Slow progress may be one of the biggest reasons people give up on a fitness or weight-loss program.
Think about how many people start every January determined that this will finally be the year.
They join a gym. They start eating better. They cut out the junk food. They exercise five days a week. They’re motivated and ready to change their lives.
Then February arrives.
The scale hasn’t moved as quickly as they expected. The excitement of starting something new has worn off. Getting up to exercise isn’t quite as exciting anymore, and that cheeseburger looks considerably better than another piece of grilled chicken.
Eventually, they start wondering:
Is all this work really worth it?
I understand that feeling because I’ve struggled with it during my own fitness and weight-loss journey.
I’ve set a goal of reaching 240 pounds. I’ve had weeks when I’ve done well and the scale rewarded me. I’ve also had weeks when I thought I did everything right and barely lost anything.
Then there have been weeks when I know exactly why I didn’t make progress.
I skipped workouts. I stopped for fast food. I drank soda. I ate sweets. I told myself I’d get back on track tomorrow.
My journey has been anything but a straight line.
Maybe that’s why I’m starting to understand that slow progress isn’t the problem. Giving up because progress is slow is the real problem.
Give Yourself Enough Time
One mistake we make when setting fitness goals is expecting our bodies to change much faster than they realistically can.
We see advertisements for 30-, 60-, and 90-day transformations and start thinking that’s how long getting fit is supposed to take.
But what happens after those 90 days?
For most of us, there isn’t really an ending.
Getting healthier isn’t a 90-day project. It’s something we’re hopefully going to continue doing for the rest of our lives.
That’s something I’ve had to remind myself during my own journey.
I started with a specific number and a specific deadline. Having a goal is good because it gives me something to work toward. But I’ve also discovered how easy it is to let that deadline become a source of frustration.
If I’m not losing weight fast enough, I start doing the math.
I have this many pounds left.
I have this many weeks remaining.
I need to lose this much every week.
Suddenly, instead of being proud that I’ve lost weight, I’m disappointed because I haven’t lost it fast enough.
That makes absolutely no sense.
If I’m lighter, stronger, more active, and healthier six months from now, have I really failed because the scale doesn’t say exactly 240?
Of course not.
The deadline can motivate me, but it shouldn’t define me.
Focus on What You Can Control
The scale is useful, but it can also play games with your mind.
I’ve experienced this firsthand with my Sunday weigh-ins.
I step on the scale expecting a certain number based on what I did during the week. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised. Other times I’m disappointed.
But I can’t completely control what that scale says on Sunday morning.
I can control what I do Monday through Saturday.
Did I exercise?
Did I move throughout the day?
Did I make reasonably good food choices?
Did I drink enough water?
Did I get enough sleep?
Did I make more good decisions than bad ones?
Those are things I can control.
Maybe that’s where my attention needs to be.
Instead of spending seven days worrying about what the scale will say Sunday morning, I need to spend those seven days doing the things that give me the best chance of seeing the result I want.
Then accept whatever number appears and start another week.
Slow Progress Is Still Progress
This is probably the lesson I struggle with the most.
I want results.
When I put in the work, I want to see something happen.
But if I lose one pound this week, that’s progress.
Half a pound?
Still progress.
Maybe the scale doesn’t change at all, but I got three workouts in after struggling to exercise the previous week.
That’s progress too.
One of my problems has been thinking in terms of being either on the program or off the program.
I ate perfectly today, so I’m doing great.
I stopped for fast food tonight, so I blew it.
I got to the gym four times this week, so I’m succeeding.
I missed three workouts, so I’m failing.
Real life doesn’t work that way.
There will be good days and bad days. There will be vacations, holidays, football camps, long days at work, illnesses, and days when I simply don’t feel like exercising.
The question isn’t whether those days are going to happen.
They will.
The question is:
What do I do next?
Are You Working Hard Enough?
There’s also a point where I have to quit blaming slow progress on everything else and look at myself.
Am I really doing what I say I’m doing?
This is another area where I’ve struggled.
I’ve written about wanting to become more consistent in the gym, but wanting to work out and actually working out are two different things.
I’ve told myself that I’m too tired after spending hours on a football practice field.
I’ve told myself I don’t have enough time for a workout.
But could I have done 20 minutes?
Probably.
Could I have done some squats, push-ups, or other exercises at home?
Absolutely.
