Let’s get right down to business.  Here are your next couple steps to progress in no particular order.  Step one take your scale and throw it out the window.  Step two, make sure the coast is clear.

Why?  Because your own pants are a way better indicator of changes in your body composition when you don’t know what your body will look like with more lean muscle. Now that you are exercising “for real” and not just cardio-cizing yourself into a skinny fat oblivion, you might not know what to expect as you get more lean mass and lose fat.  Do you have a pair of sexy pants you bought one “skinny summer” that make your butt look fat?  Well sometimes it’s the pants and other times… it’s your butt.  Just sayin’.  But just because they might look a bit frightening or you can’t get them up your thighs, all is certainly never lost.  These pants are your new best friend.  They’ll tell you the truth even when you don’t want to hear it, they won’t sugar coat it, and they will give you the praise you deserve when you work hard and earn your body some cutey booty points.  I recommend a non elastic waist for best booty-buddy results.  We tossed the scale because no one can say what your new and improved body will weigh when you like the way you look.  You may actually look better when you are 5-10 pounds more than your lightest weight on the scale but are leaner and more fit looking.  It’s ok if you don’t believe me just yet.  Just keep up with your nutrition, strength and conditioning and you’ll see for yourself.

When the pounds seem to take there time coming off, it doesn’t mean that your not getting the results that you are looking for, a tighter, more defined body.  But in order to watch and feel the changes directly, you need a good form of measurement that isn’t obsessed with numbers and focuses on your actual goals which are feeling better and looking great in your jeans.  Gauge this directly by marching into the skinny section of your closet and grab a pair of old faves.  No, you are not trespassing.  Your butt belongs in those jeans and you deserve to be wearing your clothes instead of them wearing you.  Select a pair that you can just barely get buttoned and are much less comfortable than the jeans you’ve been falling back on every day.  Keep them out.  Try them on once a week to stay motivated.  Don’t wash them or do anything to them that would give you an excuse as to why they aren’t sliding on.  You’re not wearing them out just yet, just keeping them handy for reliable feedback.

Well?  Go get them!  What are you waiting for?  Don’t be afraid that they fit tighter than you thought.  You’re starting point is not to be judged, it’s what happens next week that needs to be assessed.   If you’re ever afraid to try them on at the end of the week it might just be that you subconsciously know that you didn’t follow your program as closely as you should have.  Everyone I work with that is following their nutrition and training is excited to show me their food log and even to take measurements.  If you’re not, you’re telling yourself something.  So get excited and slip into something a little less comfortable!  You’ll have the evidence you need to stay motivated & feel great about your progress whether YOU see it or not.  Let the jeans do the talking.