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Undoing THE New Year's Resolution
Sometime between Christmas and the New Year I get asked the same question by everyone who knows I am in the Fitness Business. "You must be packed at the gym in January with all the people trying to get at their New Year's Resolution, right?"
It's true: Losing Weight-Get Fit is both the top resolution AND the most commonly broken. How can that be, year after year? And, even more frustrating to the Fitness Professional, why does it have to be a first of the year commitment when really the most important thing that you own is your body?
Reasons for Failure
Unequivocally, the number one reason this number one resolution fails is that
90% of the health and nutrition information out there is false. AND, this supported by the simple fact that 90% of diets and exercise programs fail. The same information peddled by the diet industry, most Nutritionists and Dietitians, the food industry, the exercise industry, and the ever-knowing government has been regurgitated for some sixty years now, and we're bigger and sicker than ever. AND, how can that be when there's a Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, a Lifetime or 24 hour Fitness on every street corner. Aren't they supposed to be solving this problem and get the resolution to stick?
All of these groups are guilty on all of these points:
Diet
Diets do not work for three reasons: 1) Restriction is perceived as punishment and that can only go on so long. 2) It's the type of food that's important 3) Counting calories is useless if you're eating the same crap.
Weight
Total weight or being 'fat' is more than a number on a scale. Certain foods cause you to retain water, sugars and grains are the real culprits in excess fat storage, and it's actually your %bodyfat or body composition that is important.
Body composition and metabolism are complicated things manipulated by numerous systems and certainly beyond the scope of a number on a scale. Obtaining your ideal frame, clothes fitting better, and yes weight loss will happen if the right dose of exercise is implemented and correct foods are chosen.
Cardio
There's still this myth perpetuated that there is some magical difference between weights and cardio when in fact they are they same thing: Resistance Training. What is different, and should be strategically addressed, is the Intensity.
If you checked your heartrate after a set of squats and after you jumped off the Elliptical you would probably be surprised to see it's higher after doing the squats. So, which is more 'Cardio?' Doing the cycle is pretty close to doing lunges, but which uses more resistance? This 'Do your 30 minutes of cardio' thing is, for most people, just promoting joint damage.
Skinny & Thin
Two words that should be abolished from the language. The thought that having less weight and being a size 2 are glorifying have done more harm to people's self-image and resistance or addiction to exercise than anything on the planet.
You just don't know how healthy someone is by the way they look and what they weigh. Lifestyle habits always trump. And I personally do not own a pair of Skinny Jeans
Unrealistic Promises and Goals
'Lose 7 pounds a week' and 'I need to lose 30 pounds by April' are what you hear from both ends. What about replacing that with: "I just want to stay out of the doctors office, not have surgery, and off pharmaceuticals", "Be able to play with my grandchildren when I'm 80", or "Get to 10 or 15% bodyfat."
Creating large and insurmountable goals right off the bat
THE SOLUTION
Charting the Right Course to Achieve Your Life's Resolution
Here's the thing, acquiring a body that is lean and healthy is not that hard folks. A recipe of proper and consistent exercise, combined with simple eating habits, with a dash of a positive mindset are the only ingredients you need.
After watching thousands of people and working with hundreds of clients over twenty years in the fitness business I can honestly tell what works is the opposite of what you're being told and what most people are doing.
Acquire the Right Exercise InformationThere are Personal Trainers (hobby) and then there are Fitness Professionals (career) who have taken the time to learn the required Sciences to be able to relay the correct information to you to train your body efficiently and effectively. Very few certifying bodies even delve into the Physics and Forces of all that stuff in the gym, when in reality Exercise Mechanics or Joint Mechanics, is precisely what is required to put a weight in somebody's hand.
Understanding that there is no difference between Cardio and Weights but that it's all resistance and a spectrum of Intensity to vary and progress upon is critical for your success and to not get injured. The Resistance Training Specialists at Fitness Alliance are all armed with this information and practice a process of Mastery: constantly learning and honing the craft of Exercise.
Acquire the Right Eating and Health Information
There's no shortage of diet experts, information on the Internet, and Health & Fitness magazines...most of it the same junk month after month, episode after episode, year after year. Wading through this health jungle is a nightmare.
The most sensical solution to eating, (as much as I hate names), is a Paleo approach, simply because it relates to evolutionary accordance, or, eating the way we are designed to eat like every other animal on the planet. Expelling grains, dairy, sugar, and chemicals, in exchange for: Meats
Fruit & Vegetables
Eggs
Nuts & Seeds
Healthy Oils
Another great option is to talk to someone who is on course and achieving their goals. Even if you don't know them, introduce yourself and chance are they will be more than open to share their path of success with you.
Be Realistic, Consistent, Determined, and Patient
- Set some short-term goals rather than all huge goals you can realistically accomplish
- Slot your workouts into your schedule and don't cancel them
- Don't do too much too soon. Jumping in head first with 6 days a week turns into 5 the next, then 3, then none
- Stay Consistent. A workout doesn't always have to be an hour or take place at a gym. Just as the Intensity of your individual workouts has to be varied, so does the duration, frequency, and location.
- Be determined to succeed reminding yourself of the commitment you've made to yourself
- Be Patient. It may have taken awhile to put the body together you have presently and it will take time to get where you want
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