In general, when should someone see progress?

jane26

jane26

New member
I'm brand new (howdy) and have a general question before I start seriously planning a work-out regiment using the resources here.

Assuming I stick to the routine and diet I decide on, how long before I might start seeing -some- kind of physical progress (at a healthy rate)? I'd like to know this so I can judge whether or not I designed my routine correctly or if I need more intensity, etc. (2 weeks? 4 weeks? 8 weeks?)

What kinds of factors would go into figuring out when I'd see progress? My guesses would include: overall current health, diet quality and quantity, calories out, etc.

I understand that the bathroom scale may not be the first thing to show progress, but I am most interested in seeing results in my physical size, waist size, body flab and fat, etc OR the scale. My goal is to lose about 15-20lbs (which seems like a reasonable goal to accomplish, right?)

Having a realistic time-frame goal is sort of important for my motivation. I've tried to get into a workout regiment in the past, and usually end up losing motivation after about 4-5 weeks because I didn't see any kind of progress.

Thanks in advance for any advice you folks can give.
 
I use a Scale, Bf% monitor, and mirror. But I'm a data geek :) Tracking trends with those tools on a daily basis, helps me see daily changes. But depending on what you eat and what you do, it may fluctuate. It's important to be aware of this, and look for trends. But having a data history has been instrumental in what I've been doing.
 
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Hiya,

I'm not really entirely sure, but I can give you an example -

My friend/workout buddy was 120kg 3 weeks ago, and has lost about 2.5kg since then. Two of those weeks were pretty decent losses, and one of the weeks was a very minimal loss - at which point he got pretty discouraged.

After plenty of discussion, though, he admitted that it was really just the scales that he was looking at - he hadn't made a 'huge' loss one week, as far as the scales were concerned, and he was disappointed. When we talked about it, though, he said he was feeling better, he had more energy, and his clothes were starting to feel looser - he'd had to readjust his belt. So, in my opinion, I would suggest that (so long as you don't JUST focus on the number on the scale) you'll notice little things from week to week.

A couple of days ago, someone who had been along a similar path (and had lost a fair bit of weight) told my friend and I that it was at the 8 week mark that things really started to accelerate for him. He felt that the hard work he did during those initial 8 weeks (with very little to show for it, apparently) set him up for some really good results during his 3rd and 4th months.

So - I think it's reasonable to expect to see/feel little changes as you go from week to week, but don't expect to see big changes until you've really put in the hard yards - and I would say that 'hard yards' are a good few months of solid work.

When you're at that 4-5 week mark, you're well underway - don't be discouraged by the lack of progress after this amount of time, because there WILL be progress - you just may not be able to see it yet. Keep trucking, and maybe aim for that 8 week mark before expecting anything major.

Good luck :)
 
this is a WAY to vague question to answer as it depends on way to many factors.

the biggest reason is the intensity and dedication with which you put into your goals. Some people I'm training just are not capable of doing exercises correctly, and need weeks if not months before they are truely ready to start exercising with the optimal intensity. Others like me when I got back into it was like riding a bike because of my past experience with weights. My before and after pic at the 2 month mark looked like the kind you see in magazines because right from day 1 I had a ton of weight on my back and was squatting. So it can vary greatly from person to person.
 
Thanks for the encouragement and the general example / info Sports FanAttic. That was really the sort of answer I was looking for.

Sorry to everyone else who thinks my question is too vague. I'm not an experienced exerciser and I'm just now starting to think seriously about weight loss and seek real support.

I thought I'd ask an "in general" question to see what kind of community was here before I started posting the specifics of what I've done and seeking specific advice. If "in general how does this work?" types of questions are not welcome or are seen as stupid, I'll seek support/encouragement elsewhere (or I'll just get fat. haha!) :)

If anyone else has any specific thoughts on when I should expect to see results (so I can keep my motivation up), much thanks in advance. :)
 
if you want a more general answer, you can optimally expect about 1% of weight lost per week. Again, thats your optimal loss. For most of us, thats about 1.5-2lbs a week.

Howerer, the type of training and diet you have can have a huge impact on where that weight loss is coming from. eating too little, and a bulk of that weight lost is going to be muscle mass. do a ton of cardio and no weights? well you can expect fat and muscle to shed, leaving you with that chubby skeleton look.

best answer i can give you is do a complete resistance based program with a couple cardio days, combined with a balanced adequate diet (meaning you're eating enough food with proper amounts of all 3 macronutrients) and you can hope for 1% fat a week lost.
 
Thanks Jynus,

I've heard the 1.5-2lbs average figure before. But what about when you should -start- seeing that come off? right away? 2 weeks out? 8 weeks before you start seeing it? (Sports' example suggested more like this)

I'd like to be able to tell if I'm doing the right (or wrong) workout sooner rather than later so I can re-think it if necessary.

I also want to believe that my previous failures were just due to not sticking with it... rather than feeling so frustrated and losing motivation again.
 
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