There are so many ways to measure success when it comes to weight loss. Obviously, the scale is one, but for me, it’s been an unreliable way to see progress. The BIA measurements that QuickFit offers as part of their program are much more precise and it’s wonderful to know how much muscle I’m gaining and how much fat I’m losing as my body composition continues to change. But the photographs of me from this time last year are another big way to track how much I’ve changed, as are the ways in which my clothing fits. Of course, I never got rid of all my “skinny clothes” after I gained weight in college, and periodically I reach into the recesses of my closet to see if anything is starting to fit. Until recently, this was basically just a cruel game I played with myself, but this week, things are fitting.

When I slipped on the silky silver dress I bought sophomore year, one of my best gauges for how my body is changing, I actually laughed out loud because I was so excited. I remember trying to squeeze into this poor frock last year and it being so tight around my belly that it was more of a shirt than a dress. This week, it slid on easily, without and tell-tale signs of being much too small, and I think that’s reason to celebrate!

Another way I know I’m succeeding is through friends’ reactions when they see me for the first time in a while. I had cocktails with an old friend this week who has faced a struggle similar to mine and has slowly been trying to shed the weight she gained in school, but to little avail. She often tells me stories of the intense doctor-supervised diets she’s tried or the crazy fitness classes she’s put herself through and how little everything has worked. She was so excited to see how much I’ve changed since she last saw me. I’m also much less hesitant to meet up with old friends; it used to be the case that I was too embarrassed because I thought people I knew in High School, when I was my fittest, wouldn’t recognize me.

I’m not going to lie, though, I still feel like I have a long way to go before I’m at my goal weight, but now healthy choices are part of my everyday routine rather than an anomaly. It’s amazing how good habits, like coming to QuickFit like clockwork three times a week and starting my day with a nutrient-rich shake, have replaced old bad habits. I’m never going back to the days of ordering in junk food and lazing about on my couch

I am a huge culprit of mindless eating. If there’s a bowl of chip, pretzels, nuts, fruit, whatever, I will eat and eat regardless of whether or not I’m hungry. I am also liable to go to the back of the office to the fridge and grab a snack, not because I’m at all hungry, but because I’m bored and the action of eating pulls me through whatever task I’m working on. Grabbing a snack helps break up my day and my work, but ultimately I’m consuming food that I don’t need to properly fuel my body. As part of my job at a catering company, I’m in kitchens a lot, with food readily available for grazing. It can become problematic when I don’t keep track of what I’m putting in my body when I’m working at an event; I end up eating much more throughout the course of an event than I would if I simply made myself a plate and sat down to enjoy it.

Lately I’ve been trying to actively listen to my body’s needs to be sure I’m not eating something out of sheer convenience or out of boredom. When I feel like getting up and walking to the kitchen during my workday, I made myself a cup of green tea instead. Last week I got so far as microwaving mashed potatoes when I realized I wasn’t really hungry and I promptly composted them. I avoided a surplus of calories and the inevitable guilt trip I would have sent myself on by examining my physical and mental state with honesty.

I’ve noticed that for me, the idea that success is tied to mental presence is true during a workout at Quickfit too. I go three days a week, like clockwork, but there are certainly days when I’d rather be somewhere else; for example, at happy hour enjoying a big glass of wine. These days, when my mind is elsewhere and I’m not giving the workout my focus and intensity, I sweat less and am less sore the next day. When I put my intention into my workout, I always work harder and it feels much more worthwhile. Even at a smaller scale, when I put my focus into the muscle I’m working in any particular exercise, that muscle seems to respond better and I feel like I’m getting better results.

It seems simple, and it also seems to me like something a hippy would say (having been to more than a few yoga classes, I know how much instructors preach mindful practice), but it works for me. Next time you’re in for a workout, make sure you’re really in your workout. If you put 100% of your focus into your body, it will likely respond in kind.

When I was working out on Tuesday at QuickFit, one of the other patrons was asking for some guidance regarding low-carb tortillas: where to find them, if they’re really a healthy alternative, things like that. There are so many low-whatever versions of the foods most of us like to indulge in but aren’t necessarily a staple of a well-balanced diet. I’m talking about low-carb versions of our favorite snack food, low-sugar cookies or fat-free dressings and diet sodas. It seems like the food manufacturing and marketing geniuses have created every junk food in a slightly “healthier” version.

