A personal training client of mine recently got on the scales and was disappointed by what she saw. She was feeling positive and thought everything was going well until she got on the scales and had not lost a single pound.
Of course she then went from feeling positive, to the complete opposite, disappointed, gutted and a bit angry that she hadn’t been “rewarded” for her last week or so’s efforts. We have all been there. It feels like its not fair.
Sometimes when you are doing all this weight loss stuff, you are not really sure how it is actually going. So naturally, everyone and their dog, measures the “success” of their exercise and diet regime by one single thing – weight loss on the scales. It's just how everyone does it. Some are slaves to the scales weighing every day more or less.
You may KNOW that your training is going well and you know you are eating well, but you still like to check, by jumping on the scales.
Weight loss is AN indicator of your progress – 100%.
But, weight loss is NOT THE ONLY indicator, and it is definitely not always the BEST one either.
Today I’m gonna teach you a new way of looking at things and to NOT be a slave to the scales
Use KEY Performance Indicators or KPIs as they are known - to gauge your progress. A KPI, for those who don’t know, is what it says on the tin, a KEY INDICATOR of PERFORMANCE. A KPI is something which indicates other areas MUST be performing well, just by looking at this one INDICATOR. But you hopefully catch my drift, KPIs are there to give you a “snap shot” of how things are going – well, okay or not so well.
The 4 Most important KPIs for assessing health are in my opinion:
1. General health and frequency of illness - How many times have you been ill in the last 6-12 months? The less you've been ill the healthier you are.
2. Vitality and day to day energy - How are your energy levels during the day? (without coffee!)High energy and productivity suggests good health.
3. Libido/Sex Drive – How often do you get a morning erection? Get horny, think about or have sex?
4. Sleep – How long and what sort of quality sleep do you get? 7-8 hours is the optimal level.
If you have ALL FOUR of the above KPIs in place, generally you are in good condition and your efforts with diet and exercise will be well rewarded. Your body is IN BALANCE. Very few people, including me, have all FOUR Of these KPIs going well, all of the time.
If they are in place and you are still not losing weight be patient for 6-12 months and hopefully the positive changes will kick in eventually.
The KPIs I have shared today are THE most important thing whether you are a normal person wanting to have a smaller bum or an olympic athlete - taking on the world.
Our whole “weight loss” approach should be focused on being HEALTHY, having more energy and better sleep.
Other KPI’s can be personal to you like:
What waist/dress size you are?
How strong you are?
How fast you can run/walk/cycle a 5k? and so on
The main four above are just the most important in my experience thus far.
Thanks for reading and good luck,
Richard Clarke
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