How to stay motivated when results are slow
If you're feeling frustrated because your fitness or fat loss progress feels slow, you're not alone. One of the most common concerns we hear from clients is: “I'm doing everything right, but the results just aren't coming fast enough.”
So, let’s get real for a moment.
Be Brutally Honest: Are You Actually Doing What It Takes?
Before assuming something’s wrong with your body or metabolism, take a breath and ask yourself this:
Are you truly doing what’s required to get the result you want — consistently?
Or are you doing it some of the time, and undoing your progress the rest of the time?
This isn't about blame. It's about awareness and honesty. If you're aiming for fat loss but have untracked snacks, underestimate portions, or occasionally skip workouts, those small inconsistencies may be adding up.
Get Scientific for a Week
If you’re not sure, try this:
Track your food on Cronometer for a full week. Don’t change anything — just track honestly.
Keep a workout or movement diary. Are you actually hitting your activity targets? Getting in steps, resistance training, or recovery time?
Review your sleep, stress, and hydration. These often-overlooked factors can dramatically influence results.
By simply observing without judgment, you give yourself the gift of clarity. From there, you can make informed decisions instead of shooting in the dark.
Step One: Define Your Actual Goal
You can’t hit a target you haven’t set.
Are you aiming for:
Fat loss?
Muscle gain?
Increased strength or fitness?
Improved health markers?
A specific body composition?
Once you're clear on your goal, you can reverse-engineer what you need to do to get there. If you're not sure what that is, get help! Working with a coach or using a personalised plan can cut out the guesswork completely.
So — Are You Really Stuck?
After tracking and reflecting, you’ll likely land in one of two places:
You’re not doing things consistently. In that case, it’s time to simplify, recommit, or get support.
You are doing the right things. Then the next step is to ask...
Do You Need to Change What You’re Doing, or Just Be More Patient?
Let’s say you’ve been in a steady calorie deficit, moving your body, and staying on plan, and progress is still slower than you’d like. You now have a choice:
Option A: Tweak your approach. You could reduce calories slightly, increase training intensity, or become more precise with your nutrition.
Option B: Make peace with the pace. Zoom out and take a long-term view.
Here’s a powerful reframe: slow progress is still progress.
A Real Life Example
Take Gemma — she’s been healing from an autoimmune thyroid condition for years and struggled to lose weight for a long time. But in the past six months, she dropped 18 pounds — that’s around half a pound per week.
To some, that might sound slow. But for her, it's a huge win — consistent, healthy, sustainable fat loss despite previous challenges. And it’s 18 pounds she’ll be able to keep off.
BUT MY WEIGHT LOSS SPEED IS SLOW
Let’s challenge that.
First of all, compared to whom or what?
Are you comparing yourself to reality TV contestants losing a stone a week? Those transformations aren’t just unrealistic — they’re often dangerous and unsustainable.
Here’s the science:
A safe, sustainable fat loss rate is up to 1% of your total body weight per week.
So if you weigh under 200 lbs, that’s a maximum of 2 lbs per week.
One pound of fat is a LOT.
Imagine holding a block of butter that size. Losing that each week is a big deal.
Why Fast Isn’t Better
Trying to force faster results often backfires:
You can damage your metabolism by under-eating or overtraining.
You may lose more muscle than fat, which lowers your resting calorie burn.
You risk rebounding, regaining the weight and ending up worse off.
And it’s the same for muscle gain. If you try to rush it, you often just gain extra fat instead of quality muscle.
Ask Yourself: What's the Rush?
Many of us spend years getting out of shape, but we want to fix it in weeks.
Instead of rushing, zoom out. Think of your goal as a long-term investment, not a sprint.
If Progress Is Slower Than Expected...
Once you’ve ruled out tracking errors and you’re still seeing plateaus, it may be time to:
Tighten up your approach. If you’ve been eyeballing portions or avoiding tracking, more precision may be needed, especially for the last few pounds.
Consider a custom plan. A personalised program tailored to your calorie and macro needs can make all the difference. Here’s how we can help you with that →
Reignite Motivation (Even When Progress Feels Slow)
When progress crawls, motivation tends to wane — but here’s how to bring it back:
1. Track More Than Just the Scale
Weight is just one metric. Look at:
Waist measurements
Strength gains
Energy levels
Skin clarity
Improved sleep
Lower blood pressure
Fitness markers (like walking up stairs without puffing!)
These shifts matter a lot.
2. Set Tangible Goals
Vague goals like “get in shape” are hard to measure and celebrate. But if your goal is “lose 14 pounds,” and you’ve lost 7, you’re halfway there! That feels like success.
Try using SMART goals:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
Example: “I want to lose 10 pounds in the next 12 weeks by tracking my meals and strength training 3x/week.”
3. Make It a Lifestyle, Not a Fight
If you're constantly asking how to stay motivated, it may be a sign that your approach is too hard to maintain.
Are you doing hours of workouts you hate?
Following a restrictive diet that feels like punishment?
That’s not sustainable, and it doesn’t have to be this way.
Instead, build habits you enjoy. Find meals and movement you like. When it’s part of your identity and lifestyle, you don’t have to rely on motivation alone.
In Summary
First, get honest about what you’re actually doing.
Track your habits for a week to see where improvements could be made.
Define your real goal, and check whether your actions align with it.
If progress is slow, decide: tweak your plan or make peace with the pace.
Remember that sustainable progress is the only kind that lasts.
Reignite your motivation by tracking more than weight, using SMART goals, and building a lifestyle you enjoy.
And if you're ready to get serious and stop guessing, we’d love to help you create a plan that is doable and gets results that actually last.
Click here to learn about our personalised programs →
With love
Paul & Gemma
Hench Herbivore
