred during this phase from carbohydrates - as your body is burning slightly more (hence why we have sugar cravings). So increasing your healthy carbs may be a good option here. And you just have to sit it out!
You think weekend calories “don’t count” - I hate to say it how it is, but all calories count. I know I preach that it’s important to enjoy life, and you need to fit health and fitness into your lifestyle, not the other way round. So I am not telling you you can’t let loose a little on the weekend, but if you tell yourself you are eating 1200 calories a day, but then when it gets to Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday - you eat and drink everything in sight, this will actually take you back further, and you will either just be trapped in a boring cycle, or go backwards. Let me tell you, it is damn easy to consume 5000 calories in a day, I’ve done it, and if we are all honest with ourselves, I am sure most of us can do this throughout a weekend with booze alone :/, (track your alcohol people, it will shock you how much you can consume in a day - tracking drinks changed the game for me). 5000 calories could be in the form of two reasonably healthy meals, a bottle of wine (or 2) and a takeaway pizza plus dessert for dinner. Repeating this 2 or 3 times a week? You do the math. You are not actually eating 1200 calories per day, you are restricting to unhealthy levels for four days or less, then your body is rebelling and you are overeating to excess - you may average around 3000-5000 for a couple of days on the weekend, add these all together that puts you on a total of lets say 15,800 for the week, divide this by 7 and your are actually averaging 2,260 per day. If you are going to eat that much, wouldn’t you much rather add in the extra calories per day rather than in one sitting, stuff yourself, feel guilty, restrict again and be miserable? It is hard to admit to ourselves if we engage in this sort of behaviour and I have to say I am guilty of it too. Just increase your calories, you don’t need to do it to crazy amounts, maybe by just about 400 each day in the form of healthy starchy carbs, I guarantee you wont feel as compelled to eat the whole house down on the weekend, and you still have a bit of extra wiggle room to enjoy yourself.
These three factors are the most common I have found in my experience and from my research when it comes to fat loss. If you are certain your plateau is not down to any of these factors, you may want to consider a diet break. Being in a calorie deficit for a long period of time does put stress on your body, and we want to do everything we can to avoid stress. So maybe take a break - and by break, I don’t mean go on a 10,000 calorie binge, I mean bring your calories up by about 300 to 400 - sit back at your maintenance levels for maybe three to four days and see how your body responds. Do this by just increasing the amount of healthy starchy carbs in your diet. Stick to the same healthy foods, just increase the quantity a bit.
I also want to quickly touch on your measure of tracking your progress - scales are good. But especially women, we fluctuate so much and so many external factors can determine our weight, e.g. time of day, when we last ate, water retention etc etc. Scales are a good measure if you are weighing yourself at exactly the same time every day or every week. But for those who can easily get disheartened if the numbers go up - I would suggest taking pictures. Pictures are a great indicator and photos are reliable. So snap a pic at the beginning of your journey, and if you feel like you are in a plateau say week 8 or 9, snap another photo and I guarantee you will see a difference.
Lastly, it is important to remember that results do take time - be patient, implement these tools if you need to, and if you are still not seeing progress, it will come! Stick with it, and you will reap the benefits eventually, trust me. You got this :)