Fitness columnist Emmet Rushe says that the worst thing we can do while trying to lose weight is to compare ourselves to others.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make, is to compare your rate of weight loss to someone else’s.

Everyone has different starting points.
Everyone has different activity levels
Everyone will adhere to their diets in different ways
Everyone’s bodies will adapt in differing way.

You cannot look at what someone else has lost on the scale and then feel bad because you did not lose the same.

Weight loss simply does not happen that way.

If you take 2 people.
One is 100kg and one is 80kg.

Both are the same height, age etc.

If they start the same training and diet together at the same time.

If the 100kg person loses 7lbs in week 1 and the 80kg person loses 3lbs.

The 100kg person has lost more weight, but that is because they have more to lose.

If you take 2 people who are the same height, the same weight exercise together in the same way and have the same amount of weight to lose. 

One has an office job and is sedentary for most of the day and the other has an active job where they are on their feet and moving about for most of the day. 

Even if they both attended the same fitness class, the person who is more active because of their job, will probably have more weight loss than the office worker due to her higher activity levels. 

Looking at what the scale says at a weekly weigh-in, doesn’t tell you the full story.

It doesn’t say what the other person has done that week and how their dietary compliance was or what their activity levels were like.

It doesn’t say whether one added in more exercise.
It doesn’t say whether one has a better sleeping pattern.
It doesn’t say whether one has a bad weekend and struggles with slip-ups.
It doesn’t say whether one is on their cycle and is carrying some fluid due to this.

All it says is what you weigh at that time.

The point most people miss, is that they both have had success, but one deems it as a failure because they didn’t match the others weight loss. 

This is a negative way to look at things and it is why I don’t do open weigh-ins where everyone can see how much the others have lost. 

While this may spur some on, it can be detrimental to others.

When it comes to weight loss, any drop in the scale is a success, please don’t get caught up in comparisons, because it doesn’t matter and is not a reflection on the hard work you put in.

Always remember that 1lb per week is fantastic and will add up to a huge amount over a year.
Be patient and play the long game, your goal is closer than you think.
#TrainSmart