It’s the same old story: you’ve been sticking to your diet and working out consistently, but the number on the scale is moving at a snail’s pace or not at all. Even though weight loss is important to your health, especially if you’re at risk for heart disease or diabetes, it’s not the only benefit. If your health is in check, then it’s time to focus on the other benefits that might come along the way on your journey. The scale will catch up over time, but focusing on these other positive changes will help to keep you from giving up!
1. Your Clothes Fit Better
Surprisingly, this positive change can happen long before you notice a major drop in the pounds. If you have added more strength training to your routine, then you are building more lean muscle. Muscle is a lot more dense than fat, but it also takes up much less space. If you put on muscle quickly, you might even see the number on the scale go up (gasp!) at first. But, the good news is that you’ll start to look leaner, which means your clothes may start to fit a bit more loosely, or you might even drop a size!
2. Your Energy Is Through the Roof
Once you get into a regular routine of eating better and moving more, your body will thank you! You should quickly start to notice that you have fewer issues getting through the day without several cups of coffee. Your sleeping habits will eventually start to improve as well because all that exercise helps to regulate your blood sugar levels. This will let your body sleep when you need it to and stay awake during the day. Not to mention, getting your sweat on will wear you out, so you’ll be more than ready for a full night’s rest.
3. You Feel Stronger Than Ever
Another change that the scale simply cannot keep up with is the way your strength and endurance will improve after a few weeks of regular exercise. You won’t even be able to remember when you couldn’t hold a plank for 30 seconds, or when walking a mile had you out of breath. Your body wants to move, so the more moving you do, the better your body will function. You’ll start to see pesky pains ease up, and daily activities get easier and easier. When was the last time your scale made you feel like that?
4. You Want to Be Healthy All Day, Everyday
Believe it or not, being good to your body can have a serious domino effect on the rest of your life. Once you get through a hard workout, or notice the changes in your body, the last thing you want to do is ruin all your progress with a lot of junk food. Overtime, you’ll want to outdo yourself, try new healthy recipes, strive for even more changes in your body, workout longer and harder. Just like the saying goes,“once you see results, you become addicted.”
Whatever you do, don’t quit! Take a moment to step off the scale and think about the changes your body has already gone through, regardless of what the scale says. This healthy living thing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon!
Sharita Jennings is a health policy attorney, ACE certified group fitness instructor and nutrition specialist. She leads fitness classes in Washington, DC and provides online coaching and tips on her site, GetFitLikeThat.com.
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