You hear all the time that patience is a virtue, yet never is there more true a statement when it comes to weight management. How often have you tried to drop a few pounds to prepare for a trip, vacation or special occasion? Have you ever rushed the weight-loss process only to discover that you feel worse instead of feeling better? Weight management, whether it is through weight-loss or weight maintenance, is a lifelong journey. It requires both patience and dedication.

Why Patience is Key

It’s normal to want to speed up any kind of outcome made to benefit our health and overall well-being. We want results and we want them now. This is why we lose patience, especially when the weight-loss process is slow. The length of time if time it takes you to lose weight is a learning period, and you need that time to adjust to your new body.

Losing weight too fast is a dangerous feat. When fat mass drops rapidly, specific hormones in our body may be affected that can trigger a starvation response. This response lowers our metabolism, increases hunger and breaks down muscle for energy. In addition, it encourages the body to regain not only the fat we have lost, but extra fat as well to protect the body from similar outcomes in the future. This is why you often hear of people gaining back any weight they have lost in a repetitive cycle. In other words, this is also considered “yo-yo” dieting.

However, when you are kind to your body and patient with the process, you are more likely to adapt successfully to new and healthy lifestyle changes. This is also why slow, long-term weight management is so rewarding! You’ve worked long and hard to feel victorious.

Tips for Staying Patient

Just because it’s rewarding doesn’t make it easy. Consider these tips for staying patient along your weight management journey, even when it feels as though you’re making little progress:

• Limit Scale Measurements – Instead of weighing yourself every day or multiple times per week, try once a week or perhaps even once every two weeks. The scale does not give you a full picture of your progress.
• Focus on Other Things – Weight-loss can consume your mind if you let it. Remember to pay attention to other things that matter in your life such as your family, job, hobbies, passions and interests.
• Seek Support – Don’t try traveling this journey alone. Seek the help of a friend, family member, counselor or even a healthcare professional to keep you focused and grounded.
• Break Down Your Goals – Do you have a big goal you want to achieve? That will likely take time. Focus on smaller goals as well such as exercising an additional ten minutes per day or simply increasing your energy level.
• Be Reasonable – Remember that weight-loss is a physical process. Give yourself a break and acknowledge that with attention and determination, you can get to where you want to be.

Remember that you are only human and good things DO come to those who wait (and work)! Trust the process, give your body time to adapt and enjoy every minute of every day that you do something positive for your health.