HOW CONSISTENT DO I NEED TO BE?

REASONABLE PROGRESS

So many times, clients come to me having lost 3% body fat in three months or six pounds in seven weeks and ask why things aren't working for them. This blows me away because those are tangible results. What exactly are these people expecting? Perhaps they need to do the math.

If you're a woman at 30% body fat and you're losing 1% fat a month, by the end of the year you'll be at 18% fat. That's defined as “athletic”. You will have gone from obese to athletic in just one year.

When you are waiting for these changes to happen, progress may seem slow and nonexistent. But over the long haul, both outcomes represent amazing progress. Understand what reasonable progress is and don't get impatient if things seem to be moving slowly.

One way to stay true to this is by acknowledging our “daily wins”. Most of us miss out on making a lot of progress, as well as enjoying much of the progress we are making, by failing to fully acknowledge the daily wins in our lives. These may seem small and inconsequential in and of themselves, but they add up to 1) a rich, rewarding, happy life; and 2) the momentum necessary to continue to grow and move forward in an easy stress-free way.

Generally, all that is required to take advantage of this powerful success factor is to begin writing down your ‘daily wins’ so that you become aware of them, as well as acknowledge them for the progress, and the gifts, that they truly are.

With that in mind, I encourage you to track your ‘daily wins’. Review them often. Celebrate them. They will keep you motivated when progress seems slow.

HOW CONSISTENT DO I NEED TO BE?

This will vary depending on your goals and how close you are to achieving them.

Research shows that any effort - no matter how imperfect - can result in real, measurable progress. It's about learning and accepting that better is better and that even a little effort can translate into real progress and health benefits.

I highly recommend tracking your nutrition using the Hand-Portion Tracker provided. The more accurately you track what you consume, the better insight it will give to figuring out what works best for you.

• For more moderate goals, a target of 75-80% consistency is often the sweet spot to make continual progress while still living an enjoyable and sustainable lifestyle.

  
  

  Do the math: This means you'll want to hit your daily targets for proteins + veggies + carbs + fats (without going over) a minimum of 5-6 days per week.

  
  

• For more advanced goals OR if you are not making progress towards your goals, a target of 90-95% consistency is often needed to start seeing progress, push boundaries and / or reach more extreme levels of human physiology.

  
  

  Do the math: This means you'll want to hit your daily targets for proteins + veggies + carbs + fats (without going over) a minimum of 6 days per week.

REALISTIC RATES OF BODY FAT LOSS PER WEEK

Progress:

• Extreme: 1.0-1.5% body weight (Men ~2-3 lb / Women ~1.65-2.5 lb per week)

• Reasonable: 0.5-1.0% body weight (Men ~1-2 lb / Women ~ 0.8-1.65 lb per week)

• Comfortable: <0.5% body weight (Men ~<1 lb / Women ~0.8 lb per week)

How fast you can lose body fat depends on how consistently you can, or want to, follow the given guidelines. Fat loss is often faster when first starting out and when you have more body fat to lose. The leaner one becomes, the slower the rate of loss becomes, with more frequent plateaus.

REALISTIC RATES OF MUSCLE GAIN PER MONTH

Fitness level:

• Beginner

  • Men 1.0-1.5% body weight (~1.5-2.5 lbs per month)

  • Women 0.5-0.75% body weight (~0.65-1 lbs per month)

• Intermediate

  • Men 0.5-0.75% body weight (~0.75-1.25 lbs per month)

  • Women 0.25-0.375% body weight (~0.325-0.5 lbs per month)

• Advanced

  • Men 0.25-0.375% body weight (~0.375-0.625 lbs per month)

  • Women 0.125-0.1875% body weight (~0.1625-0.25 lbs per month)

The ability to gain muscle is dependent upon age, training experience, biological sex, consistency with food intake, and more.

In Ring #3: Quantity of the Moxie 5 Rings Method Program, you'll learn how to adjust calories, macros, and hand portions to further progress.

THE BOTTOM LINE: YOUR BEHAVIORS MUST MATCH YOUR GOALS

A pitfall I encourage you to avoid is the problem of not matching up your behaviors and goals.

People fall short in this area all the time.

Be honest with yourself as you are following the Five Rings Method program.

Ask yourself regularly if your goals and behaviors are matching.

If so, keep going. If not, then adjust something.

Either bring your behaviors up to match your lofty goals so that your behaviors reflect a big commitment or bring your goals down to match your moderate commitment.

Either approach is just fine as long as your behaviors match your goals.