If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re unhappy with the progress you’ve been making. Whether that means you’re not seeing results quick enough, or you’re not seeing results, period.
Maybe the results you do see don’t last very long and you find yourself back to square one.
Well, what I’m about to tell you might trigger you to feel some negative feelings, but I’m here to tell you the hard truth. No sugar coating, no nothing.
And while these pills might be a little hard to swallow, they’re going to be what you need to hear in order to become the version of yourself that you see in your head every time you close your eyes.
That version of you who’s confident, inspiring, hard working, and stops at nothing to get what they want. That version of you exists- and here’s the advice they need you to follow so that you can finally meet them.
1. You’re not consistent
First and foremost, you need to be consistent. And by that we mean you need to get used to the fact that you will have to choose a routine and stick to it until it becomes a habit.
Just like anything else in life, fitness results are a product of your daily habits. And if you’re not consistent in your everyday actions, you will have a hard time building these habits.
When you train or eat a certain way, your body responds with a reaction. Over time, as your eating and training patterns turn into habits, these reactions cause your body to adapt by getting stronger, bigger, or more efficient with how it’s performing.
This is the power of consistency.
Us humans are creatures of habit. The more we practice something, the more natural it becomes.
So while proper exercise and diet will make your body react, it’s the element of consistency that will cause your body to adapt.
So next time you feel like complaining about your progress, have a moment with yourself and honestly ask yourself - “Have i been consistent? Have I done everything I said I'd do? Is there anything that I could be doing but I'm not for xyz reason?”
Oftentimes, you’ll find that there is room for improvement when it comes to creating healthy habits.
The bottom line is, results take time. And the only way you get to see those results is if you are consistent. Consistent with your workouts, your diet, your lifestyle.
You need to be consistent. Even when you’re not feeling it. Even when it’s not convenient. Even when you think it won’t affect you much.
2. You’re not eating to sustain your results
A big mistake I see people make is not eating for their specific needs. Regardless of the outcome you want, eating too little or too much can (and will) harm your results.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, or gain weight, you need to eat enough or the right stuff to fuel your body so that you can allow your body to grow and make the changes necessary to see the results you want.
Let’s take for example someone who’s looking to lose weight. If this person goes about the route of eating as little as possible for as long as possible, they’re eventually going to cave in and binge. And if the issue isn’t fixed, this will unfortunately lead to a binging and restricting pattern.
But if you eat enough to fulfill your body’s basic needs, while creating a slight calorie deficit, then you’ll slowly but surely start to see things change. typically , a calorie deficit of about 400 calories (give and take 100 calories) is enough to safely and surely see the results you want.
On the other hand, if you’re trying to gain weight, then you need to be eating enough to once again cover your body’s basic needs AND to fuel your muscles for growth.
See, your body prioritizes its basic needs when you eat food. If your body is in a position where it has to chose between covering a basic need or fueling your muscles, it's going to chose the basic needs.
And if you don’t eat enough to do that, then it will breakdown your muscles, which are your protein stores, to use as energy for itself.
So if you’re struggling with losing weight, gaining weight, post-workout recovery, getting stronger, or performing better, then you may need to revisit your diet and/or eating habits and see how you can improve and better serve your body.
Your body is a dynamic and adaptable machine that wants to feel safe. If you give it too little, it will choose its survival over the results you want to see.
When resources are scarce, your body will prioritize basic functions such as breathing, regulating body temperature and blood pressure, etc.
But even more than that, your food choices also affect how you feel. So not only do you want to make sure you eat enough, you also want to be eating the right stuff. Whole foods and fresh fruits and veggies are the best foods you can serve your mind and body. Avoid added sugars, and preservatives. Treat your body like a temple.
3. You’re not prioritizing quality over quantity
It goes without saying that quality beats quantity every single time. But what happens when people start working out, is they get a little too excited and start taking on more than they can handle before having mastered the basics.
Focusing on perfecting your form during exercise minimizes the chances of injury and employs the right body mechanics needed for each movement.
This helps you:
- Boost performance
- Conserve energy
- Reduce injuries
- Employ the right muscle groups
Good form also helps you breathe more fully and get in more oxygen which also helps with your performance.
There’s no point in doing an exercise to work on a particular muscle, if you’re doing that exercise wrong.
The better your form, the better your results.
4. You’re not really pushing yourself
As we mentioned, exercise causes your body to react, and consistency helps you adapt. This adaptation is what leads to results.
Now, if you want to continually see results, you need to continually make you body react.
But if you body has adapted to your workouts, then you need to make things harder for yourself so you can continually challenge your muscles causing them to react and overtime, to adapt.
Whether that means exercising heavier, for longer, faster, or something, if you want to see continuous results, you need to keep challenging your body to adapt.
And to challenge your body to adapt is what we call progressive overload.
Progressive overload is the concept of gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts over time. If for the first few weeks, you were bicep curling 5lbs for 10 reps, and now 3 weeks in, those curls are easy for you, it’s time for you to step it up and either up your reps, the number of sets, or even play with the tempo.
And no, lifting heavier will not make you bulky. Muscle is much smaller than fat. 5lbs of fat takes up a lot more space than 5lbs of muscle. Muscle is condensed, and tight. So with progressive overlord, you’re only going to get leaner and tighter- it takes years of hard work and consistency to see muscle substantial muscle growth
5. You’re not adding pineapple to your pizza (big mistake)
You think this is a joke, but its not
Pineapple contains lots of vitamin C, which is an extremely beneficial vitamin for good health. It helps boost your immunity meaning you won’t get sick so often. And without getting sick so often, you’re able to alway be in good shape to put in the work to see results.
Being sick makes you physically not energetic enough to exercise because your body is too busy fighting off the disease or infection, it makes you crave and eat comfort food making you fall off your meal plan, it lowers your mood and motivation to do anything, and it demolishes your gains.
So, pineapple belongs on pizza and that’s why you’re not seeing results.
Sources:
https://blog.gymstreak.com/consistency-is-the-key-to-progress/
https://www.youtube.com/c/athleanx
https://www.12minuteathlete.com/eat-to-make-progress/
https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/blog/articles/undereating/
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/ending-the-debate-why-pineapple-belongs-on-pizza
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/the-scientific-reason-why-pineapples-belong-on-pizza