1. Spot Reduction is a Myth
Spot reduction is the idea that specific portions of your body can be targeted and toned by performing exercises tailored specifically to those areas. An example of this would be doing one hundred crunches every day and expecting to have a flat stomach after an allotted amount of time. As convenient as that might sound in theory, spot reduction is a misconception that is constantly being spread in our society, regardless of the countless studies revealing its inaccuracy. The reason why spot reduction doesn’t work is because while we are working out, our bodies are not capable of burning fat in specific areas, as spot reduction would have you believe; instead they burn fat throughout the entire body, thus making it impossible to see improvements in specific areas. So, while it is okay to single out specific muscle groups during your workouts, don’t expect your body to improve only in those areas; focus on overall changes instead.
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2. Crazy Diets Are Never the Answer
Though the promise of dropping five pounds of belly fat in 10 short days sounds like too great a deal to pass up, the results of most fad diets are fleeting at best and rarely worth the stress they undoubtedly induce. The truth of the matter is that there is no trick to healthy eating other than patience and consistency. No matter how many dieting books written or programs advertised, the key to maintaining healthy eating habits is preparing clean food on a consistent basis while implementing the appropriate portion size of each food. Of course, there are different ways to eat clean (paleo, plant based, vegan, etc.); the difference here being that these aren’t necessarily seen as quick ways to drop numbers on a scale as much as they are changes in one’s diet to implement a healthier lifestyle.
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3. Real Results Don’t Happen Overnight
One very important realization I recently made after years spent struggling to quickly achieve my goal body, is that real results don’t happen overnight (and there is no such thing as a goal body). This might seem like a given, but somehow I always find myself frustrated after one uneventful month of my new healthy lifestyle and quickly revert to my old ways of eating too many Reese’s cups and avoiding the gym like the plague. We are living in a society that is constantly advertising the quickest ways to lose weight, the fastest-working diets, the best workouts for rapid weight loss. Without realizing it, these headlines are warping our understanding of what it means to go about achieving a healthy way of living. Instead of allowing our bodies the time they need to react positively to daily exercise and consistent eating patterns, which could easily take a few months to start noticing, we become restless and agitated that we aren’t seeing results fast enough. But as I mentioned before, the only trick to losing weight is patience and consistency. Figure out how to implement clean eating and consistent exercise into your life and results will show over time. Never give up!
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4. Numbers on a Scale Can Be Misleading
There is nothing more disheartening than feeling like you’ve made huge improvements just to step on a scale and see that you’ve gained two pounds. Somehow all your hard work seems like it’s been for nothing and all the pants that feel like they’re fitting better are just figments of your imagination. Well, that’s not entirely true. The scale might say that you’ve gained weight but what could be happening is you’re making gains, which is a good thing! Get them gains, girl! This is because one pound of fat has more volume than one pound of muscle, so if you’re losing fat but gaining muscle it makes sense why you would feel smaller but weigh more. Seeing a few extra pounds on the scale could also be tied to water weight that your body is retaining, or your weight could fluctuate depending on the time of day you decide to step on the scale. This just goes to show that the number you see when you look at the scale has absolutely no meaning whatsoever and should never define how you feel about your body.
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5. Self-Love is a Necessity
Never underestimate the importance of self-love when you are working towards a healthier lifestyle, or really, never underestimate the importance of self-love in any situation you come by in life. Knowing your worth and being able to love yourself unconditionally in everything you do is what will allow you to acknowledge your progress and praise yourself for the accomplishments you’ve made. Self-love is often overlooked in the process of weight loss, but the truth of the matter is that body acceptance is not something you can achieve through pounds lost or waist sizes shrunk, it is a state of mind and it is necessary for a happy and healthy lifestyle. So be nice to yourself and rock that bikini over Spring Break!
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