Seeing Results
The most common way we see people motivate themselves in fitness is by seeing results. This becomes a little complicated when results materialize in different ways and at different times for all people.
My job would be solved if I could tell you that all of your weight loss, muscle gain, and aesthetic goals would be solved in 30 days, but bodies are complicated. There are a million factors we need to take into account, and there is no one-size-fits-all prescription.
“...using how our bodies look as the primary indicator of success tends to not be as effective as we might think. ”
As great as it would be to have aesthetic goals be the sole motivator that keeps our fitness on track, using how our bodies look as the primary indicator of success tends to not be as effective as we might think.
I don’t know about you, but anything that I use every day, I have a pretty hard time objectively gauging the change that has happened.
A tube of toothpaste is basically full until it’s more than halfway gone. A roll of toilet paper seems brand new until you’re praying there’s another roll stashed somewhere.
We see our bodies every single day in the mirror. And it’s difficult to really assess progress that is that small—even when we know it must be happening from all our hard work.
I’m sure you’ve seen the graphic of ice being warmed from 25 to 31 degrees, and how you’re not able to see that the ice is getting any warmer until it actually hits 32 degrees. Not until that ice actually starts melting will you be able to tell that progress is being made.
“Sometimes it takes us stepping away from the mirror for months at a time to really be able to see results in a meaningful way. ”
Our bodies are the same way. Sometimes it takes us stepping away from the mirror for months at a time to really be able to see results in a meaningful way. We’re doing all that work on the inside, but not seeing changes reflected day to day ends up breaking us down instead of pushing us to keep working.
As we look for ways to stay motivated on our health journey, it’s important for us to take a holistic approach. This means that how our bodies look is going to be part of the equation, but it’s not going to be the whole equation.
We want to measure our progress by assessing our energy levels, mood, strength, mental clarity, and movement quality. We should be considering new friendships we’ve made and new skills we can do. And we want to make sure that we’re starting to look how we want to look.
By combining all of these factors, we’re able to get a better sense of what results really look like. It’s not always going to be huge results in the mirror. Sometimes the other factors are more powerful.
