Losing Weight Evenly ... Doesn't Happen

Don't let the title discourage you. Losing weight happens, just not evenly. Just be prepared for some downs, ups and some plateaus.

It's not great analogy, but the human body is sort of like a really complex machine. Food provides fuel and building materials. Our bodies are "programmed" to conserve fuel and use it efficiently. If you eat too much, your body stores that extra fuel for future use. It's called "fat". If you eat wa-a-a-ay too little, your body will soon go into starvation mode, slowing itself down so as to use its stored fuel more slowly. That latter can affect weight loss progress - there is such a thing as too much of a good thing (the good thing, in this case being eating less food).

Adding exercise to your routine will help you lose weight, significantly. But it also complicates the process. The exercise burns extra fuel, drawing even more on the stored fuel (fat). But, over time, your body also builds up the muscles you've been exercising. Stronger muscles is a good thing, but the added muscle tissue affects the rate of your weight loss.

So losing weight is not a simple matter "starving" yourself as much as you can stand and burning more fuel faster. You're going to do that to some degree, but more than just that. Then there's one further annoyance. Each of us knows where we want to lose the weight, but our bodies don't necessarily follow those priorities. Eventually, over time, yes, but in the near term, not so much. So "padding" may be lost from places where we don't think any needs to be lost. Be patient (and maybe have a sense of humor). It does get sorted out, and you do eventually lose what you're trying to work off.