Embarking on a fat loss journey can be a very exciting and life changing experience. It can also be incredibly challenging and frustrating when you feel like you’re putting forth so much effort but not seeing the results you desire. I can relate to these struggles, and I hate to say it but more often than not we are the ones standing in the way of our own progress. We are the ones who constantly self sabotage without realizing it. One of my favorite professors from my undergrad studies of Exercise Physiology would regularly say that “If you’re trying to lose weight via diet and exercise and its not working, then you’re not doing it right”. I can honestly say I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. It’s time for some tough love.

The Plan Won’t Work Unless You Do

Having a plan to lose body fat is essential to your success. Sticking to that plan is even more essential to your success. I have worked with so many people to create a fat loss plan that will fit their lifestyle. A good number of those same people become incredibly frustrated when their plan “isn’t working”. What they fail to realize is that it’s not the plan thats not working, it’s them. What do I mean? Let’s elaborate:

• If your fat loss plan is to eat in a calorie deficit, but you regularly eat over your daily allotment of calories you will not see results happen as quickly as you want them too. I can do all the math in the world, create a perfect a deficit that will get you to your goals, but if you do not follow it – it will not work. This seems fairly obvious, but let’s give it some more context.
  • For the sake of math and simplicity, lets say each month has 28 days (4 full weeks of 7 days) and you routinely for 2-3 days a week (the weekend for example) don’t follow the plan. This means that out of 28 days, you are only consistently working towards your goals on anywhere from 20/28 days or 16/28 days. This would put your consistency for the month anywhere from 57%-71%. If you are only going to do anywhere from 50-70% of the work, you can only expect to achieve 50-70% of the desired results.

It can feel really frustrating and defeating when you feel like you are putting forth so much effort but not getting the results you want. This is where having realistic expectations can come into play. If you plan to keep indulging and not holding yourself accountable, your results will drastically slow down or stop completely. If you’re okay with that, then great; if not, stop complaining when then plan doesn’t work because its really you thats not doing the work.