Ever since my time at Women's Strength Nation [1] with celebrity trainer Holly Perkins [2], there's one tip that has been playing on a loop in my brain. So often, people start making healthier lifestyle choices with weight loss in mind and wonder what gives — when will this work pay off on the scale? According to Holly, and what she's seen with her clients, when it comes down to seeing physical, tangible results from your weight-loss program, "what you look like or feel like today is a reflection of what you did 10 days ago." Great news! It doesn't take months and months to see a real difference, but it's also important to not get discouraged when the scale doesn't tip overnight.

Just like making the shift to healthier lifestyle habits, it's equally important to remember that negative choices don't bring about instantaneous change in the form of weight gain. Sure, you may feel bloated or sluggish from all that pizza you ate last night, but one meal is not enough to cancel out hard work. Whenever I've put back on weight, it's never been because of a night out or one cupcake — it's because I've been indulging for an extended period of time. It's only after a few weeks that I'm able to recognize what my previous actions have done to my body. And this is where Holly's tip has helped me alter my propensity to yo-yo back and forth between healthy and unhealthy habits.

Just remembering that real change takes time can help me calm down, take a few deep breaths, check in, and make a smarter, more compassionate decision for my future self. More often than not, this translates to me realizing that I'm not hungry. This tip may sound obvious, but just as a series of steps in the right direction will turn into a positive and powerful leap I can feel in my clothes and see on the scale, it's important to remember that the slippery slope of overeating will eventually creep up on me, too.