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Not so long ago, one of the members of my health club poked his head into my office for advice. Linda was a 46-year-old mother of two, and she had been a member of more than one years. She was working out sporadically, with (not surprisingly) sporadic results. On that day, she seemed to have enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eyes that I had never seen.
"I want a before and after fitness contest" 12 week body transformation introducechallenge. "I could win cash and prizes and even get my picture in a magazine."
"I want these losses," she continued as she grabbed the body fat in the abdomen. "Do you think this a good idea?"
Linda was not "cool", she was just the typical "moderate roll" of abdominal fat and a bit of thigh / hip fat that many forty something women wrestling.
"I think it's a good idea" I reassured her. "Competitions are great for motivation. If youhave a deadline, and you hang a "root" as the prize for you, can keep you focused and more motivated than ever. "
Linda was eager and rarin 'to go. "Will you help me? I have this kit and I tender my body fat measured. "
"No problem," I said my Skyndex fat caliper used to measure body fat with a pinch an inch "test drawn.
When I finished, I read the results of the caliper display:"Twenty-seven percent. Room for improvement, but not so bad, it's about average for your age group."
She was not happy at being 'average'. "Yes, but it is not good. Look at this," she complained as again she grabbed a handful of belly fat. "I want my body fat to 19% gain, I heard that a good plan."
I agree that 19% was a big goal, but it would be a lot of work because average fat loss is usually about half percent per week, or sixpercent in twelve weeks. Its goal is to lose eight percent in twelve weeks was ambitious.
She smiled and insisted: "I'm hard. I can do it"
Well, yes she was, and so did she. She was a machine! Not only had she never missed one days in the gym, she trained HARD. When I leave my office and took a walk through the gym, she was there pumping away with everything they had. She told me her diet was the highest ever had in her life and she did not cheatall. I believed her. And it quickly began to show.
Each week they shot in my office for her body fat measured again, and every week went down, down, down. Consistent she lost three quarters of one percent per week – well above the average share of fat burning – and on two different occasions, I remember her lost a full percentage body fat in just seven days.
Some conservatives would have said she was overtraining, but when we weighed her and calculated her lean bodymass, we saw that she had not no muscle – only fat loss. Her performance was just extraordinary!
She was ecstatic, and needless to say, her success bred more success and she kept after it like a hungry tiger for the entire twelve weeks.
Week twelve, day seven, she left my office for her final weigh-in and body fat measurements. She wore a pair of formerly tight blue jeans and they were derailed HERE! "Look, look, look," she said, giddy as she pulled herwaistband, which was now several inches too large.
When I saw her body fat, I must say I was impressed. She had not only lost a little fat, that she was "cheated! "
During week twelve she dropped from 18% to 17% body fat, for a total of 10% body fat lost. She surpassed her goal of 19% by two percent. I was even more impressed because I had only seen a handful of people losing as much fat in three months.
You should have seen her! She began to jump anddown with joy when she was on a pogo stick! She called … grinning from ear to ear! She practically knocked me over when she jumped up and gave me a hug – "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Do not thank me," I said, 'You did it, I just measured your body fat. "
She thanked me well again, and so she had to have her "after" pictures taken. Then something very, very strange happened. She stopped going to gym. Her "disappearance" was so sudden, I wasworried and I called her. She has never caught, so I left messages.
No return phone calls.
It was about four months later, when I finally saw Linda again. The giddy smile was gone, replaced by a surly face, a hanging posture and a deep sigh when I said hello and asked where she had been.
I stopped working after the game … and I did not even win. "
"You looked like a winner to me, regardless of what place you came in" I insisted, "but why did you stopShe did so good! "
"I do not think I blew my diet and then just completely lost my motivation. Look at me, my weight is back where I started and I'm not even want to know my body."
"Yes, I am glad to see you back here. Note some new goals for yourself and do not forget to think long term. Fitness is not just 12 weeks program, you know, it's a lifestyle – you have to do it every day – as always …. "
She nodded herhead and finished her workout, still with that look on her face reports. Unfortunately, she never anywhere near the condition that they achieved for that competition, and the rest of the time she was a member of our club, she slipped back into the sporadic workout pattern.
Linda was not an isolated case. I did the same thing happen with countless men and women of all ages and fitness levels from beginners to competitive bodybuilders. Actually it happens thatmillions of people who "go on" diets, many lose weight, then "go off" diets and gain the weight back.
