FAQ Series #3 - AM I doing enough?

So often I get clients who worry they aren’t doing enough. These are people who are highly successful, and often have ambitious goals. My answer to this question is always very simple; Are you making progress? To answer this question we need clearly defined metrics that align with your goals, and we need a way of measuring those metrics accurately, which is often easier said than done. Relying on one metric individually can be misleading, which is why we generally want at least two. We need to be patient because progress is never linear, but we also need to hold ourselves accountable if we want to make progress .   

Taking fat loss as an example, it can be so difficult to know if you’re eating the right amount, burning enough calories or doing the right type of workouts. Most people live or die by how much they weigh, but the number on the scale can be very misleading. Along with normal day to day fluctuations, changes in hormones occurring over the course of a month can dramatically affect that number. You might plateau on the scale for two weeks because the stress of dieting combined with the stress of life causes you to retain water, making you think that you are not losing weight. Give up, and you short circuit what was actually productive dieting, even though the metric you chose indicated otherwise. At the end of the day, the number on the scale alone does not tell us a ton. But, if you pair that with our performance in the gym or progress photos, the number on the scale can become a helpful tool. 

It’s important that we choose good metrics to track, and give them enough time to show clear trends. But if everything is moving in the right direction, even if it’s slower than desired, rest assured that you are doing enough. If they are not, and you have given it a couple months, then maybe it's time for you and your coach to reevaluate your plan.