(read part one – The Beginning)
In order to keep with your resolution to lose weight you need to take baby steps. Break down you goal into manageable chunks. Don’t try for that bikini body just yet…there is plenty of time. Striving for such a large goal will almost ensure that you fail. It seems so far away – so difficult – so unattainable – so why bother?
FAKE IT
The reality is that it probably took you years to gain the weight and it is not going to come off without a fight. You have to fake yourself out. Having one large goal looming ahead of you is often not enough to keep you motivated. How can you focus on the body you want when those chocolate chip cookies are fresh, warm and oh-so-yummy?
Continue reading ‘Keeping Weight Loss Resolutions – Sticking with It’
It’s that most wonderful time of the year again..the time for resolutions. The time for change. Did you make resolutions again this year? If so, do you think you will be able to keep them?
If you don’t, you are in good company. Resolutions are very hard to keep. In fact, over 70% of people fail stick to their resolutions, according to a recent study.
SUCCESS…OR NOT
Instead of focusing on the negatives – like how many people cannot keep their resolutions – let’s focus on the positive. How many people are successful? And of those that are, how do they do it?
Continue reading ‘Keeping Weight Loss Resolutions – The Beginning’
You might feel like a deer in headlights when you look down: Frozen, in shock, unable to believe what you are seeing or avert your gaze. What is happening? The numbers on the scale are creeping up…up…up And it’s not even Christmas yet.
Many a client and friend complained to me this week that their pants are already tight, with only one Holiday down and the major one still to go. None of us truly dare get on the scale lest we are forced to face the truth: What we did to ourselves. (Overate.) And the reason why. (Because it felt good and we were powerless to stop.)
I ate pretty decently and semi-healthy on Thanksgiving (veggie burger, portabella mushrooms and fresh veggies) with the exception of the three large, super delicious, fattening yet yummy buttered biscuits and a child-size hot fudge Sundae. Friday I was back on the Spin bike, co-teaching a 2-hour Spinning® class, all proud of myself.
Saturday I fell apart and ate everything that was not nailed down.
Sunday I started out with a healthy morning that graduated into leftover pizza, brownies, ice cream and chips.
Continue reading ‘Back Away from the Turkey’
You wake up feeling sick: Head hurting, stomach squirrely, very tired, and thirsty. You know you shouldn’t have done it but you did anyway. You pop some pain killers, drink a gallon of water, eat some carrots and swear you won’t ever do it again. But you will – in less than a month. And once more you will feel awful. What did you do? Overindulge with food – and suffering the proverbial “binge hangover.”
Continue reading ‘Eat with Control This Holiday Season’
The answer is no, at least according to a Time Magazine article published last week, Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin. In fact, it is their thought that exercise might even make it harder for you to lose that excess weight.
Could this possibly be true?
As someone who has lost 80 pounds and gone from a size 20 to a size 4 by exercising and making moderate changes to her diet, I can confidently state “not very likely.”
Why would Time Magazine makes those claims if they are not accurate? Because study results are always open to interpretation – and because we are talking about that very article right now. Buzz is good for business. That’s why.
Continue reading ‘Will Exercise Help You Get Thin?’
THE WEEK IN HEALTH AND FITNESS
Abdominal fat causes dementia. Excess weight is linked to increased risk of dementia (Harvard Health Publications). Why? Fatty tissue in the abdominal cavity secrete hormones that may affect brain tissues. Another reason to lose weight.
Lose a pound of fat every 12 days without really trying. (Men’s Health newsletter). Simply cutting out 2 bottles of soda per day could help you lose a pound every 1.5 weeks. One bottle of soda contains 12 teaspoons of sugar. Measure it out for fun. Pour 12 teaspoons into a clear glass to see how much sugar that really is.
We have all made them.
“I’m busy.”
“I don’t have the right foods.”
“I don’t have time for my full work out so I might as well not work out at all today.”
“I have to go to a party so I will indulge now and start my diet tomorrow.”
“I had a bad day.”
Or my favorite (one which I use frequently) “I’m too tired” (to lift weights, ride my bike, eat an apple, go for a walk, play with my kids.)
We are too (busy / tired / depressed) to take care of our health and our weight, and yet we make time for everything, and everyone else. (Americans watch nearly five hours of television every – single – day.)
Watch THIS VIDEO from Nike. It may help you put those excuses to rest. Take out a notebook and write your own excuses down. Borrow some from the video if you’d like. Read over your list, then look back at something you really wanted (a new car, that fabulous jacket, the European vacation, the widescreen TV). Would you let the same list of excuses stand in your way? Would you allow those same reasons keep you from getting what you wanted? Or would you make every effort possible to overcome ANY obstacle?
Think about it.
I’ve used most of these myself – have you?
I just read a forum post with that title. The poster talks about being fat, how disgusted she is with her weight, and gives people her diet plan for “tomorrow.”
Will she make it? Probably not. Because planning to lose weight tomorrow doesn’t ensure success – it ensures failure. Waiting for tomorrow is how I gained almost 90 pounds. Because every day I waited for tomorrow gave me a whole extra day to eat whatever I wanted…license to eat everything that was not nailed down. Eat, eat, eat, gorge, gorge, gorge. Because tomorrow – that magical tomorrow – I would start my diet. Finally be thin. The following day, when I “blew it” and hated myself bitterly, I would plan to start the next tomorrow. And so on. Day after day. Year after year. Pound after pound. Tomorrow after tomorrow.
How did I finally change? How did I finally succeed? By starting today. This minute. This meal. NOW. Not tomorrow. It was difficult. I would rather have waited for yet another tomorrow, one full of empty promises to myself. But the tomorrows had never materialized, so I forced my tomorrow to start today. Finally took control of my own life – and succeeded.
When will your tomorrow start?
It is common knowledge that a healthy diet for weight loss consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, plenty of water, unprocessed foods and loads of fiber. But if I told you that pizza is part of the equation, would you believe it? If I told you pizza is a health food would you buy it?
Refined carbs (including pizza), soda, alcohol and candy are all persona non grata in the health arena. Caffeine, sugar and fat are on our “bad” lists, as is eating late at night. And yet, just two weeks ago I found myself driving home at 1 a.m., eating five-hour cold greasy pizza out of a box in the backseat of my car, and stopping at a fast food joint for fully caffeinated coffee in the middle of the night. How does a personal trainer justify that? Easily. And would she recommend it to her clients? Definitely. With the following disclaimer, of course.
Continue reading ‘Making Pizza Part of Your Diet’
The electronic version of my “Living the Fit Life” is here. >Download your copy now. It’s free! (Courtesy of LA’s the Place.com.)
Post any comments you might have about it. I’d love to hear your feedback.
