We want results, and we want them fast.
When you first begin a new exercise program, and your main goal is fat loss, chances are you’re weighing yourself multiple times a week (if not everyday) and hoping to see the scale change in your favor.
If you’re a week or two into your new routine and you haven’t lost any weight, you might be wondering what’s wrong.
Here are a two important points to consider before getting frustrated and throwing in the towel:
If you are introducing regular exercise into your lifestyle for the the first time, you are also introducing a new stress. Stress can cause water retention, which can stall weight loss.
When you begin strength and hypertrophy training, you will start to retain more water within the muscle cells. This water has weight to it, and like the former point made, it will also offset some weight loss.
The Good News
Will these factors prevent you from making the progress you want? Absolutely not!
These instances of water retention will not prevent fat loss. They may mask fat loss, but they certainly won’t prevent it. If you are taking the proper steps to lose body fat, this water retention shouldn’t mask your weight loss for long.
How To Get Results
If you are not seeing the weight loss results you hoped for in your first couple of weeks of exercising, the most important thing you can do is to keep going, and to not give up!
One of the biggest reasons why people fail to get healthy and achieve the body they want is because they give up when they do not see the results they want, figuring there is no point to their efforts. Little do they know, the results they are looking for might be a day or two away from starting to manifest. You know about the necessity for perseverance when it comes to success in business, school, and relationships. It’s not any different when it comes to your success with fitness!
Rome wasn’t built in a day.
You cannot expect to overturn your health with just a few days or weeks of good exercise and nutrition, when you’ve had years and years living a certain lifestyle that is responsible for your current state of health. You must be patient, put in the hard work, and you WILL be rewarded.
