Trusting The Process

carrieanthony

Let's hope I get some answers here because I'm not getting anything over on Fitness and Exercise. (sigh)

Trust the process.

I keep telling myself this. Over and over and over again.

Please understand, this is all very new to me. I've bounced around in my weight over the years and it's time to get serious ... and I am.

I joined a gym 3 minutes from my house. I don't have much time to exercise as I work a ridiculous amount of hours but I have carved out 45 minutes every morning to get to the gym.

I met with a trainer. I do 10 minutes of cardio, weight training and then another 10 minutes of cardio.

The weight training works different areas on different days .... almost always 4 exercises/machines each day plus the cardio.

Trust the process. Trust the process......

I've honed my eating to high protein, low carb (as that is what works for me).

96-112 oz of water every single day.

I feel absolutely WONDERFUL but after two weeks I'm afraid to get on the scale. The trainer I met with who set up my program told me probably best not to ... right away.

Everything I read is weight training + some cardio is the key to getting this weight off.

Trust the process.

(sigh)

I'm not giving up but I don't want to be disappointed again either! I used to go to the gym before (5 or so years ago) and work out on the elliptical for probably an hour or more, SOME weight machines but never kept with the machines for longer than say a couple of weeks because I don't think I was seeing any results.

Trust the process.

Can someone HELP ME TRUST THIS PROCESS!?!?!?! I've never done weight machines on a regular basis and I'm going to the gym at 4:45 every single morning without fail (for that alone, I'm proud of myself!!) and following the routine he has set up for me. I feel the burn (oh man do I feel it!!) and I never thought I would SWEAT like I do using weight machines. I took my measurements when I started but I don't want to take them again for another two weeks (that'll make a full 4 weeks of this program).

I guess I just need some support. I go to the gym alone. I don't go out to lunch with the gals from work. My husband eats everything and anything he wants as do my daughters. So I'm really alone in this and could use some support.

sharitapita

You say you feel wonderful. Take some comfort in that! The fact that you are committed to yourself enough to get up at 4:45 everyday is amazing! Even if those numbers don't change much, think about how you are feeling because that is what really counts! Don't lose your motivation now!

VorJoshigan

eh... sounds good enough. Go ahead and trust it. Not sure what you're asking for.

The biggest thing I see is that you are getting anxious about stuff after only 2 weeks. You need to work on your endurance. Getting healthy is not a sprint. It's a marathon that can last for the rest of your life. Take breaks when you need to, go fast when you need to, but don't freak out a quarter mile out from the start.

TreEe5

I think it's important you do "trust the process". Everyone is different, so what may take you 4 weeks worth of hard work and dedication to achieve, may take someone else 2 or 6. Also, it seems that you may get hung up on the numbers - I know I sure do. You work and work and work and yet you get on the scale and either you've lost (not as much as you thought/wanted), you've gained, or you stayed the same. The important thing is not to put too much emphasis on the numbers. Do you feel better in your clothes? Are things looser than they were when you started? If you do, then take your measurements or get on the scale...remember they're just numbers. They change everyday, at all hours.

kpk54

Patience.

Bekahmardis

You can trust the process. And don't think about the weight itself. Take measurements if you feel you need to track it. Measure now, then measure again in a few weeks. Then, if you see progress there, does it matter what the scale says?

Keep going and trust the process. It's there for a reason.

juliemouse83

I think it's important you do "trust the process". Everyone is different, so what may take you 4 weeks worth of hard work and dedication to achieve, may take someone else 2 or 6. Also, it seems that you may get hung up on the numbers - I know I sure do. You work and work and work and yet you get on the scale and either you've lost (not as much as you thought/wanted), you've gained, or you stayed the same. The important thing is not to put too much emphasis on the numbers. Do you feel better in your clothes? Are things looser than they were when you started? If you do, then take your measurements or get on the scale...remember they're just numbers. They change everyday, at all hours.

Agree with this...Some of us are so conditioned to believe that the number on the scale is the gospel, but that isn't always the case. I lift 3-4 times a week, and while the scale shows I still weigh 15 or 20 lbs than I did a few years ago, I am wearing jeans I haven't been able to wear since a few years ago...The measuring tape is really much more friendly.

