What Successful Weight Loss REALLY Looks Like

(and it's not what you see on reality television)

by Jackie Wicks, founder, PEERtrainer


Losing weight is an enigma for many and what we tend to see over at PEERtrainer is that people can actually be on a successful weight loss track but because they don't know what a successful track looks like, they think they are failing. Once they believe they have screwed up, then they say "screw it" and really screw up. If only they knew how well they were doing.

While success does depend on your specific goals, starting point, body type and regimen, there are a few things that are consistent across the board and once you measure your weekly weigh in against this checklist. you'll know if you're on the right track.

1. Weight loss does NOT come in the form of losing 2 pounds every week until you reach your goal, no matter how well you're sticking to your food and exercise plan.   When you were gaining, you didn't gain 2 pounds every single week in a measured fashion. You're not going to lose it in the same way.   You might lose 2 pounds one week, maybe even three, you might lose 1 pound the next week, some weeks you might lose zero and there are weeks you even gain. Those are the most frustrating and we all have them.

Keep track of the weekly weigh ins but take a look at the month and see the overall trend. You might have gained a 1/2 pound one of the weeks but take note if you lost 4 pounds overall for the month. If the month is trending downwards, you are in the right place. You really are.

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2. No one is perfect 100% of the time. Sure, there are a few people that are but there are also a few people who can eat 3000 calories a day and have a perfect figure.   that's just the way it goes. Just because you went out drinking and ate all the bread, stuffed your face with pasta, and had 2 desserts, and then woke up and had a cheese omelet the next day does not mean you have failed.

Everyone does this. We all make a committment and we all slip up. just like Lombardi says, "It's not if you fall, it's if you get back up." You fell. So what? Learn what will work for you to get back on track and stop self-sabotage.  You can fall and still be on a successful weight loss track by simply making the decision to get back there.

3. You've been doing everything right and you're not losing anything aka the dreaded plateau. We rarely see members who don't hit a plateau in the weight loss process. Some can last for a few weeks. I was on one for an entire year. It's also easy to say to yourself, I'm doing everything right so this is where my weight should be. That might be true, but it might not be true. It wasn't for me. Once I changed my approach and made the decision to be thinner, no matter how long that would take, I dropped the weight. Plateaus do not mean you are done. They are usually a sign that you need to make a change. Do you have the courage to figure it out and keep on going?

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Keep in mind that a real weight loss track of ordinary fluctations are boring to watch. The double digit weekly losses you see have to be created somehow, which is why it's television. Sometimes the loss is real and lasting. Many times, the weight loss results are usually over once the 6 week "sprint" has come to an end. Real life is more like a marathon, some miles are effortless, some are excruciating and the only way you really fail is if you quit.

-Jackie

And please tell me what your weight loss really looks like, is looking like or is going to look like!