I’m very wary of things that look like junk food but claim to be healthy. What I’ve learned from examining the labels of foods that would be good swaps is that when you take out extra fat, sugar or carbs from a food, you probably have to add something else in to compensate for the change in flavor, and that usually equates to chemicals.

I sometimes joke that I’d rather have the chemicals in diet soda than I would the calories when someone chastises me for the occasional consumption of those delicious carbonated beverages. But really, would I? Why should have to choose between sugar and artificial sugar-like substance that may or may not contribute to illness down the road? For the record, I make no claims about the cancer-causing properties of diet soda, but that doesn’t mean my mother’s nagging about it isn’t in my ear.

What I’ve come to realize, and trust me, it sucks, is that there is no healthy swap for my favorite junk foods other than actual food. I’ve come to see beets as nature’s candy and swapped my occasional diet soda caffeine fix for green tea with stevia extract. The healthy alternative for tortillas isn’t some processed “low-carb” version, but rather the whole grain, spouted whole food version that offers real nutrition. Instead of using a frankly awful-tasting fat free version of the dressing I love (I’m looking at you, Ranch), I picked up a no-oil dressing that cuts calories without adding chemicals to my salad.

There truly are no shortcuts to being healthy. The mentality that there are is just a roadblock in my road to success. Eating a balanced diet of nutritious whole foods and kicking ass in my workouts is the only way I can lose the weight I want to, but I’m still working on making that my mindset on a daily basis. (Amanda’s “butt busters” are helping though! If you want a serious burn, make sure to ask her next time you’re hitting the Plates.)

But what I love most about Quickfit isn’t the chic surroundings, private restroom, individual coaching, personalized workouts and nutrition consulting, or the ever-friendly staff. What I love most are the results. It’s been nearly a year since I started working out on the Power Plates, and now that I’m pulling out my summer wardrobe, it’s amazing to see the difference in how my clothes fit. Once skin-tight tank tops are now baggy, and my mother still comments on how thin my waist is getting. When last year I don’t think I would have attempted to climb Sanitas and jog the valley trial on the decent, I’m now kicking its butt and outrunning my fit friends.

As I continue to work of my problem areas and maintain the weight loss I’ve already accomplished, I also have the pleasure of introducing my friends to the unique experience that Quickfit has to offer. The spring is a great time to give the Plates a whirl, with April being “Drag a Friend In” month, I can invite friends and family to work out with me and try the plates for free, and QuickFit has a couple of other specials going on, like one aimed for a full body detox. I love having the opportunity to show others why my gym is leaving their gym in the dust and why you’ll rarely hear me complain about it- the only gripe I have is when I’m so sore the next day, but even then I’m grateful!

Recently, though, Amanda the trainer asked if there was anything specific I’d like to work on. I’m usually adding additional exercises to those listed on my card in order to target areas I feel could really use some extra attention (I’m looking at you, lower abs), but my repertoire of moves is only so expansive. I sometimes forget that I have another mind to draw on for new, different and challenging moves that can remind my body that it doesn’t always know what’s coming.

While working out at QuickFit automatically provides an excellent resource for challenging exercises, with the new cards boasting new moves or pumped up version of exercises I’ve already covered on previous cards, there’s always more to learn. The QuickFit team is an incredible resource, but like anything else in life, you sometimes have to be willing to ask for a little more help.

So I did. Though I’ve been adding cardio bursts to my regular circuits and beefing up the cards I’m given with my own exercises, I’ve still been seeing only a slow climb on the scale. And when Amanda asked if there was anything I wanted help with, I asked for more help targeting certain areas, like my inner thighs, lower abs and upper body. Since I’ve been adding intensive sessions focusing on certain areas of my body, under Amanda’s guidance and support, I’ve not only been feeling a lot more sore the next day (a feeling I associate with real hard work and the results that follow), I’ve also lost 6 more pounds.

