Fresh off our discussion on diets and weight loss, let’s take a step back. Health/weight loss/fitness/change doesn’t happen overnight. You can make a decision to start the attempt to begin change overnight and you can also change behaviors, attitudes and environmental factors overnight but actually changing the body health/weight/strength/etc. takes much longer. Progress Is A Process Everyone, myself included, wants quick results. It seems to be in our human nature or at least weaved deeply into our cultural fabric. The biggest problem inherent with this quick change mentality is that very little actual change happens quickly. As stated above, there are many things that we can make decisions on immediately but progress (the big picture permanent change we desire) ultimately is a process that needs to play out over a long period of time. Take weight-loss for example: most people need to allow their body and minds to adapt to the new weight-loss behaviors they are engaging in before they start to actually change. You restrict some energy to your system (aka diet) and your body starts to figure out what to do with this new energy shortage. It makes several adaptations on the fly and starts to shift some of its processes to make up for the lack of food/energy. All of these processes are very temporary and geared toward just getting through the short-term. They are not actual long-term changes or progress. With time and consistent exposure to a new environment and/or challenges the body will slowly start to make structural and more permanent change to adapt to the more long term and permanent environment you are exposing it to. It’s then and only then the body starts to actually make the change that we desire. It will often put up a little fight (as many of us know) during the short term to get us back to what it is used to but ultimately if we can keep exposing it to the circumstances we want it will change and adapt accordingly. This progression from temporary to permanent takes time and is a process that needs to fully play out if it is going to stick. You don’t just get to the top of the stairs with the snap of your fingers, you have to climb one step at a time. The longer the staircase the longer it will take. If you don’t have a staircase, you need to build one. This takes even more patience and even more time and is probably more common than we think. Weight loss for a few of us is simply climbing a flight of stairs but for most of us it’s building a staircase and then climbing it. The building process is tough and takes a plan, parts working/fitting together, dedication and a decent amount time but it can be done. It also often takes help, just like the picture, and is usually built one little piece at a time… Have patience and understand that you didn’t get to where you are quickly and therefore you can’t get somewhere else quickly either, particularly if you never been there or haven’t been there in a while. Progress is a process that needs to play out and you’ll get there if you keep working at it. Be patient. Keep it simple. One step at a time. Thanks for reading, have a great day! P.S. Progress, Not Perfection