Why am I not losing weight? Don't blame the fat fairy.

I want to take a moment to be real with you, and also encourage you (it is Motivational Monday, after all)

The other coaches on my team and I often talk about how to encourage our Challengers and people in general who feel discouraged during the first few weeks of their programs. When the numbers on the scale don't drop rapidly, they figure their new healthy lifestyles weren't working. We're all so busy, so if something is not working, why make the time for it?

There are a few things I want you to consider if you feel like this is you. 

1.  First and foremost, think about this: it probably took a while, maybe even years, for you to get to this point, the point where you feel like you need to lose a few pounds. This happened because life happened. This is normal! However, the exercise and nutrition changes you started making a few weeks ago need to become lifestyle changes. I promise it’s not going to take the same amount of time to lose the weight as it did to gain the weight, but to do it in a healthy, permanent way, it’s going to take some time.

2.  Second, you are putting your body through a new rigorous routine and believe it or not, there's going to be some swelling and water retention until your body regulates.  Why does this happen?  When your body starts a brand new exercise program, you use your muscles in new ways.  Microscopic tears in your muscles during these exercises cause the muscle soreness you experience.  In order to "protect and defect" your body from future muscle tears (essentially making your muscles stronger so you can continue to improve with that exercise), your muscles become swollen and inflamed and therefore retain water.  Once your muscles and your body become used to your new exercise routine, the muscle inflammation will decrease and so will your weight.

3.  Another big difference especially for those who have never worked out like this before OR were not eating what they should have (let’s face it, in college I might have been 10 pounds lighter but I was eating a soft pretzel and chocolate pudding every day for lunch), your body didn’t have the muscle that you are currently building. So when we are focused on the number on the scale, we might not realize that there is actually less flab around our bodies to pinch. THIS is the goal!

This is your EXTRA CHALLENGE for this week: no matter what program you are doing or what week you are on, if you are feeling discouraged, take your measurements and your pictures again, but do not get on the scale. Finally, take a good, hard look at what you are eating. Are you eating things you shouldn’t? Calorie counting is a great idea, but it’s not going to work if those calories include Cheetos and Gatorade and bagels. It was a tough slap in the face for me too, but the results have been undeniable.