I still complete my workout card and as well as the cardio bursts I introduced a couple of months back so I can be sure I’m getting a full-body workout, but when I’m finished with that, I add a couple of rounds of intense strength training focused on a particular grouping of muscles so I can really feel the fatigue. I feel like after nearly a year of working out at QuickFit, my body was starting to adjust to the exertion that it experienced on a tri-weekly basis. Now, it’s responding to the new, more intense work out I’m throwing at it and that helps accelerate my weight loss, just like starting at QuickFit did way back in May of last year.

Granted, my workouts now last almost an hour compared to the standard 15-30 you can squeeze a workout into a QuickFit if you’re following the card to the tee, but I don’t mind. If you’re heart is set on results (especially results in time for my upcoming trip to Vegas), you’ve got to be willing to put in the time. You’ve also got to be willing to ask for help and take real advantage of the support being offered.

I pay attention to their behaviors. There are girls at work whose figures I admire, so I take note of their eating habits and what is working for them. When I see someone at the gym who’s got the lean, toned physique I’m working toward, I try to emulate their intensity or even steal a couple of new moves to add to my repertoire.

One thing I notice about those people in the gym I admire is how few breaks they take during the course of their workout. They’re pushing hard and even when they take a minute to recover, they’re still being active and keep moving. I personally feel like if you’re sitting down mid-workout for a minute or two, you’re wasting time that could be used to burn a few more calories or add a couple of repetitions to your set. Especially because the workouts at QuickFit are designed to be quick, taking a break in between sets allows your heart rate to slow and you might not be reaching your full potential in the limited time frame.

There are always going to be negative influences for those trying to lose weight. There are always going to be the friends who insist that a cupcake won’t kill you or the salty snack food at the supermarket calling your name. But if you focus on the positive influences, the people who work out like champions and eat clean in the face of the same temptations you deal with, it can be much easier to accomplish your goals.

In other news, QuickFit rolled out its Power Plate classes this week. It’s a new, dynamic way to work out on the plates. Instead of performing individual routines at your own pace, the classes will have clients working out together in a exercise class format. I love working out with others, mostly because the camaraderie and the ability to push forward together. Knowing those around you are working hard alongside you somehow just makes it a little bit easier to get through a workout.

If you haven’t already investigated the classes, make sure you ask about it next time you’re at QuickFit. And if you’re new to the idea of Power Plates and maybe feeling daunted by the technology, the group setting of the class might be a great way to start working out on the Plates!

This weekend, after a lovely solitary hike at Chautauqua, I decided it was finally time to clean out my closet. These days, it’s filled with a huge variety of items of which I’m not particularly fond and, for me, there’s nothing quite as frustrating in the morning as staring at a wardrobe I dislike and never being able to find clothes I love wearing. A lot of the clothes filling my dresser drawers to the brim and occupying hard-to-come-by hangers in my closet are things that I’ve outgrown many years ago or things that have outgrown me throughout the course of my weight loss. Truthfully, I’ve been hesitant to get rid of a lot of the too-small tops and dresses because I’m determined to fit into them again, and that much has not changed. But a lot of the things I was holding onto are now years old and out of fashion, so what’s the point of holding on to every last article?

It was incredibly rewarding, though, to pull things from my closet and discover that they were in fact much too large to keep. It’s a great indicator of my progress as well as a motivator to continue to work hard. And there are items too that I try on to see how well they’re fitting, and I can zip up dresses that held no hope a year ago, which is incredibly satisfying (I’m not saying they’re fit to wear in public, but I’m getting there!).

Like I mentioned, I’m not quite ready for beach wear yet, at least in my own mind, so I’m charging full steam ahead. I’m learning that there are a lot of small adjustments I can make to lose weight faster than I have been in the last couple of months. Though my progress has been slow and steady, which is good when you’re trying to obtain lasting results, it’s been a bit too slow and my weight has been holding fairly steady.

When it comes down to it, I know that adding another 20 minutes of cardio in the morning will help immensely and that added cardio gives me more energy throughout the day than the extra 20 minutes of sleep does, and adding another set of ab work into my routine at QuickFit will help me get to my bikini body faster without adding too much time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (mostly because it really doesn’t hurt to remind myself), an apple is always a more satisfying snack than a bagel or some chips.

