How long if you're being consistent with minimal results?

[joyfulmom26]

http://charlottesiems.com/consistent...esults-results

Here's an encouraging post from Charlotte's site about consistency in the face of what seems to be no results.

[carrieayers]

Sorry, I didn't mean that your posts were discouraging. It's sometimes discouraging to me when I see someone post that they lost a big amount in a short time and that just doesn't happen for me. I know they don't mean to be discouraging, they are happy, as they should be. But for those of us who are slower losers, it can make us feel like we aren't doing something right, when that isn't necessarily the case.

Carrie

[joyfulmom26]

Hey Kim, I just wondered, why is it so important to see results with T-tapp *alone*? You have mentioned that a few times and said that you are eating junk. What if you decide to eliminate the junk and follow the rest of Teresa's plan for T-tapp with the God made/man made way of eating? I'm just wondering if you would see more results then and feel less discouraged.

Charlotte once posted on FB "You can't exercise off a bad diet". I think it's true. It seems like it's kind of like trying to drive with your feet on the gas and the brakes at the same time. LOL!

Just a thought...

[BlessedMama]

Good point, Polly! I know I've read of many who weren't getting the results they wanted, when they implemented the GM/MM way of eating, saw things improve. And your "cheat" days become less appealing. I know when I've given my body some good, clean food, the junk just doesn't taste the same anymore! I can't eat and enjoy Dairy Queen Blizzards anymore--I taste the chemicals! (However, I do not seem to have that problem with Culvers or Ritters! )

But seriously, the more junk I eat, the more I crave. When I fill up with good foods, I can eat some junk, and it doesn't sabotage me.

Finally, I still contend we sometimes have to deal with the emotional issues behind the "why am I eating" to help us say "no".

[CindyG]

Yes, the chemicals in all processed foods are addicting - that is why the food company's include them. They know once we start eating we will not be able to stop.

Staying a close to natural is much easier after you have done it for a few weeks, your body detoxes and no longer wants the junk.

It takes some adjustments, but I try to just make large batches of good food on the weekends to eat all week long. I make things during the week that are quick to prepare - I started a batch of Mango chips before work today, a few minutes of prep time and let the dehydrator work all day. Now I have healthy snacks for our camping weekend.

[kimodified]

Oh, it's not that I'm stubbornly insisting I WON'T change my diet. You know I keep trying, Polly. It's just that I keep failing to do so, once I've fallen off that wagon I have trouble getting back on. Whether it's GM/MM or Lani's "plant strong" or any OTHER way of calling it healthy and having a plan, I have trouble getting started. So I am always hoping that T-Tapp will cover the eating indiscretion - again because so many people have posted, "I didn't even change what I was eating!" ... I would LOVE to get my eating in line

Although I will say part of what I would like to *understand* is what I could expect from healthy eating alone (no exercise - I already know that) vs. exercise alone (I know I have NEVER seen results from exercise alone with any other exercise plans) vs. both together. It would be nice to know how much each was helping, you know? I know that ideally I'd do both. But I also know realistically I tend to drop one ball, or the other, or ... both.

But yes, once I start eating well for a few days I feel better and can maintain it longer. Although I've never come to a point where my body doesn't want the junk, even with months of healthy eating.

[joyfulmom26]

I would suspect that people who didn't change their eating were already eating mostly healthy. I am one of those people who doesn't have *much* to change due to already watching things due to hypoglycemia. I was diagnosed as a teen, so I have many years under my belt of knowing that junk makes me sick and therefore avoiding it. So, *I* might be someone to say that, not realizing how people would interpret it. kwim? I guess I just wouldn't put much weight in that.

That's just my thoughts and meant to *help*.

[BlessedMama]

In my case, I was already eating more whole foods vs. SAD. I did like my treats but I didn't change anything food-wise for quite awhile. I would have to go back and look....maybe it was 3-6 months or so I cut back a bit on bread portions. A year later I switched to dark chocolate. Little steps. But what I found interesting is that after a year of T-Tapp (and the second half of that year was no size loss), I found it easier to make better choices and eat less sweets. Not that I cut them out completely at that point. It took 4 years of T-Tapp (one of those was my very inconsistent year after my mom's death) before I was ready to make a more serious change to our eating.

