A Simple, Silly Mistake

As I've worked with people who are learning (usually for the first time) to master their body and eating habits, I see this little mistake crop up from time to time. It's such a simple and silly thing but it can get you if you're not aware of it. So let's nip it in the bud.

Take off all your clothes and stand in front of the mirror.

What you see there has nothing to do with the things you ate or the exercise you did today.

When you look in the mirror, you are looking at last week's choices.

All of your fitness progress (or regression)is running on a one week delay. It takes a good 5-7 days for your body to incorporate changes that you've made to it through diet or exercise.

For muscle to be broken up and then rebuilt stronger takes about a week. For fat to be metabolized from the various fat stores of your body takes about a week. In the same vein it takes about a week to start losing muscle tone if you become inactive, and it takes a week for fat from overeating to be integrated inbetween your skin and organs. One week!

So, how does this simple fact trip people up? In two ways:

1. Someone starts a workout/diet routine. They work hard for a week, are feeling good about themselves, and then spend some time in front of the mirror. But the results are disappointing. They don't see big changes. Some places might even look worse than before (because the body is in the process of rebuilding itself) So they go a little less hard the next day, or eat that dessert because it doesn't seem to matter what they do, they'll always be out of shape. If they only went strong into the next week, they'd be able to see the results of their first week of hard work!

2. This one is a little trickier. Someone has gotten into pretty good shape. Their muscle mass is good and fat percentage pretty low. And then something happens, maybe a wedding, a holiday, or a week's vacation. Quite reasonably, they go a little overboard, eating too much, drinking too much, enjoying themselves. They get back, check the old bathroom mirror, and what do you know, despite the lax week they're looking totally hot! The fat is still low, the muscle is still popping, everything's as it should be. So when the next sweet treat or round of beers comes by they figure, "Hey, what the hell, I'm bulletproof!" and go for it. The workouts get skipped, the food control weakens, and they slowly start the slide back to shlumpiness.

Once you know the one week concept, you can start to prepare for it. If you're just starting a program, know that you're going to be well into the second or third week before any big changes start to happen. Trust it and it'll come. And if you have a lazy or indulgent week, know that the bill will come, just not for a week or so. When the due date arrives be ready by already having gotten back on the horse.

And of course the best course of action is to not think about weekly progress at all, but to have a set period of time where you'll eat well and workout no matter what the mirror shows. This is the only way to get real results.

So, big surprise, the key to success is having a plan that you do consistently over an extended period of time. Is there anything on earth that this doesn't apply to?