With these seemingly minor adjustments, I’m hoping by the time summer hits I’ll need a whole new wardrobe!

There are a lot of mixed messages about how to achieve weight loss goals, and there are some programs that tout an “eat whatever you want as long as your calories don’t exceed (insert a seemingly impossible number here).” And while moderation is certainly key to seeing the numbers slide down the scale, I am now a firm believer that the nutrition within the caloric intake is much more important than a hard and fast caloric cutoff.

I’m often tempted by junk food knock-offs you can find wandering the aisles of your favorite grocery store. Those 100-calorie pack of your favorite chip or cookie masquerading as a “diet food” or a healthy snack simply because it’s low in calories sometimes make me stop in my tracks and nearly convince me that I can eat the over-processed stuff I love and still lose weight. Then I stop to look at the nutrition information and I see that these “healthy” options are loaded with partially hydrogenated oils and corn syrup, ingredients that shouldn’t be a part of anyone’s diet, especially those who are trying to get fit.

Besides, there are so many other “100-calorie” options that are nutrient-dense and are natural, whole foods. Like apples, or a small handful of almonds, or some baby carrots. These treats are delicious, truly healthy and as it turns out, they satisfy me more than some tiny bag of mini-cookies ever did.

One thing I realized when I started closely examining my diet through QuickFit was that the colors on my plate were not very diverse. Now I know that how colorful your meal looks is a good indicator of how nutritious it is. Processed foods literally pale in comparison to the deep green of kale and the rich orange of sweet potatoes, and their nutritional contents pale in comparison too. And it’s much easier to fill up on fresh fruits and vegetables compared to empty carbohydrates that always leave me craving more. Though that seems to be a lesson I have to relearn every now and then…

So while programs that monitor only your caloric intake- without regard to how nutritionally rich those calories are- can be effective for some trying to slim down, they never seemed like the right approach to me. Taking a complete look at my diet and how I was fueling my body seemed like the only way to completely change my diet and my body.

He chose to come to America to face his demons head-on. By demons, I mean the heavily processed food for which we’ve become notorious around the world. And his fast does not consist of the kind of juice one buys at the store. In order to give his body the nutrients he needs and remove the negative influence of processed foods, he packs pounds of vegetables and some fruits into green juice drinks, freshly prepared and without any additives.

This is certainly an interesting idea, and there are many who believe that a long-term “reset” period can be hugely beneficial for our bodies and our mindsets surrounding food. In fact, my sister-in-law is starting something called the “Whole30” this week, which has a similar premise. But what stuck me during the film were the interviews he conducted of obese Americans across the country.

He talked to people on the street and asked them about their eating habits and their health. He talked to fit people and fat people (and some skinny-fat people… like thin teenage girls on the hunt for hotdogs at 11am who admit to never exercising). There were several overweight people who he spoke with (For the record, I’m not being judgmental, these individuals readily admitted to being seriously obese) and they had some rather startling things to say about their health.

He asked each of them how long they anticipated they would live if they continued to eat the way they do, and they each provided him with horrifying life expectancies. There were young men in their 30’s who said they probably wouldn’t make it to 55, women who had been told by doctors they shouldn’t expect to live another 5 years and old men who had already had health complications and didn’t expect much of anything at all.

Then he asked them why they hadn’t already started to make changes in order to improve their health and extend their lives. They gave responses like “I have no self-control,” and “I have no will-power,” and “I’m weak.”

Admittedly, I’ve made those same excuses. When there are cupcakes in the office, I will have a mental conversation with myself about how I shouldn’t have one, but I’ll do it anyway and use an imagined lack of self-control as an excuse.

If there’s anything I know now, it’s that I’m anything but weak. I’m breezing through workouts that were seemingly impossible a year ago and it’s because I’m strong, mentally and physically. I’m willing to bet those people in the documentary are strong too, and hopefully they can find their strength before it’s too late. I know first-hand that nothing good ever came from making excuses.