You want to lose 20 pounds....but do you really?

A common goal for people is to lose 20 pounds. They realize they are slightly overweight and a tad out of shape, and a loss of 20 pounds would seem to bring them back into the proper range of health. But what would "losing 20 pounds" look like?

Do you just want to see the numbers on the scale change, or do you want to see a change in your body? If you just want to lose 20 pounds, imagine this: your whole body, as is, exactly the same proportions, the same "flabby" parts, the same "loose" parts, the same look, but each body part is a quarter inch smaller.

Does that sound like much of an improvement? It would be practically impossible to see a difference. But plenty of people have achieved their goal of "losing 20 pounds" and getting these unsatisfying results.

If your goal, however, is to lose body fat, tone muscle and be healthier, then we can make some real changes to your body via body re-composition. For these people, I would recommend not even looking at a scale. It doesn't tell the whole story. A scale can not account for lean muscle, fat, organs, bone density, water retention, or any factor other than overall weight.

Some people experience their clothes fitting looser, a leaner appearance, visible loss of fat, and for a time, the scale doesn't change. This is because the body is simultaneously burning fat and building lean muscle mass. Since fat takes up more space than muscle, the fat loss shows more dramatically, earlier. This typically outpaces the numbers on the scale, but your body is changing!!!

The main goal of the Project Bates Lifestyle Design is to identify goals and current habits, then create results and new, positive habits. We build habits, then our habits build us!

Please leave a comment letting me know what you think, and as always, reach out to me at grow@project-bates.com for more info!

- Chris