We could work so hard and instantly lose everything we were working for because of mistakes we hit on the way. We give up when it gets too hard or when no change is happening. Why isn’t change happening?

Seeing results in your fitness journey is the most rewarding thing to receive. When people don’t see them, they often question themselves and if doing everything they are to be in shape is worth it. 

So why aren’t you gaining muscle or seeing results within your fitness journey? There is so much more to being in shape than one might think. There are several factors that relate to becoming physically fit. 

Sleep deprivation takes a toll on your body. 

Lack of sleep leads to being tired, obviously. A lack of sleep also causes the brain to make decisions that may not age well. For example, when you’re tired the best thing sounds like eating ice cream and falling asleep to a movie. You’re also more likely to go down stairs to grab a late night snack. When you’re up for hours, you get hungry. Sleeping is the body’s natural way of fasting. When you’re asleep, you won’t have to face the option of late night snacks! Easy fix! Go to bed. 

Repeating the same workouts. 

Having the same workouts every time will lead to no results. Eventually, your body will get used to the workout and it will become easier. This means you are getting stronger! That’s great, but many people stop here. Just as working out begins to get easy they forget to advance, or may not know that they are ready to advance their workout.

Challenge yourself! The only way to get stronger is to increase your weight that you lift or begin a harder workout. Your body will stop showing results when you aren’t working as hard. Give every workout your very best, and make it harder as needed. 

You have unrealistic goals. 

Reaching for the stars is great but too high of expectations can lead to a greater and unnecessary fall. Detail your goals to be realistic for you. Making yourself lose 10 pounds a week isn’t realistic or healthy. Understand that you aren’t going to look the way you want in the first few weeks or days. Progress is gradual, and it will happen.  Many people tend to give up when they don’t see results as quickly as they may like. Their goals were too high, therefore, they gave up.

Hard work without results is frustrating. It’s important to know that your body is different than anyone else’s in the world. It may require more or less work for you to reach your fitness goals than the person next to you. 

You don’t recover (have a rest day). 

It’s important to listen to your body and know when it needs a break. A rest day could include stretching or yoga, and always hydrating. After heavy lifting, your muscles need a rest. Your muscles need time to repair. Constant heavy lifting on the same muscles for days in a row can result in serious injury. Think of it this way; when you’re lifting weights you are tearing muscles and they are rebuilding to get stronger. If you’re constantly working the same muscle it rips over and over. You will be out for a lot longer by overusing your muscles. 

Another example of this is a pitcher in baseball. They are only allowed a certain amount of pitches so they don’t overuse their arm. In the MLB, pitchers can only throw 100 pitches or only pitch for 5 innings. The same idea applies to lifting weights, or working out specific areas. Take the rest you need. 

Maintain workouts 

It’s important to repeat your workouts a few times a week. This is a given. If you’re not working out consistently, you can’t get stronger. If you quit your workouts for a while you lose your progress. You have to start over every time you give up. Keeping a steady schedule and being persistent with your workouts is the only way to make it a habit. You will begin to enjoy working out and your body will begin to crave physical activity. Once you can develop a habit of working out you will begin to enjoy it a lot more. 

No quick fixes

Short, quick diets that help you shed weight seem like a great idea. Well, they aren’t. Losing weight this fast isn’t healthy for the body. You’re not getting the nutrients you need. This is why it’s possible to lose 10 pounds in a week. While it may be fast, it’s not permanent. After the long week of unhealthy dieting, people begin to eat what they used to and gain back the weight and more. 

To replace these unhealthy diets, the most important thing to understand is that everyone’s body is different. Depending on your size, your calorie intake is different. The amount of times you workout also affects the amount of food you need to maintain the balance. Nutrition is key for fitness. The calories you take in help provide the energy you need to continue working out. 

Don’t base it on the scale. 

It’s also important to know that you aren’t the number on the scale. Oftentimes people see how much they weigh and hate themselves for it. If you ate correctly and worked out hard why weren’t you seeing results? This could very likely be because you are losing body fat but gaining muscle. Muscle is a lot more dense than body fat, so it weighs more. Don’t give up when you see physical results, but the number on the scale is high. 

Educate yourself

Know what to eat, how to workout, what to do to help your body, etc. There’s no excuse to not educate yourself. Watch a few videos, and do your research  If you are winging it every time you won’t see the best results you can get. Know if you have issues or problems losing weight, you can talk to a doctor for professional advice on what methods would work best for you. 

Fixed mindset 

Don’t have a fixed mindset. 

“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning,” is a quote by Carol Dweck. 

A fixed mindset indicates that you’re not willing to grow. Don’t see failure as “time to give up”. See it as a way to succeed next time because you won’t make the same mistakes. Use it to lead you to your goals and to see what works for you and what doesn’t. 

Know that you can do anything you set your mind to. Push yourself and educate yourself so you can get in shape the healthy way. Have the courage to continue. You’re training yourself to become disciplined. It’s going to be hard and you’ll never forget the hard work you put in. The results are going to be worth every minute you spent working to your goal.