That frustrating time in weight loss

It's a little known fact about muscles, unless you actually studied them like I did, that the first 6 weeks or so of any workout routine will yield no muscle growth. That's not to say that you will see no improvement in muscle performance during that time of course. But the first 6 weeks are primarily dedicated to improving the innervation of the muscles themselves. In layman's terms, that means that the nerves are becoming more efficient at working the muscle that is already there. It's not until about the 6 week mark that they have reached peak efficiency and your body seeks new ways to adapt to the continued stress you're putting on your muscles.

So at that point you begin to grow the muscles you have. And this creates a problem for losing weight. Because while you may continue slimming down and losing fat, you may find that your weight loss begins to flatten out or even reverse. Of course it's common knowledge that muscle weighs substantially more than fat so it shouldn't be a surprise really. But it's still disheartening to see your weight loss stagnate despite the continued hard work.

And that's where a lot of people, inevitably, lose their drive. They say, "Why should I keep busting my butt at the gym when I am not seeing the same weight loss I was just a couple weeks ago?" Then they eat a donut and go on with their day. And of course the pounds pile right back on because, another little known fact, fat cells don't just go away when you slim down, they shrink. They persist as smaller cells. It's not until about a year after you slim down that the fat cells are finally eliminated. Your body is efficient. It's not going to get rid of them when you might need them again later (and to be honest, most people seem to don't they?). This is, of course, the main problem with dieting to lose weight, but I don't want to get into that right now. Back to the working out thing...

When weight loss becomes more important than improving health, it creates all kinds of psychological barriers and problems. It's a challenge in our society where BMI (body mass index) has been applied to individual people, something it was never intended for. BMI is a source for many of the problems in our weight obsessed culture. It's because BMI is quantifiable and standard, where overall health is far less so.

And we, as a species, seem to be growing increasingly obsessed with the measurable and quantifiable. Aesthetics and arts are being pushed aside by standardization and uniformity. Efficiency is the name of the game in this world spinning faster and faster. And efficiency needs quantifiable measurements.

The problem is that humans, no matter how much science and biology text books would want to say otherwise, are not living machines. Even most doctors will tell you that medicine is more of an art than a science at times (or even just a game of blind darts, as anyone that has gone to a physician and been given a shrug and prescription for general antibiotics can testify to). Despite all the advances in medicine the last 100 years, we still know so little about it.

Our society is broken and not to listen to anything but this. Healthy diet and exercise are always working in your favor. Even when the scale says otherwise. Even when the BMI says you're "overweight" or even "obese" (especially then actually). Keep working and keep eating healthy. You'll be happier for it in the end (and there is all kinds of brain chemistry and health science to support this, but I won't bore you with it now).

All this is to say simply: eat healthy(ish) and exercise regularly and you'll have a better life. And don't give up.