There are no shortcuts, respect the process and just keep going.
When I am coaching beginners to intermediate runners and athletes for a specific distances or for weightloss and toning, one of the biggest mistakes I see happening is that people expect to see results within weeks or even days of starting. It doesn't work like that. At the beginning you have to have faith that things are changing from the moment you start training but that most of that is happening on a cellular and nerve level and is not immediately visible and/or palpable in terms of performance. But those who can hang in there and do whats on the plan, turning up for each session and not measuring everything every week, but trusting in the coach, in the experience, in the plan, WILL improve, will be healthier, will be stronger, but not if they give up. Beginners are most in danger of giving up at about the 3 to 6 week mark, when nothing yet tangible has happened but if they are patient enough all their work will show though. PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE, AND AGAIN PERSISTENCE AND AN OUNCE OF CONSISTENCY IS WHAT IS REQUIRED. Then watch out..the sky is the limit to what you can achieve if you can adopt that attitude to just keep making small steps toward your goals regardless of what seems to be changing or not, improving or not, don't think too much , just do and continue to do.