Do you get frustrated when the scale hardly budges? Are you trying to avoid all those “bad” foods that might derail your progress?
While these thoughts and actions are undoubtedly common, getting the results you want could be as simple as reframing your expectations. But don’t get simple and easy twisted—yes, the process can be simple yet it’s hardly easy.
Fortunately, Dr. Cederquist and Nicole RD reveal what’s considered a realistic expectation and how to regain control of your health and wellness journey.
Dr. Cederquist: Are you feeling frustrated with your rate of weight loss or discouraged by it and feeling as if you're doing something wrong? We first want you to know that these feelings are so, so common. And by understanding what's realistic, you'll start feeling more encouraged and more empowered to stay the course.
Nicole: Yes, welcome back! Dr. Cederquist and I are so excited that you're joining us today as we talk about weight loss expectations.
Dr. Cederquist: Especially when it comes to weight loss, unrealistic expectations are frequent and can often hold us back.
Nicole: Absolutely. We've had patients wanting to lose maybe five-plus pounds in a week and be disappointed when it was only losing one pound. Others who wanted to lose a large amount of weight in a short period of time, maybe to fit into a specific outfit within a month, or others who wanted to throw in the towel if the scale didn't budge one week. You name it, we saw it.
Nicole: But when we have unrealistic expectations, it sets us up for feeling frustrated, discouraged, and feeling like a failure and wanting to quit before we even gave it a chance.
Dr. Cederquist: While we'd all like to reach our weight loss and health goals almost instantaneously, it just doesn't happen this way. We want to help you enjoy your journey and feel empowered. So let's discuss four realistic expectations while losing weight.
Nicole: Yeah, so first, we cannot control the scale. And sometimes I want to screen this from the rooftops because this is one of the biggest expectations I would tell my patients. There will be ups and downs. In weeks, you might lose two pounds, or others, you might not lose anything at all, or maybe be even up a pound. This is perfectly normal.
Dr. Cederquist: That's good to realize that it's normal. You're not doing anything wrong. This is the way the body works.
Nicole: Yes, absolutely!
Dr. Cederquist: But number two, we must also be realistic about the rate of a healthy weight loss. We can't state what the exact number on the scale will be for each of you as we're also different: different ages, genders, activity levels, medical conditions.
Dr. Cederquist: However, what we do know is that we want to ensure that you are having the adequate amount of protein in your meal plan spread throughout the day in order to preserve muscle as you follow a reduced-calorie diet. Our protein calculations are based upon ideal weight with a little wiggle room to cover the majority of adults.
Dr. Cederquist: People can have different levels of muscle for sure, but the vast, vast majority of differences in weight are due to stored fat. Our bodies do not have an unlimited ability to make muscle. It's actually quite hard work to build muscle. But the human body finds it easy to store fat. And that is what we want to lose when we lose weight, lose fat.
Nicole: Yes, I would often see couples at the medical center. And there could be a woman who is 5’2” is in her 50s, whose weight is maybe 150 pounds and she's wanting to lose 20 pounds. And she might lose half a pound to a pound in a week. Whereas her husband, who is 6’2” in his fifties, weighs 290 pounds and is wanting to lose 60 pounds, and he might lose four pounds in a week on a similar plan.
Nicole: I could see that they were both losing fat and not losing lean muscle tissue based on our body composition analyzer that we had at the medical center. They were both ensuring adequate protein of about 30 grams of protein with each of their meals and consuming their protein snacks of about 10 to 15 grams of protein per snack. But her husband was consuming three snacks and sometimes four protein snacks each day to meet his nutritional needs.
Dr. Cederquist: Now, there are going to be times where the scale won't budge. And there's so many reasons why this might happen. Water retention, constipation, excessive salt intake, even exercise can help you hold onto water. And when this happens, we cannot get discouraged. It's the overall trend that matters.
Nicole: Yes. And thirdly, we cannot promise a result, only an action. Each week, I would ask a patient at the end of our visit, you know, what is one goal or promise or agreement for this week? And they would often proceed with, I want to lose two pounds or I'm going to lose four pounds.
Nicole: And I would have to stop them because we can't promise a result. We truly have to focus on the actions we are taking inside of living a healthy and vibrant life because our body will lose weight on its own terms.
Dr. Cederquist: Truer words have never been spoken. You know, our bodies will do what they do. We don't have control over it. We cannot promise a result. We can only promise the actions that we are going to take, which usually, when done consistently, lead to the results we want. That's the key.
Nicole: Yes!
Dr. Cederquist: Nicole, what are some of the actions that people can promise to do, ones that helped your patients when you saw them in the office week after week?
Nicole: Yeah, it's important to remember that the actions people would make an agreement or promise to were something very small and realistic. But some of them might include things like someone might make an agreement to say in affirming mantra every morning as they're brushing their teeth, or someone might work to ensure that they're setting an alarm, some kind of reminder on their phone to remind themselves to eat that every two to four hours so they're getting in their defined three meals or two to three protein snacks each day.
Nicole: Or, another person might make a promise to just look at their calendar and plan and schedule when they're going to go for a walk or when they're going to go to the gym, for example. Or, there were patients who were just planning a specific bedtime every night so that they could ensure that they were getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night. So it was small, realistic things that they were working towards.
Nicole: And I will say that sometimes someone would promise not to do something. Like they would say, “I'm not going to eat the cookies at night!” but that rarely worked because the brain doesn't hear the word ‘not.’ It just heard eat ‘cookies.’ And then that person was like white-knuckling it every night trying not to eat the cookies and all they were thinking about and obsessing about were cookies in the evenings. So I oftentimes had to work with patients to really change their dialogue to focus on what actions they were taking, not the actions they were trying not to take.
Dr. Cederquist: I love that. Please take that to heart!
Nicole: Yeah, I think of it like a golf game when you're playing golf and you're like, “Okay, don't get into the sand trap. Don't get into the sand trap.” And then what happens? You hit the ball and you land right in the sand trap. Whereas I used to tell patients, “Just think: hole in one, hole in one constantly.” So yeah, what we tell our brains has a huge impact.
Dr. Cederquist: For sure, for sure! And fourth, slow and steady wins the race. You are in an adjustment and adaptation period. It may take a few weeks to get into a groove and notice changes in your hunger and cravings on the scale, in your energy, or how your clothes fit.
Dr. Cederquist: Your body, metabolism, cells, blood sugar, taste buds are trying to adjust. And this can often result in unforeseen benefits that will help with your weight loss efforts, like improvements in blood sugar control, fewer cravings, more energy, less inflammation. And none of this happens overnight or just within one week.
Nicole: Yes, absolutely. You are working to correct a cellular and metabolic dysfunction. And this often takes time to correct things internally before we start to see external results. Your hard work and patience will be rewarded when you're not only losing weight, but you're maintaining and keeping it off long term.
Nicole: Those who are most successful in their journey saw beyond the scale and focused on the things they could control, such as their self-care, eating patterns, exercise efforts, stress management or sleep, and truly being empowered by creating a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Cederquist: That's right! We can't control our genetics or what has happened in the past with our health or how other people respond to their diet and exercise. None of those are in our control now. When we focus on the things we can control, that helps us get our say or our power back in our health and wellness. And we're here to support you while you get there.
Dr. Cederquist: Thanks so much for joining us! And until next time, what is one promise or action that you can make today to either get your say or your control back in your health and wellness or to keep it going?