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5 Steps to Make New Year’s Resolutions Real, Part 1
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are particular reasons why New Year’s resolutions don’t work. If you first understand why they fail, you can then gain a greater understanding to how you can make it work. Though, I am going to talk to you about how this relates to weight loss programs, you can apply it to almost any resolution at the New Year.
The following is an abbreviated version of my first three reasons.
Reason #1: Lack of Knowledge - Most of your information comes from marketers of weight loss products and programs. They do not have your best interest in mind (only their own as they count on you to crack out your credit card). So, you’re confused about what to do. To keep it simple, if you’re not participating in a program that includes resistance (weight) training, cardiovascular exercise, and supportive nutrition, then don’t do it.
Reason #2: Poor Planning - You must not only know how much weight you’re going to lose (the long term goal), but what steps you’re going to take to get there (short term goals). Most importantly, you must write these goals down and set them at a realistic expectation(s).
Reason #3: Lost Motivation - Sure, you can show up at the gym for a couple of weeks, but that does not create a pattern. You have to remain consistent to make it work. To keep the motivation up, you must keep expectations realistic, have an enjoyable environment to train, and if that doesn’t work- hire a professional trainer.
You can listen to the full version on my radio show, Click Here .
Feel free to share your New Year’s resolutions (that succeeded or failed) or thoughts, by commenting on this blog. Also, feel free to share anything you find funny or interesting about weight loss from the news or advertisers.
Permalink | | Categories: General Fitness, Health, In The News, Lifestyle, Motivation, Weight Loss
Don’t Become a Victim to New Year’s Hype
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, just as you might have figured, the media and advertisers are bombarding you with all kinds of ideas about how to lose weight and get fit in 2008.
All of your major diet centers such as LA Weight Loss and Jenny Craig are using celebrities to promote their services. All of them touting that they lost all of their weight using “only” the diet center’s help. I mean, if a celebrity says it, it has to be true, right?
You’ll also see tons of ads about fitness equipment. One in paticular is the Total Gym. You know, the one that Chuck Norris advertises. What’s funny is that in their new ads, they talk about the obesity epidemic and the contribution to failed attempts to getting fit to exercise trends. The funny part is, the Total Gym is a part of that contribution. The belief that a piece of equipment is going to get you in shape is in itself, false advertising.
Point is, you are being flooded with different ideas and conflicting information about how to lose weight. My appeal to you is this, if any of these things worked, why is there always something “new” and why is there still an epidemic of obesity in this country? The answer is none of them work. Sure, you may lose weight in the short-term, however, long-term you will gain the weight back, plus some.
One of the main reasons this happens is quite simple. When you do the quick-fixes, you actually will train your body to hold on the body fat better. This is due to severely depleting your body of the nutrients and calories that it desperately needs. Yes, I said, “calories that is desperately needs!” When you rely on a piece of equipment, you still apply the wrong fitness methodology you need to get you in shape. You may wind up hurting yourself.
Without getting into too much detail, when you don’t get enough calories, you will use muscle protein as a source of energy. When that happens, your metabolism decreases. So, when you get off the diet, or start going back to your old eating habits, you “balloon!”
Decreasing calories, going on diets, taking pills, using exercise contraptions, doing a body wrap, et cetera, do not work. You must incorporate supportive nutritional habits in conjunction with the right kind of exercise.
Next week, I am beginning a series of blogs talking about what it takes to make you resolutions a reality. In the meantime, don’t become a victim of the hype. Take your time, do your research, and know that a resolution can become reality if you do the right thing and you make a true commitment.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: In The News
Biggest Loser Finale- What you can Learn!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tonight is the finale of Biggest Loser. Though I don’t watch much T.V., with the help of my DVR I have been watching this show on the weekend. Not too long ago, I pointed out some of the flaws (Warning about Biggest Loser) of watching the Biggest Loser, however, there are some things you can learn too.
Unlike the other reality shows, this one is positive for all participants and many of them continue a productive life. Not just their journey of weight loss, but in remarkable journey to gain health.
The most prevalent commonality of the contestants is how they lost the weight. They did not use pills and powders. They did not suck it out or misdirect their digestive system (e.g. gastric bypass). There was not one special exercise gadget that promised weight loss. There wasn’t any sort of special exercise class or dietary program.
What they did was simple. It was a combination of the basics of physical conditioning which included resistant training, cardiovascular exercise, and proper eating habits. They also entrusted in fitness experts that know what they are doing and truly care about their outcomes. Experts who provided them motivation and education, even when it was something the participants didn’t want to hear.
The second and foremost important thing they had in common is that they didn’t just lose weight. They got their “life back,” as many of them stated. They had vigor and energy. They worked hard. They got there confidence back, or in some cases discovered a confidence they never knew they could have. They got stronger. They got healthier. Their relationships improved. They could play with their kids again.
Do you get the point? Weight loss itself is not enough. I am stressing this to you because you may only be focused on weight loss, now or this upcoming New Year (if that is your resolution). However, what you need to focus on is what you can gain that isn’t weight. You can take a pill to suppress appetite, therefore, losing weight. However, you are not going to feel any less stressed, get stronger, or decrease cardiovascular disease, just by losing weight. Even your healthcare professional may tell you to “just lose some weight.” However, it takes more than that if you want to change your life.
I am warning you that the pseudo-experts of weight loss and fitness will be in abundance at the beginning of the year. Don’t trust them! Don’t seek quick fixes to lose weight, but change your life. You have seen in real people, who were extremely obese and on national television make such positive life changes. There were no drugs, one-dimensional exercise programs, or diets involved.