Kim, I know it's the Challenge and everyone wants to see great success. But we have to be careful to not define success as losing X amount of inches or sizes or even losing within a certain timeframe. Did I ever tell you that I got to go the Retreat twice, and both times, doing lots of workouts and one time even doing several certification workouts after the Retreat, I lost like 5 inches? This is when everyone else "seemed" to be losing gobs of inches! 10-30 inches! I finally figured out that that is just not my body. The only "gobs of inches" I lost were the first two weeks I started T-Tapp (as a more-to-lose 22W) and once or twice when we drastically changed our way of eating a year ago, cutting out grains completely. I'm not advocating that as an inch loss program--we did that for health reasons and I have since added grains back in.

My metabolism needed major healing, and that is why it took longer, why I couldn't push as hard, why I had to find the eating plan that was sustainable and doable for me.

It is nice to be one of those "I don't have to change my way of eating and I still lost", but we can't all be. I would have loved to be a 1-2 year success story vs. a 5 year one. I used to get hung up quite a bit, too. You might think, "But you were losing inches!" Yes, and you could not always TELL. Not losing a size while losing 40+ inches over a 6 month period of time was a mixed bag. Yes, I was losing. But it didn't look like I was. People were still asking me when my "baby" was due! (Talk about discouraging!)

But I stuck with it, pregnant comments notwithstanding!

Regaining 2 sizes when I was inconsistent after my mom's passing wasn't encouraging. There was a little bit of "If only I hadn't of...."...but I quickly nipped it in the bud. It was what I had to do to deal with her being gone. I couldn't push myself. And when I got back to consistency, and focused on my form, those 2 sizes plus another one came off.

I want to say something here---we all feel our form is pretty good. I did, too, when I started mentoring to become a trainer a year ago. I mean, I'm the one posting Michelle Barbuto's Curl Your Core tips all over the forums! But guess who got a review from her mentor (Michelle) telling her that she was dropping her ribs and collapsing her core--in nearly every move?!

The body will take the path of least resistance, and pretty soon we're not pushing our form as much as we think we are. Even now I am catching myself leaning back which equals losing my core. Form is progressive. We never arrive. No, you do not have to have it 100% perfect to get results, but we need to check with a mirror, video ourselves, get with a trainer in some form (clinic, private session, Skype, video review) and keep growing.

I'm not saying your form isn't good or you haven't been checking, I am just saying that as someone who thought her form was pretty good....and found out differently! BUT--working on it yielded some pretty sweet results! No more underarm or bra pudge! Tummy melting off. Thighs getting smaller. AND body getting stronger!

I think we all need to have short term goals--they help keep us motivated. BUT, we canNOT get stuck on them. That's where we also need to have long-term goals that have nothing to do with size/inch/weight loss. For me, T-Tapp was/is the only thing that works without totally draining my energy and health. And after a year I realized I just needed to be in it for the long haul and let the results happen as they would. I addressed the eating and emotional issues as I was ready for them. I fully expect to keep reshaping and regaining health as I continue my journey. About half-way into my journey I said if I never lost another inch (and this was at about a size 12/14), it would still be worth it to do T-Tapp for all the other benefits.

Do you know the amazing thing now? The fact that I can encourage others who aren't seeing results as quickly. Those with health issues. You may someday be a great encouragement to someone else who is now in your shoes. That's not always easy to see on this side of things. Those times of my not losing sizes or not looking like I lost seemed to go on forever. But they didn't. Kind of like certain stages of raising kids! LOL!

Any area, whether that is 3 or 5 times per week for workouts, eating healthy 90% of the time, or skin brushing or taking supplements--consistency is what will eventually yield the results. Find what works for you in the sense of you can sustain it without wearing yourself out, and then keep track of all benefits--not just inch loss. You will be farther along the journey and can look back and see lots of changes that maybe you can't see right now.

HTH and HUGS!

[aint2L82bfit]

That is golden! Thanks for that.

[just7]

Yep--well said, Trisch! I was going to post something along those lines but you have said it all!

I think the truth of the matter is that T-Tapp does what no other workout does....even if the inches are NOT coming off. And our eating patterns DO matter. That is just a fact.

I'm feeling like I reached 50 now and I can not really hope to get down to a 10 or even a 12. But I WILL keep Tapping and I WILL address my choices in eating as I am able to. Emotional things are being addressed to...as I am able to handle it. So it is all good!