1. Doing MORE does not always mean better or quicker results
You know the sayings, "Every day is leg day", "Excuses don't burn calories", "Train insane or remain the same", etc., etc. We live in a world of go-getters and never-quitters. Its always "go go go" and taking a break is a sign of weakness. But what if that break is exactly what you need to see results?
Overtraining or dieting too hard not only keeps you from achieving your goal, but is often pushing that goal further away. Growth takes rest, time, and hard work. Without each of those, you will not see the results you're chasing. Let's first talk about rest. Our muscles grow at rest, NOT when we train, contrary to popular belief. Lifting weights is a muscle-building signal, telling the body, "hey we need more muscle here". We tear away at our muscles when we lift and our bodies repair and build back even stronger when we rest. So constantly hammering the body with 2-3 hour workouts a day and under-eating prevents the body from being able to build more lean muscle. The key is to send that signal to the body through progressively overloading our bodies but not to the point of exhaustion or excessive soreness.
Time, we've all heard the cliche "Rome wasn't built in a day" and the same goes for any sustainable fitness goal. If you want results that will last, stop rushing the process and trust that it really is that slow and steady wins the race. Yes, you can go hard every day and lose 20 lbs in a month but is that really sustainable? For the rest of your life, will you be able to do the things you did in that one month to lose those 20 lbs? If the answer is no, it was probably too much too fast. Slow down and take it down a notch. Your progress may slow but when you achieve the results you're after, they will be far easier to keep.
Lastly, yes it does take hard work to see results. But not as hard as you may think. For the reasons listed above, going too hard will only impede your strength and weight loss goals. Push just enough to elicit that positive response from your body. When you plateau or what you're currently doing is easy, push a bit more, and so on. Work smarter, not harder, and work with your body, not against it.
2. Learn to love the journey instead of focusing on the destination
Having a goal is great and a fantastic way to kick motivation into gear but what happens when that goal is reached or if you wake up one day and decide that you no longer care to reach that goal? It may become really difficult to complete that scheduled shoulder workout or choose the veggies over the chips. It's important to fall in love with the process of getting results and not the results themselves.
Moving your body shouldn't be a punishment. Choose exercise that makes you want to get off the couch so it's not just a chore you're checking off your to-do list. Make moving a part of your daily routine. It doesn't even have to always be a formal routine, even just a 20 min walk around the neighborhood is enough. Eat food not just for the taste but for how it makes you feel. Yeah, eating five cookies may sound appealing but how will your energy, digestion, and physical comfort be afterward? Maybe having 1 cookie paired with some greek yogurt and fruit will give you that same hedonistic feeling but also fuel your body with much-needed fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
When you learn to love living a healthy life, it's easy to make healthy choices. Going into a diet or fitness journey with a sense of "can't" or "shouldn't" will only make you psychologically more drawn to the things you're avoiding. Instead focus on abundance and what genuinely makes your body, mind, and spirit thrive.
3. No food inherently makes you gain or lose fat
There is so much nutrition advice out there.
"Carbs are the enemy. Keto is King"
"Fat makes you fat"
"Animal foods make you gain weight"
"Plants have anti-nutrients that will kill you!"
"Just eat between 12 and 6"
"Eat smaller meals more frequently to boost your metabolism"
I could go on and on. The truth is there is no diet or food that is better for fat loss or muscle gain. All foods are made up of calories and those calories are made up of some combination of the 3 macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat. Foods also have different levels of satiation with higher protein and fiber foods being more satiating than foods consisting of just one macronutrient.
One could hypothetically eat only chips, cookies, and soda for a month and lose weight if they are in a calorie deficit. That same person could gain weight the next month by eating nothing but chicken, broccoli, and rice but in a calorie surplus. The difference here is not the source of the food that made this person gain or lose weight but the calories. However, this person would probably feel better eating more whole foods and less processed stuff. This is not to say, processed foods don't have a place in our diet. Cookies are delicious and we would not be surviving as a species if it weren't for shelf-stable, easily accessible processed foods but we also need to consider the importance of having more nutrient-dense foods as a large part of our diet.
TLDR; it's not the food itself causing you to gain or lose weight but the calories that food has. However, the source of those calories has an impact on your mood, energy levels, and satiety which can dictate whether or not you gain, lose or maintain your weight.
4. No one is judging you more than you are judging yourself
Many people have been taught to fear gyms and that everyone who works out in one is a muscle-obsessed meathead that looks down on anyone squatting less than 2x their body weight. This cannot be further from the truth. Of course, there are some a**holes out there who will judge you, but they are not the majority. Most people who work out in gyms did not start out benching their body weight and understand that lifting takes hard work and therefore respect anyone willing to do the same thing.
There is no shame in trying a new piece of equipment and not knowing how to use it or failing a lift because the weight was too heavy. No one is going to make fun of anyone bettering themselves and anyone that does will quickly get called out by other members or gym staff. Go to the gym for yourself and no one else. Wear whatever makes you feel the most comfortable, whether that be a face full of makeup and a matching set or a messy bun and your dad's shirt and baseball cap. Everyone is at the gym to focus on themselves. I promise those dudes you think are making fun of you are spending more time looking in the mirror, deciding which of their biceps to flex in that Instagram pic.
5. Lifting weights will not make you 'bulky'
This is something most women have been told to scare them from lifting anything more than 10 lbs. As if one day you will go to a gym, curl with a 20 lb dumbbell and wake up the next morning looking like you're about to hit the Olympia Stage😑. Bodybuilders WISH it were that easy to put on muscle! In reality, it takes months or even years of continuous effort and progressive overload for athletes to get those huge muscles we see on social media. Not too mention, many top athletes are on some sort of PEDs that allow them to grow their bodies to the extreme that many 'natural' weight lifters would not be able to ever get to.
Furthermore, one of the best parts about weight lifting, compared to other forms of exercise, is that it allows you to essentially 'sculpt' your body. No, you cannot spot reduce fat, BUT you can choose areas of your body where you want to grow more muscle and focus on those.
The last thing I want to mention is that there are so many benefits of becoming stronger that have nothing to do with physical appearance. Resistance training helps prevent injury, can improve self-esteem, helps with brain health and cognition, and so much more! Listen to the podcast below for more reasons on why resistance training is the superior form of exercise.
Why Resistance Training is the Best Form of Exercise for Fat Loss and Overall Health
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