Sometimes progress is slow because our bodies need time.
Other times progress is slow because our effort has become inconsistent.
I have to be willing to recognize the difference.
That doesn’t mean every workout needs to leave me exhausted. Especially as I get older, I think training intelligently, recovering properly, and avoiding injury are every bit as important as pushing myself.
But when I’m exercising, I should challenge myself.
Do another repetition.
Walk a little farther.
Increase the resistance when an exercise becomes too easy.
Improve something.
I don’t have to compete with anyone else in the gym.
I just need to keep challenging the person I was yesterday.
Are You Sabotaging Your Own Progress?
Then there’s food.
This is probably my biggest challenge.
It’s very difficult to overcome consistently poor eating habits with exercise.
I know this, yet I still catch myself thinking that because I’ve been active all day, I can get away with eating whatever I want.
I’ve learned otherwise.
I can spend hours walking around at work and still erase much of that benefit by regularly eating fast food, drinking sugary beverages, snacking on sweets, and consuming more calories than my body needs.
Again, I don’t think the answer is perfection.
I’m going to have pizza again.
I’m going to eat a hamburger.
I’m going to have dessert.
I want to enjoy those things.
The issue is frequency.
There’s a big difference between enjoying something occasionally and turning it into a daily habit.
That’s where I need to continue working on my own behavior.
Don’t Let a Bad Day Become a Bad Week
This might be one of the most important things I’m learning.
I’ve had days when I didn’t exercise and didn’t eat particularly well.
My old response was often:
Well, I blew today. I’ll start over tomorrow.
Then tomorrow becomes Monday.
Monday becomes next month.
And suddenly a bad meal has turned into several weeks of doing nothing.
I’m trying to change that mindset.
If lunch wasn’t great, dinner can be better.
If I miss this morning’s workout, maybe I can walk tonight.
If Sunday wasn’t a good day, Monday doesn’t have to follow it.
You don’t need to start over. You just need to make the next decision.
That’s a much different way of looking at fitness.
Stop Comparing Your Journey to Someone Else’s
This becomes especially important as we get older.
I’m 66 years old. My fitness journey doesn’t need to look like that of someone who’s 25, 35, or even 50.
My goals are different.
Yes, I want to lose weight. I want to reach 240 pounds.
But I also want to maintain muscle. I want to remain mobile. I want to play golf. I want to travel. I want to have enough energy to do my job. I want to remain active and independent for as long as possible.
Those things matter more than how quickly I can transform my body.
The only journey I really need to compare mine with is my own.
Am I doing more than I was six months ago?
Am I making better choices?
Am I getting stronger?
Do I feel better?
Am I moving in the right direction?
If the answer is yes, keep going.
What If It Takes Longer Than I Planned?
I’ve asked myself this question.
What if I don’t reach 240 pounds when I originally wanted to?
Then I have a choice.
I can declare the whole thing a failure, go back to my old habits, regain the weight, and prove that the deadline mattered more than my health.
Or I can wake up the next morning and continue.
When I put it that way, the choice seems pretty obvious.
I still want 240.
I’m still going after it.
But I’m beginning to understand that the bigger accomplishment won’t be seeing 240.0 appear on the scale.
The bigger accomplishment will be developing the habits that allow me to get there—and then stay there.
Just Keep Laying the Bricks
There’s an old saying that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Neither is a healthier body.
Every workout is another brick.
Every healthy meal is another brick.
Every time I walk past the fast-food restaurant is another brick.
Every time I choose water instead of soda, get off the couch and take a walk, or exercise when I’d rather skip it, I’m adding another brick.
One brick doesn’t look like much.
Neither does losing half a pound.
But keep laying those bricks for six months, a year, or several years and eventually you’ve built something.
That’s what I’m trying to remind myself when progress feels painfully slow.
My journey hasn’t been perfect.
I’ve lost weight. I’ve gained some back. I’ve had motivated weeks and weeks when I didn’t want anything to do with the gym. I’ve made good food choices and some pretty lousy ones.
And I’m still here.
I’m still trying.
I’m still chasing 240.
Maybe that’s the real secret to dealing with slow progress.
Don’t demand perfection. Don’t expect overnight results. Don’t let one bad day convince you that you’ve failed.
Make a better decision.
Then another.
Keep laying the bricks.
And most importantly…
Don’t quit.