I know I’ve said this before but I need to say it again:

Fat loss isn’t easy.

Some folks can put their blinders on, make a couple of changes to their diet and weight just dribbles off their frame.

For everyone else, it’s a slog.

It’s not just a daily slog, it’s a several times a day crawl through every morsel you put (and don’t put) in your mouth.

If you’re among the privileged who can afford a coach to help you navigate the minefield, it’s challenging enough to follow the guidance they provide (assuming it’s accurate and practical enough to follow).

One of the first hurdles you’re likely to encounter is the one related to patience. Everyone wants fat loss NOW and every uncomfortable step you take towards getting the scale to roll down “should” be all that it takes to get that instant gratification.

But that’s not exactly how fat loss works.

Fat loss is a game of understanding estimates (like how much you actually burn in a day versus how much you consume), it’s a game of consistency (and not confusing it with perfection) and it’s a game of reminding yourself that maybe, just maybe, your individual path is going to take a hell of a lot longer than you’d like it to.

Once you hunker down and accept those facts there’s another little issue you’re going to run into: other people’s opinions.

You see, for something that we do several times a day like, eating, you’d think we’d all be professionals at it. The reality is, we (as a whole) struggle to know how to appropriately feed ourselves and that statement alone is why it’s damn difficult to sort out what and how someone else should be eating. This is assuming you don’t coach nutrition for a living…

I have a client (let’s call her Julie) and Julie has been seeing really nice results with her fat loss efforts. It has not been fast fat loss, but it’s been a near methodical drip down since January. Julie struggles enough with her own self-doubt and wondering if she’s doing enough of the right things and that maybe she needs to be doing “more of this or more of that.” The answer is: probably not.

Unfortunately, Julie is inundated with feedback from her inner circle of family and friends who mean well but they inject their own opinions into how she eats. In addition, Julie, like anyone else, knows someone who is losing weight faster than she is. This keeps that self-doubt pinball bouncing in all the wrong places.

When Julie isn’t letting the external feedback get to her, she’s able to objectively step back and assess what’s happening: she isn’t crash dieting, she’s not on a juice cleanse, she’s not murdering herself on the treadmill. She IS keeping her step count high, focusing on types of and quantities of food that agrees with her digestive system, is patient when her period comes each month (since that’s not the best time to step on the scale) and she’s prioritizing strength training.

Ultimately, when she looks back over her data over the last three months, the numbers tell the tale. And the numbers, while nuanced, show a trend and the trend is where the success lies. I credit her for trusting the work we’re doing together and following the plan.

If you’re tired of struggling through fat loss, the doors are reopening on the first week of April for the next intake of Fat Loss Simplified, my 8-week online group coaching program. It’s not a contest and it’s not a challenge. It’s a supportive toolbox with personalized feedback and a wealth of information to make fat loss less of a slog for you and a place where you can make the pieces fit specifically for you.

If you’re interested, drop a comment on this article or you can email me directly at: jason@revfittherapy.com