Quite possibly one of the main reasons people give up on a nutrition or exercise program is that they just aren't patient enough. To this I say to remember that the results of changing your diet, weight training, cardio training, stretching, and living an active lifestyle will not all be seen on a scale or in the mirror. Some results may come quicker than others, but if you're goal is weight loss, remember that fat is stubborn. Stop expecting immediate results.
One thing I regret that I didn't do when I started to change my diet and lifestyle was make better records of where I started. The main reason was when I got started, I had no idea that I was starting on a journey that would transform how I thought, how I looked, how I slept, how I ate, what I read, what I do with my free time, how I treat my family…the list goes on. I just wanted to lose 20 pounds, 20 pounds that would have gone right back on if I had not re-invented myself along the way.
A couple of things I recommend you do now if you haven't already. Take some "before" pictures. I don't have any good before pictures of myself. The main reason is that I avoided the camera, because I hated how I looked. I didn't feel the images the camera captured represented who I was. In my head, I was still a 20 year old second degree black belt who worked full time teaching karate. In reality, I was a 37 year old, 60 pound overweight, tired, old man. That's what the camera said, I just never accepted the truth. So by the time I realized what was happening and decided I wanted to document it, I had already lost the first 20 pounds.
Another thing you should do is get a physical. Luckily for me, my work requires one annually. Otherwise, I'm sure I never would have had one. I knew I wasn't healthy, and I doubt I would have volunteered to have a doctor tell me how unhealthy I was. But thanks to the results of those physicals, I know what kind of numbers I started with and I could watch them change as I became more active, changed more of my eating habits, and lost pounds. These numbers are results you won't see in a mirror. As your resting heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol drop, you will know you are getting healthier. Other numbers may be important to you also, such as glucose, C-reactive protein, liver enzymes, and others only your doctor can tell you about.
Take some measurements. Get a measuring tape and record things like the size of your hips, your belly, your neck, your thighs, your chest, and your upper arms. Check these measurements from time to time, maybe once a month, and watch them shrink. Of course, as your pants begin to fit looser, you may not need a tape measure to tell you that your waist is getting smaller. But who knows, someday you may decide to write a blog to help others, and it would be good to be able to tell people how much you shrank. As I've noted, I lost 65 pounds from my original 213. 65 is 30% of 213. I used to enjoy telling people that I was only 70% of the man I used to be.
Be on the lookout for milestones and be ready to celebrate them (not with a pint of ice cream, but by bragging on yourself). I had two along the way that were big for me, even though they may have seemed silly to everyone else. I used to have to put my knee out to the side when I bent over to tie my shoe. If I didn't, my knee pressed in on my too large tummy and it hurt. Then one day, I sat down on the couch to tie my shoe. I put my foot on the coffee table and pulled my knee straight back to my chest. I was halfway through the bow before I realized that my stomach was not being pinched. Great day number 1 for 2 Tuff Huff. Another was when my youngest daughter asked me to jump on the trampoline with her. I used to jump for maybe a minute before having to beg off because I was tired and breathing hard. This time, we jumped and jumped for what must have been 20 minutes. It was the first time I saw the results of the cardio training I was doing in the gym pay off in real world dividends. Great day number 2 for 2 Tuff Huff.
Other benefits you are going to see that don't show up on a scale or in the mirror: fall asleep faster and sleep harder, sleep more comfortably (especially if you are a belly sleeper like me), increased confidence, pride in yourself, more energy, increased self worth, less stress, and more discipline in other areas of your life.
Don't forget that you're not alone. I've been where you may be now, sedentary, overweight, unhealthy, tired, old, and grumpy. I want you to know that the changes you are making in your lifestyle are worth it, in many ways that you won't know until you reach your own milestones. Try and imagine what your life would be like if you had limitless energy, tremendous self-esteem, and a love for life. You can get there, just don't quit.
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