After spending the last few months on the forum and really listening to what PN'ers have be doing and saying, I've come up with a list of tips that I believe will steer people in the right direction and will help them maintain perspective on what they're trying to accomplish. Here are my top 5 tips:
1) IT'S NOT A NUMBERS GAME. People often judge their happiness based on their numbers. They're happy if they lose a pound or a percent in a given week. They're sad if they don't. Well, remember, this isn't JUST a numbers game. You're also doing this to improve your health, longevity, how you feel, etc. The body comp stuff is just a great side effect. Keep this in perspective.
2) DON'T EXPECT WEEKLY, NEVERENDING PROGRESS. Often, weekly progress does happen once you've gotten the individualization process down. However, it doesn't always happen. Not even with our personal clients. The body doesn't functional linearly. Things can happen in jumps. So you may lose 3 lbs the first 3 weeks. Then nothing. Then, 3 weeks later lose another pound. Remember, you're in this for the long haul. If you're the type of person who will give up what you know to be superior habits because you didn't lose some fat during one week of the year or even during one month, then there's no hope for you. Seriously, your problems are psychological not physiological.
3) UNDERSTAND WHAT REASONABLE PROGRESS IS. Every day PN users come to me having lost 3% fat in 3 months or 6 lbs in 7 weeks - and they're comming to me unhappy! They're wondering why things aren't working. WHAT?!?! What exactly are these people expecting? Perhaps they need to do the math. If you're a woman at 30% fat and you're losing 1% fat a month, by the end of a year you'll be 18%. That's defined as "athletic". You'll have gone from obese to athletic in one year. If you're losing 1lb every 2 weeks, you can expect around a 26lb weight loss over 1 year. What seemed like crappy progress to you doesn't seem so crappy now, does it? Seriously, perspective people!
4) DECREASE YOUR CALORIES I often have PN'ers saying things like "I lost 3 lbs the first 3 weeks but after that I've just stagnated." When I ask, "what have you done with your calories?" they reply with "it's
great, I increased them from 1800 to 2300. Or, even better, they say "I havent lost any weight, in fact I've gained a few pounds." And when I ask about the calories, same response. "I increased them." Well, here's the deal. If you're a chronic undereater, you need to increase your calories. When you jump on PN that's the first thing you should do. This helps increase your metabolism. But the new, higher intake offsets that increase. So you shouldn't expect to see any decrease in weight! The decrease in body weight and fat happens when you re-set that metabolism and then decrease your calories according to the individualization guide (about 250kcal per 2 weeks). You have to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. That never changed! The idea behind our system is that you need to re-set your metabolism to a higher point and then get in your deficit just below that higher point. For some people, who aren't undereating, you have to reduce calories right away. For others, you have to increase calories before you decrease them. But you always have to be in a negative energy balance. See how that works?
5) MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRESS For all those losing fat fast, I hate to burst your bubble, but I have to be hoenst. You're unlikely to maintain initial rates of rapid fat loss forever. After all, if you're 20% fat and losing 2% fat per month, after a year you'll be -4% body fat. And, as you can imagine, that's impossible. As your body gets leaner, it'll fight more to keep the fat. So you'll have to outwit it. In this regard, you'll eventually have to start monitoring your intake more closely. Sure, you don't have to count calories strictly, per se. But you will have to establish a solid baseline of what you eat daily and as progress stagnates, decrease your intake a bit every 2 weeks. This is all laid out in the individualization guide. You'd also likely have to put in about 5 hours of total exercise per week if you're not doing so. And you may need more. Now, some of you may say "it's not worth all this extra work." That's fine -- but that's your choice. If your stubborn body doesn't respond, don't blame the nutrition gods, don't blame the PN system. Own your choice. It just wasn't worth it to you to go the extra mile. You have other priorities, ones more important to you. That's fine -- no judgement. We make choices all the time. Just understand your decision and accept it.
-----------------In the end, I hope these tips come in handy during both the good and the tough times. But remember - perspective, perspective, perspective. PN is about respecting your body, your health, your daily performance. It's about so much more than losing a pound a week. Lose sight of that fact and you're in trouble.