What causes people to burn so well with the enthusiasm and motivation and burn-out as fast? Why have so many brilliant people succeed in the short term, but not 95 of 100 times in the long term? Why so many people achieve their goals, but fitness fight to save them?
The answer is simple: Health and fitness is thelife, not for "12 weeks."
You can avoid the on and off, yo-yo cycle of fitness and downs. You can stay in good shape and in good shape. You can even get in shape and take better and better shape year after year, but it will be a very different philosophy than most people subscribed. The seven tips below will guide you.
These guidelines are quite contrary to the quick fix philosophies prevailing in weight loss and Fitness Worldtoday. They will use patience, discipline and commitment. But remember, the only thing worse than getting no results is getting good results and they lose.
1) not "go on" diets.
When you "go" a diet, the underlying assumption is that at some point you should "go away" is. This is not just semantics, it is the main reason most diets fail. By definition, a "diet" a temporary and often drastic change in your eating and / or severerestricting calories or food, ultimately, not maintainable. If your goal, the diet is officially "up" and then "go off" (returning to the way you used to eat). Health and fitness is not temporary, it is not a "diet". It's something every day in your life. Unless you approach nutrition from a "habits" and "lifestyle" perspective, you're doomed from the start.
2) Eat the same food all year round.
Solid fatloss is best achieved by eating mostly the same kinds of food all year round. Of course you a wide variety of healthy food, so you the full spectrum of nutrients you need, but there is consistent month after month. If you want to lose fat, there is no dramatic change necessary – you do not need to eat totally different foods – it is less a matter of eating the same healthy foods and exercise more.
3) a plan to transition tomaintenance.
Let's face it – sometimes a nutrition program should be stricter than normal. For example, a peak of bodybuilding or fitness contest a draconian regime that is different than the rest of the year. As a rule stricter your nutrition program, the more time you must provide a slow, disciplined transition into maintenance. Non-plan for a gradual transition will almost always result in bingeing and a very rapid, hard fall "downEmpty. "
4) Focus on changing daily behaviors and habits are one or two at a time.
Instead of making large, multiple changes at once, focus on changing one or two habits / behavior simultaneously. Most psychologists agree that it takes about 21 days consistent effort to replace an old bad habit with a new positive. As you master each habit, and it is so ingrained in your daily life as brushing teeth, so just go to the next. It would be at least 17new habits per year. Can you imagine the effect it would have on your health and your life? This approach requires patience, but the results are much more robust than if you try to change everything at once. This is also the least intimidating way for a beginner to start making some health-improving changes in lifestyle.
5) Make goal setting a lifelong habit.
Goals is not a single event, it is a process that never ends. For example, ifyou have a 12 week goal to lose 6% body fat, what will you do if you? Lose even more fat? Gain muscle? Maintain? What's next? In week 13, day 1 if you have no direction and nothing for you to go, you need something to keep you from slipping back into old patterns. Each time you achieve a goal, you half. During the daily and weekly short term goals means that you literally put goals continuously and never stop.
6) a reasonabletimetable for achieving your goal.
It is important to set deadlines for your fitness and weight loss goals. It is also important to set ambitious goals, but you need a reasonable period of time to reach them. Time pressure is often the motivating force that helps people to get into the best shape of their lives. But when the deadline is unrealistic for a particular purpose (like 30 pounds in 30 days), then crash dieting or other extreme measures are often taken to get there forbel. The faster weight loss, the greater the risk of loss of muscle and the faster the weight comes back on afterwards. Start sooner. Do not wait until mid-May to think about looking great for summer.
7) Extend your time perspective.
Successful people in all areas always share one common trait: Long term perspective. Some of the most successful Japanese technology and manufacturing companies have 100 years, 250 years and even business plans. If youwants to be successful in maintaining a high level of fitness, you need long-term goals: One year, ten years, even fifty years! You should also consider the long-term consequences of the use of a "radical" diet, training method or ergogenic aid. The only people who lost it are usually those who are not long term or acknowledge future consequences thinking. It is easy for a 21 years old to live only for today, and it is ridiculous that even a goal 25 years, but consider this:I've never seen a 40 or 50 years old who do not care about their health and appearance, but I have 40 or 50 year olds who regretted not care about 25 years ago.
Copyright 2005 Tom Venuto
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