The first thing to do as a beginner is to weigh yourself, whether your goal is to burn calories or gain muscle. You need to see where you are physically, so if you have a goal, you’ll know where you started and you’ll simply be able to tell if you’re gaining muscle or burning fat. One key is that you do NOT want to lose 8-10 pounds per month if this is your specific goal because you start to take advantage of your muscle tissue and that is not good. A good way to tell if you are gaining muscle is that your metabolism will increase and if you lose muscle it will honestly slow down. Don’t be discouraged if you’re gaining weight starting at the gym; this is due to losing fat and building muscle at the same time.
Let’s say you only lose 4 pounds of fat and gain 2 pounds of muscle, the scale will only show you a 2 pound difference. Your motivation should not come from the scale, but from who you see yourself in the mirror. Don’t step on the scale every day because you’ll get discouraged, but try every other week to see your numbers fluctuate. Seeing your number go up and down will encourage you to hit the gym consistently. Stay focused and remember to hold your head high with your dedication, devotion and determination to achieve your goals. Everything worth having in life takes time and this is one of those times! With this in mind, I promise you will see great results!