You are so motivated! I can't even imagine getting up at o'dark-thirty to work out, and you are doing it. EVERY DAY!

You will get there. :flowerforyou:

muchadoaboutme2000

I have to give myself the "Trust the process" speech like, 123901823019283 a day. It's been 2 years for me and I still question why I'm doing this and how long it's gonna take for me to be happy. You have to dig deep. You HAVE to have support. You HAVE to realize you didn't gain the weight overnight you won't lose it overnight. Even if your numbers don't change quickly, your heart and muscles are becoming healthy. Your endurance will increase. You're MENTALLY strong and you are working on being physically strong.

A previous commenter said that this is a lifelong marathon. It really is. I will never be able to stop this battle, but I'm not sure that I want to. I'm in the middle of a wicked plateau and fight the urge to cry when I weigh in, but I also know that I'm still working. I'm still gaining muscle. I'm still getting healthy, even if the scale is the devil.

You've got this! I don't know you, but I have faith in anyone who puts forth an honest effort. You're still lapping all those fools in line at McDonald's.

mojohowitz

I don't trust the process.

I don't believe in the "starvation mode" myth.

I don't lose weight when I "eat my exercise calories."

I don't even trust the basic math generated by most websites including MFP. Too many variables in the human body. Sodium, hormones, toileting, etc.

If I need to lose 2 pounds (7000 calories) I only see that result on a scale after MFP tells me I have burned 11,000.

HOWEVER, I do trust that writing everything down, no matter how incorrect the output may be, is the only way I can keep myself honest.

For all its faults or perhaps mine, MFP is still a great tool in the fight. Use it religiously but forget any notion that it is a magic bullet. There is none.

Just resign to the fact that you will have to eat better and exercise more and calculate math that really never adds up from now on. It will happen, just remember to think long term. Don't get hung up on weekly or daily numbers.

onwarddownward

I second measuring AND take your before photos right now! Those will be your inspiration later!

50sBeachwalker

Trust the process! Just what you wanted to hear I bet. The exercise alone making you feel better is worth inspite of losing weight or not. I believe in moderation in eating, but I calorie counted until I got around my goal. Diet is what you eat, not a program. I eat more fruits and vegetables now, and keep the junk food down to a minimum, but don't feel guilty when I do. I walk for my exercise with some weight training and I feel great. If I miss a day, I don't feel guilty. My suggestion is to not make it a job, but to relax, enjoy, and don't make it all about the scale. Measure success in how you feel and energy compared to how you use to feel. Results never come fast enough to our liking, but slow steady results are lifelong and life changing. Trust the process, but don't press it.

carrieanthony

I'm not necessarily looking for anything as far as changes right now. I mean, it would be nice of course. LOL I guess I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around the "weight training" as opposed to hours and hours of cardio which is what I have always been taught in the past (and, to a point, worked but then I would stall). I've NEVER added true weight training like this before. I feel like 20 minutes of cardio a day, to me, is cheating when I would always be on an elliptical for an hour or more.

Don't get all excited about me getting up at 4:30 am every morning. My husband gets up then and I'm up when he is so instead of milling around the house and drinking coffee for 45 minutes (or going back to sleep) until I have to get the girls up for school and me ready for work, I just decided to get up with him and do something PRODUCTIVE!

cwolfman13

I trust my process...I eat more of this...



And less of this...



More of this...



and less of this...



I do more of this...



and this...



and less of this...



And I eat at a reasonable calorie deficit when I want to cut and maintenance when I want to maintain and a modest surplus if I want to build muscle. EZ-PZ.

Also, weight training is going to do far more for body composition than cardio. Cardio is just weight training for your heart...but you're not really building or even maintaining muscle. In fact, tons of cardio actually burns muscle. Often people who diet and do a bunch of cardio, but completely ignore resistance training end up at some arbitrary scale weight, but a higher BF% relative to that weight than they otherwise would be if they had maintained their LBM.

carrieanthony

Exactly what my trainer said!!! .... still trusting it. The fact that I'm going every morning to the gym and sticking with it even for two weeks is MAJOR for me. I'll just keep on keepin' on. thanks.