2 signs your program is working
Without the scale moving
Have you ever been so caught up in needing to see the scale move in order to believe that all your hard work is paying off?
I spent years tracking my weight morning and evening. I even knew of clients that used spreadsheets to track their weight loss journey. We literally get so consumed by the number that we forget the bigger picture of our need for change.
The consumption can be so overwhelming that we
1. get infuriated
2. give up
3. lose all hope.
All three of these feelings just add more stress to our lives. Stress that we just do not need on a regular basis. Our lives are already so filled with cortisol that any more, we might just explode. (complete exaggeration) Yet, it could feel like that.
I am here to fill you in on a secret.
Your body is adjusting and changing more than you know. Physiologically speaking our bodies are constantly adapting and changing even with the environment. You could be feeling a quick rush of cold air which signals to your body to start to shiver to help warm your organs. Moral of the story, your body is constantly adapting and changing.
In regards to exercise here are two ways to notice change without the scale moving.
Increased Energy Levels.
Better Quality of Sleep.
Increased Energy Levels
Remember before when I mentioned that physiologically there is more going on than we know?
This could not more true than for energy level change.
As we start to exercise more, on a deeper (beneath the surface deeper) our bodies are adapting to the need for more energy output. Mitochondria (cell powerhouse) creates the energy that we need from the food we eat and oxygen we breathe.
Exercise helps in the production of mitochondria which ultimately creates energy stores. Which then creates more overall energy for us.
Even though, in the early stages, of exercise we feel more tired. Our bodies are working hard to create those energy stores. Creating consistency with your program will lead to more energy stores before you see weight changes.
AKA those days when you need that 2pm coffee pick me up, you won’t need them anymore.
Check out this study from Harvard medicine for more details about your mitochondria.
Better Quality of Sleep
Who doesn’t want to sleep better or more efficiently?
I know for sure, I could use more quality sleep. We live in a day and age where we just can’t seem to shut our brains off at night. We are left with our thoughts which in return keep us up ALL NIGHT.
However, with exercise we might have found the source to help us sleep.
There was research done by Johns Hopkins Medicine indicating that exercise has been proven to help individuals improve the amount of slow wave sleep.
Exercise has been known to “help to stabilize your mood and decompress the mind, ‘a cognitive process that is important for naturally transitioning to sleep.”
Again even if you are not seeing immediate weight loss change, evaluate your sleep patterns. Ask yourself these questions:
Are you no longer waking in the middle of the night?
Do you feel more refreshed in the morning?
Are you falling asleep faster?
When it comes to exercise we need to have better rest so that our bodies can recover from workout to workout. It has also known that the better quality of sleep you have the more calories you burn during that sleep. This topic is for another day.
Moral of the story: evaluate your sleep and see if you notice a change because that will contribute to your overall fitness goals.
At the end of the day, if you have a goal of weight loss, you will ultimately want to see a change on the scale. But I want to encourage you that things are changing whether you “see” them or not. This should be a lifestyle change that ends with you being healthier and happier.