You have to believe. You have a simple choice to make. You can either continually be fooled by the weight loss and fitness hustlers, or you can really make a change by doing what really works for long term health and vitality. You also have to accept that it is not going to be cheap and easy. Cheap and easy things don’t last. You will have to invest time (mainly time) and money, plus understand that you have to sweat a little.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: In The News
Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The word DIET is now a “four-letter” word. When you hear it, you think of the agonizing decrease in caloric consumption, cutting out carbs, lowering fat, and maybe eating nothing at all. The fact is, that you are always on a diet. The question is: On a diet of what? If it’s hamburgers and French fries, that’s not a good thing. If it’s whole foods like vegetables and lean meats, that’s a very good thing. When you speak of other species of life, such as a birds, you would say they are on a diet of worms and seeds. A hundred years from now, how would someone describe the typical American diet? Let’s stop and think about how people used to eat about 150+ years ago (on back). Back then, human beings lived like all other creatures of the Earth. You ate what was born, what was grown, or came from the sky or ground.
Our staples of food came from naturally grown or farmed vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and leaves. During those times, there was no pasta, corn flakes, potato chips, or cheese cake.
Instead, you would either grow your plant foods in your gardens and fields or picked it from the wild. Eating whole foods like tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, and sunflower seeds came from your gardens. You might have picked berries, nuts, and strawberries from trees, vines, and bushes.
When you needed meat, you hunted, fished, and/or raised farm animals. Your ancestors cleaned and prepared the meat themselves (leaving almost nothing to waste, even the fat). Yet, the meat had less fat as it was not tainted with modern day farming practices (like the use of steroids). You sure as heck didn’t deep-fry meat and add tons sugar (curing practices might have been used for preservation, but not to increase taste).
Even the water you drank was not carbonated, colored, and filled full of sugar or articial sweetners. No aluminum cans or plastic bottles to put it in either. You would have to drink, simple, non-tasting fresh water. Hard to believe isn’t it?
To add in a little extra, you also exercised to retrieve those foods. You had to push the plow, walk and run to go hunting, pick the berries, and so on. You got exercise just to survive. Now, you need to exercise to survive.
Now, look at the modern day, Western civilized diet. Go in the grocery store and what do you see? Foods are packaged in boxes, jars, bottles, plastic wrappers, cans, Styrofoam, etc. The foods in these containers are processed grains, vegetables, meats, and fruits. They are dried, pumped up with fat (hydrogenation), sugar (usually high fructose corn syrup), depleted of vitamins and minerals, sprinkled with salt, etc.
Drive down the road, you have fast-food restaurants giving you their “meal of the day.” You can get more with a “value size” or “super size.” (If you haven’t seen the movie Supersize Me, go check it out). In the grocery stores and fast food restaurants you are given rewards like buy 2 get 1 free. Buy this “happy meal” and get this toy. Or, buy this soda you might win a million dollars, just look in the cap to see if you have won.
As a society, we have become gullible and ignorant to what is happening. Obesity and being overweight is now an epidemic, nearly 65% of the U.S. population is over “fat”. We are eating bad food and we don’t exercise. If you don’t care how it is affecting you, then look at your children. I must also compel you to think about the stress it is putting on the economy (both nationally and your own pocket) in health care costs and quality of life.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you need to start hunting your own food and growing gardens. What I am saying, is that it is up to you to make wise choices and to eat a diet of moderation, variety, and balance. It’s no longer a question of whether you eat to survive, you have to eat. However, you must ask yourself, how do you survive to eat the way you do?
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Health, Lifestyle, Nutrition, Weight Loss
Stay on Track this Holiday Season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re already into fitness, or just getting started, the holiday season poses its challenges. Not only are you confronted with sweet treats on a weekly (if not daily basis), you’re schedule becomes more hectic as you try to schedule trips, tend to relatives, buy gifts, etc.
Let’s face it, there is a lot going on during the holidays that can throw you off track. However, that does not mean you have to quit altogether. If you miss a workout one day, postpone it to the next day. If the boss throws in a last minute meeting during the time you were going to go workout, make-up for it by coming in at a different time another day. When you’re used to getting three sessions in, don’t throw in the towel if you are only able to get two in this week.
What matters is that you keep moving forward. Getting fit and losing weight are lifetime goals. Remember that one of the reasons you exercise is to also “beat up” some stress. This is especially true during the holidays
What matters most is consistency. So, if you have an “all are nothing” attitude, be very careful as you may be setting yourself up for failure. Keep doing what you know you need to do and don’t let anyone stand in your way.
Do you have any tips to stay motivated during the holiday season? If so, please share.
Permalink | | Categories: Motivation
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Darn. I was hoping that merely buying a treadmill would cause me to lose weight.... read the full comment by Terri | Comment on Don't Become a Victim to New Year's Hype Read Don't Become a Victim to New Year's Hype
I wrote a post on my blog, Our Inner Source, http://www.ourinnersource.com after I saw the finale. I agreed with everything you said except that it takes time and money - time and focus... read the full comment by Kim McGinnis | Comment on Biggest Loser Finale- What you can Learn! Read Biggest Loser Finale- What you can Learn!
I agree that we all need to sit down and look at what we are doing to ourselves, but with honesty. I know that I don’t always eat the way I should, but if you follow the 90-10 plan, workout for atleast 30-60 minutes a day you should be fine. Having... read the full comment by MADMOMMY | Comment on Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat Read Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat
Yes, diet is a 4 letter word. 1.d 2.i 3.e 4.t... read the full comment by Katie | Comment on Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat Read Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat