What should my goal be?
What should I be aiming for?
How do I know if I’m progressing?”
These are some of the more common questions my clients ask me – and I’m sure a lot of you have similar questions.
We all need some sort of measure of success to know that we’re making the best use of our time in the gym, and making every single calorie and macro count in order to reach our goals. A milestone, a marker – some kind of indicator that reinforces what we are doing and allows us to think, Hey, I’m on the right track – let’s keep this going!”
MEASURING SUCCESS
At times, nothing can be more motivating than seeing progress. On the flip side, nothing can be more discouraging than feeling you’re stalling, or worse – gulp – going backwards.
One of the most common measures of “success” has typically been … (drum roll) the body weight scale (ugh!).
In a black-and-white world, numbers going down on the scale typically means you’re succeeding, while numbers going up on the scale means you are failing. But this is a very old-school, outdated way of thinking in my opinion.
I cover why this is not necessarily the case in several past Tip Me Tuesdays, including Gaining Vs. Losing Part I and Gaining Vs. Losing Part II.
Because body-composition goals can take quite a long time to achieve, and because your body endures quite a few changes that can cause weight and measurements to fluctuate in ways we can’t quite understand, weighing and measuring your body isn’t always the most accurate indicator that you really are progressing towards your goals.
This is evident if you have participated in any of Nicole’s Transformation Challenges and are completely new to the required nutrition program and the strength training and cardio workouts outlined in the program. There is an adjustment period and your body will endure all sorts of changes while adapting to new demands being placed on it.
ACTION-FOCUSED RESULTS
Changes in body composition take a lot of effort and discipline over a long period of time. Seeing small results can be encouraging and motivating, but because of this, focusing on results may make you feel defeated and disappointed.
So, instead of focusing on results, shift your focus instead to the actions you need to take in order to see those results.
For example, instead of worrying so much about weighing and measuring yourself, shift your focus to weighing and measuring your food! Results come only from actions you’ve taken: getting your workouts in, grocery shopping, meal prep, food journaling, drinking water, getting plenty of rest and recovery, to name a few.
Here are steps you can take that focus on the actions, not results, of your progress. If you achieve these tasks, you know you will be successful!
1. Plan
Each week, make sure you have a game plan for what you need to do on a daily basis for that week in order to reach your goals. This means planning out your nutrition, workouts and cardio, prepping and weighing your meals ahead of time and making sure to map out your rest days.
2. Do It
Each day, do everything you can to reach each goal you’ve set for yourself for that particular day. Did you food journal? Did you get your workout in and push as hard as you could? Did you give that day your best? If so, you have achieved success!
“THE ACTION SANDWICH”
Your primary focus, energy and drive should be on the actions you take each day – not the results. Think of it as a sandwich: your actions are the “meat” of the sandwich between two slices of “plan” and “results.”
Let your plan guide you into action. By focusing on your actions and giving it your all, the results will come!
RELATED CONTENT
Tip Me Tuesday: Fight The Fear
Tip Me Tuesday: The 4 Cs
Tip Me Tuesday: Are You Really Hungry?
Tip Me Tuesday: My 45 Day Summer Abs Challenge Experience
Tip Me Tuesday: Gaining vs Losing Part II
Tip Me Tuesday: The Heart Of The Fitness Process
ABOUT NAOMI RABON
One of the trainers on Nicole’s elite NW Fitness Training Team, Naomi is a certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She is a NPC Figure competitor who has been involved in the health and fitness industry for over 12 years.
Go here to find out more about training with the NW Fitness Training Team!
Great article! I always second guess my plan and question whether I’m doing the right thing. I know I need to be patient, but I also don’t want to devote my time to a plan that might not be working. Now that I’m participating in the Olympia Challenge, I no longer have those nagging doubts (as much).
Log in to replyI completely agree with you about the scale! I stopped weighing myself regularly a few years ago. When I used to weigh myself, I would be so disappointed by the numbers that I would give up on my plan. I found that I better reached my goals by *not* weighing.
Thank you Amanda, I am so glad that you are doing the challenge and learning and growing from all of your experiences! And you are definitely in a better place than when you were a “slave” to the scale 😉
Great job, and good luck with the challenge!! 😀
Log in to replyNaomi,
Every time I trust the process and follow the plan that’s laid out for me by your team, I see amazing results. It’s when I stop following the plan that I get frustrated. I think it’s more a frustration with myself than a frustration with anything else.
It’s important to keep the promise that I made to myself, and this builds confidence and starts the train rolling.
Thanks for all you do. You have helped my focus and my mental toughness, and you have shown me that 90% of it is mind over matter (shutting off that voice that says sleep in and stop working out).
You are awesome!
Log in to replyRissa-
I love following your journey and seeing you change and grow in such a positive direction, both inside and out! You are amazing and awesome yourself, and I am so grateful we’ve connected and are able to inspire and learn from each other. Keep it up, you are doing a phenomenal job with all of your goals!!! xo 😉
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