Personal Training

LOL, it seems so funny to me now…it used to be my life…I got certified to be a Personal Trainer.  I also got certified to be a licensed Mixologist.  A.K.A., bartender.  So many certifications, so little time.  Back to my point and I do have one.  A lot of people, apparently after reading My Letter to Myself, forgot or were reminded that I used to be a fitness freak.  And I really was.  But anyway, they have asked for my advice on starting up a new exercise program or what/how should they do this or that. 

I am no longer certified to do anything, except save lives and fight fires on a Cruise Ship.  If you think for one second I do not miss that boat you are wrong.  It was a major lifestyle change for me, but one that would have been a great chapter to this story.  Anyway, I cannot teach you how to exercise or what exercises you can do to help you lose weight.  I can only teach you what I know and what I have personally believed in my whole life.  Listen if you want, don’t if you don’t.  It takes a lot to offend me.  I wouldn’t recommend doing it, but it takes a lot.

The following is a list of facts that I know, no matter what exercise program you follow or what “diet” you adhere to.  I should also inform you that I am a much better motivator of others than of myself…but maybe this will help.

If you are “on a diet” you will fail.  If you haven’t already.  Over and over and over.  The fitness industry and health and wellness stores have convinced society to “go on diets.”  Take this pill, follow that program, eat this food, and don’t eat that food.   When you accept the fact that your “diet” is what you personally agree to consume every single day, you will be successful.  And what I mean is stop saying “I am going on a diet.”  Before you went on the diet, everything you ate was your diet.  You are changing your food consumption.  You are not GOING on anything.  Weight Watchers works because people are dedicated and because they have understood what foods they can eat and what foods to avoid.  But it works mostly because these people have accepted it is a lifestyle change.  You are not on Weight Watchers once you achieve your goal, you have changed your life and this is now how it is. 

The only time you lose weight is when you burn or use more calories than you consume.  Bottom line.  It does not matter if those calories came from pasta or from a rice cake or from a beer.  If you consume it, you have to get rid of it.  Just eating less calories alone will initially cause you to lose weight, but you will gain it back.   Because eventually your body says, oh, this is all we are getting, so let’s store it.  You have to teach your body to consume it, burn it and tell you when it is ready for more.  Honest to God, the more you exercise the more calories you can consume because you are increasing your metabolism. 

Set attainable goals.  Like if you really want to lose 40 pounds, pick 10.  When you get the first 10 gone, you will be like, I can do this, let’s do 10 more.  If you start at 40 I guarantee the last 10 will suck.

I know if you are in Weight Watchers the scale is important.  But society has made us believe the number is important.  How do you feel?  How do your clothes feel?  Are you sleeping better? Do you have more energy?  Those are the gauges you need to go by.  Yes it feels good to say I lost 40# but it also feels good to say I went down two pant sizes.

Walk.  Everywhere.  Park further away in the parking lots.  The best way to start losing weight?  Start walking.  Have you had kids?  Is there a spare tire?  It doesn’t go away no matter how many crunches you do.  It just won’t.  It’s a fact of life…accept it.  But the key to all weight loss starts with walking.  Set a small goal and build up.  I am going to walk a ½ a mile this week…in two weeks, a mile…whatever you can do.  But you need at least two weeks at each level for changes to be made. 

Do you know what your goal is?  Is it to lose weight?  Is it to increase flexibility?  Is it to gain muscle mass?  You have to know what it is you are trying to accomplish for it to work.

What works for one person will not necessarily work for the next.  Certain things require dedication, diligence, MAJOR lifestyle changes.  Don’t look at the next person and get upset because you are doing the same thing, but they are making progress and you are not.  Not every thing works for every body.

The saying you are what you eat is true.  And I would LOVE to eat a skinny person myself right now.  But if you are serious about the lifestyle change then research the foods that give you energy and incorporate them into your daily food intake.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  It really is.  If you can’t eat till lunch, don’t expect your clothes to ever fit different or the scale to change.  You need fuel.  Your car doesn’t keep running when you put no gas in it.  Eating in the morning jumpstarts your metabolism and you should eat 6-7 times a day.  You would be surprised at how easy it is to NOT each so much at one time when you do this.  Be a grazer.  Fruits and vegetables.  So you have to dip your broccoli in ranch?  Fine just don’t eat the whole bottle.

Sleep.  The 7-8 hours obviously varies per person, but honest to God, it is when your body recuperates and rebuilds.  It’s like a nightly tune-up. 

The bottom line?  You will be successful no matter what exercise program you use or what “diet” you chose as soon as you decide that it is a lifestyle change.  Not something you do for a while and then stop when you reach your goal.  Change your attitude, change your life.  It sounds trite and cliché, but is it true.  And above all reward yourself!  We live in a world where we want instant gratification and we need patted on the back…well, guess what, no one is going to do it for you, so do it for yourself.  When you decide that you are important enough to do it for yourself, you won’t need someone else to say, I am proud of you…it’s nice, I agree, but you don’t need it.