You’ve been hitting the gym faithfully for a month now. Your workout buddy has lost seven pounds and she says she feels terrific. Meanwhile, you only lost a single pound, and you feel exhausted. What are you doing wrong?

First of all, you’re not exactly doing anything wrong. If you’re exercising regularly, you’re doing something very right, regardless of what the scale says! Your blood pressure is probably lowered, your cholesterol numbers might have improved, and you’ve certainly begun slashing your risk of diseases like diabetes and heart disease. But still, you want to see certain results on the scale. And it’s understandable to feel disappointed if you aren’t.

The first thing you should know is that different bodies react differently to exercise. Some people just don’t see results on the scale right away, but after a few months the weight starts dropping off dramatically. You could be one of these people. You might also put on muscle easily, so while you haven’t noticed much difference in your weight, your body composition is indeed changing!

Other than simply wait it out, there are a few more things you can do to get more results:

Get enough sleep. If you’re not getting a full eight hours of quality sleep each night, your body has probably gone into “stress” mode. It’s releasing hormones that actually cause you to retain body fat.

Change up your workout time. The best workout time is one that you can stick to. But some people notice better results if they work out at a different time of day.

Change up your activity. If you’re spending a lot of time in the weight room, replace one or two workouts per week with a spin class, walking, jogging, or something else you enjoy. If you’re walking every day, try adding a few bursts of jogging. Or, sign up for a boot camp class. Sometimes our bodies get into a “workout rut”, but will respond more vigorously to a change in exercise. So try something new!

Take a second look at your diet. Are you eating enough protein to fuel your muscles? Are you eating a bit too much fat or calories? Nutrition can be a complicated science, and your body might respond better to different proportions of nutrients. Call us to schedule an appointment, and we can help you make tweaks to your diet.