At The Gym Iowa River Landing, we believe in being honest about what it takes to improve your health and fitness.
There are plenty of places promising quick weight-loss results, dramatic transformations, and easy solutions. But sustainable changes rarely happen that way.
If losing weight is one of your goals, we want to help you understand what the process actually looks like – and what you can realistically expect along the way.
Because the goal shouldn’t simply be to make the number on the scale smaller.
The goal is to become healthier, stronger, and more capable while creating habits you can maintain for the rest of your life.
So, let’s talk about what that actually takes.
First, Understand What You’re Trying to Lose
When most people say they want to “lose weight” what they usually mean is that they want to lose excess body fat.
Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Your scale measures total body weight. It doesn’t tell you how much of that weight comes from body fat, muscle, water, bone, or other tissue.
That’s important because losing weight quickly can also mean losing valuable muscle mass.
And muscle matters!
Maintaining muscle supports strength, balance, mobility, bone health, metabolism, and your ability to remain independent as you age.
So instead of simply asking:
“How can I lose weight?”
A better question might be:
“How can I reduce excess body fat while maintaining or building as much muscle, strength, and physical function as possible?”
That’s a much better long-term goal.
Side note – if you’re interested in finding out what your current body composition looks like, don’t hesitate to hop on our InBody scanner at The Gym! It is free with all memberships and a great way to begin to understand what this weight loss journey should look like for you.
Start With Your Nutrition
This is often the part most people don’t want to hear.
If you want to lose body fat, your nutrition matters. A LOT.
This means taking an honest look at what you’re eating – not just what your diet looks like on your “good” days.
Think about the entire week:
- The snacks you grab without thinking
- The handfuls of food while making dinner
- Drinks and alcohol throughout the week
- Restaurant meals
- The weekends!
- The days you tell yourself you’ll “start again Monday”
- How often you’re eating because you’re bored, stressed, tired, or simply because food is available
This isn’t about judging yourself.
It’s about understanding where your habits are currently taking you.
You don’t need to eliminate carbohydrates.
You don’t need to survive on salads.
You don’t need a perfect meal plan.
You need to establish a few sustainable habits that make the biggest difference.
Start with the basics:
- Eat enough protein
- Eat more minimally processed foods
- Eat fruits and vegetables consistently
- Pay attention to portion sizes
- Limit liquid calories and frequent alcohol consumption
- Build meals that actually keep you full
- Drink enough water
- Move more throughout the day
For most people, improving the quality and consistency of their nutrition will make a significant difference in their ability to lose weight.
And unlike a temporary diet, learning how to eat in a way that supports your goals is a skill you can keep for the rest of your life.
Strength Training Should Be Part of the Process
If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t only focus on making the number on the scale smaller.
Give your body a reason to maintain the muscle you already have – and ideally, build more.
That’s where strength training becomes especially important.
When you’re in a calorie deficit without the correct balance of macronutrients (protein, fats and carbs), your body can lose both fat and lean tissue. Regular resistance training helps provide a stimulus for your body to maintain muscle while you’re losing body fat.
That’s why your workouts shouldn’t simply be about burning as many calories as possible. Especially because realistically, you won’t burn enough calories to make a high enough deficit compared to diet to impact weight loss.
Your goal should be to build and maintain a strong, capable body.
There’s another benefit to maintaining muscle: muscle tissue is metabolically active, meaning having more muscle contributes to the number of calories your body burns at rest.
Don’t look at strength training as simply another way to burn calories.
Think of it as an investment in the body you want to maintain long after the weight-loss phase is over and maintenance phase has begun.
Move More Throughout Your Day
Start by looking for opportunities to be more active throughout your normal day.
Walk.
Take the stairs.
Play with your kids.
Go on a hike.
Take a walk after dinner.
Do activities you actually enjoy.
Then combine that daily movement with consistent strength training.
One important thing to remember:
You can’t out-exercise poor nutrition.
It is simply much easier to consume a significant number of calories than it is to burn them through exercise.
That’s why exercise shouldn’t be viewed primarily as a way to “earn” food or burn off everything you eat.
Instead, use exercise to build strength, improve cardiovascular health, maintain muscle, and create a body that is active and capable.
Then, use nutrition to support lowering body fat mass.
Don’t Overlook Recovery
This is an area that gets overlooked constantly.
Poor sleep, high stress, and inadequate recovery can make healthy eating and consistent exercise much harder.
If you’re regularly sleeping five hours a night, grabbing fast food because you’re exhausted, and relying on caffeine to get through the day, simply adding more workouts probably isn’t the answer.
Look at the entire picture.
Start improving the things you can control:
Sleep. Hydration. Nutrition. Stress management. Daily movement.
Your body responds to all of these factors – not just what happens during the hour you’re at the gym.
What About Weight-Loss Medications?
This is where we want to be clear:
We’re not here to tell you whether medication is right or wrong for you.
Weight-loss medications can be an appropriate and valuable part of medical treatment for some people. That decision should be made with a qualified healthcare professional based on your health, medical history, risks, and goals.
But, medication shouldn’t automatically replace the habits that support long-term health.
Medications can help reduce appetite and increase feelings of fullness, but they don’t automatically teach you how to build a balanced diet, strength train, sleep better, move more, or create sustainable habits.
And if medication is eventually discontinued, maintaining those healthy behaviors becomes even more important.
The goal shouldn’t simply be:
“How can I get the scale down?”
It should be:
“How can I become healthier enough to maintain these results for the rest of my life?”
Don’t Forget About Muscle
This is one of the most important pieces of the weight-loss conversation.
When you’re eating fewer calories, it’s important to give your body the proper nutrition and training stimulus it needs to maintain as much muscle as possible.
Protein and resistance training.
Because losing weight isn’t automatically the same thing as improving your health.
Losing excess body fat while maintaining strength, muscle, and physical function is a much better goal.
That’s why strength training should be part of the conversation whether or not medication is part of your healthcare plan.
Before Looking for a Quick Fix, Ask Yourself These Questions
Before deciding that you need a more drastic solution, take an honest look at your current habits.
Ask yourself:
- Have I consistently strength trained (average 3x/week) for several months?
- Have I made meaningful and consistent changes to my nutrition?
- Am I eating at least .7 grams per pound of bodyweight of protein?
- Am I getting 7-8 hours of sleep most nights of the week?
- Am I drinking 100+ oz of water per day?
- Am I getting 8-10k steps per day?
- Have I realistically given these changes enough time to work?
If the answer to several of these is no, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It simply means there are still plenty of opportunities to improve your daily habits before looking for a quick solution with potential long term detrimental effects.
Remember: weight loss takes TIME.
Think in terms of months and years – not weeks.
The goal isn’t to do everything perfectly for a few weeks.
It’s to build habits you can realistically continue for years that are going to keep you independent and functional.
Your Goal Is Bigger Than the Number on the Scale
It can be easy to become focused on a number.
But think about what you actually want from improving your health.
Maybe you want more energy.
Maybe you want to feel stronger.
Maybe you want to keep up with your kids or grandkids.
Maybe you want to feel more comfortable and confident in your body.
Maybe you want to stay independent and active as you get older.
Maybe you simply want to feel better in your everyday life.
Those outcomes are about much more than body weight.
They’re about becoming a healthier, stronger, more capable person.
How The Gym Iowa River Landing Can Help
You don’t have to figure all of this out on your own.
The Gym Iowa River Landing gives you the space and equipment to strength train, move, and build your fitness on your own schedule with 24/7 access.
But if you’re not sure where to start – or you’re struggling to make progress – our team is always available to help.
Our trainers will help you:
- Talk through your nutrition and lifestyle habits to identify realistic changes that can support your goals
- Help you build a sustainable nutrition approach rather than relying on restrictive diets or quick fixes
- Provide accountability and support to help you stay consistent with the habits that matter most
- Help you identify where your current approach may be holding you back and make adjustments when needed
- Answer questions and help you navigate the challenges that come with changing your eating habits and lifestyle
- Build a strength-training routine around your goals to help maintain and build muscle
- Make sure you’re using proper exercise technique and progressing your training appropriately
- Help you create a balanced approach that includes nutrition, strength training, daily movement, sleep, and recovery
No matter where you’re at in the process, a very undervalued way to make progress is to be sure you have a knowledgeable and experienced team supporting you through your journey. And most importantly, someone giving you realistic and honest feedback as you go.
The Bottom Line
We live in a world that wants everything to happen faster.
But your body doesn’t respond well to quick fixes.
It needs consistent habits that you can maintain for years.
Eat well.
Lift weights.
Move your body.
Sleep.
Then… give it time.
And if medication ultimately becomes part of your healthcare plan, that’s okay, too. Just don’t let the medication become the entire plan.
The goal is to become healthier, stronger, more capable, and able to maintain those changes for the rest of your life.
Change is hard. And sustainable progress takes patience.
But with the right habits, the right support, and a willingness to stay consistent, meaningful change is absolutely possible.
We’re here to help you build a body and lifestyle that supports the life you want to live – not just chase a number on the scale. 💪