At the outset of any new health and fitness program, it’s always a good idea to think through your goals. When I ask new clients what their goals are, I often get “to lose 10 pounds” or “well, obviously I want to lose weight” or “I just need to get these stubborn 5 pounds off.” And then I ask the *real* question: why?

Why is it important to you to lose weight? No one wants to lose weight just for the sake of losing weight. Maybe it’s because you’ve lost some confidence in the way you look. Or you have a high school reunion coming up and you want to look great. Or you can’t fit into your clothes and it’s bumming you out. These “why’s” are important to nail down because they represent what really matters to you.

But let’s look past the scale when it comes to setting health and fitness goals. For one thing, your worth is defined well past that number on the scale. You are many, many things besides your weight. Second, weight loss is a long-term goal. What about right now? When it comes to incorporating a healthy lifestyle, what are the benefits you’ll start experiencing right away? Let’s take a look.

And for the purpose of this article, I’m defining a healthy lifestyle as getting approximately 30 minutes of exercise per day and eating a diet that primarily consists of lean meats, lots of fruits and vegetables, some healthy fat, and limited grains, sugar and alcohol.

Immediate Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle

We are seekers of instant gratification and it can be hard to have the patience required to see the numbers tick down on the scale. So what are other benefits that you’ll start noticing right away?

 

These are just a few of the immediate benefits that you’ll start experiencing as soon as you start living a healthier life. The goods are there for the taking! You just have to decide to take the first step. Just remember, it’s not all about weight. You have so much more to look forward to besides a lower number on the scale.