16 Tips to Looking & Feeling Great
Do you want to improve the quality of your life? Do you
want to look and feel better than you have in years - maybe
better than you ever have before? Do you want to protect
yourself from disease and injury? And do you want to live
a longer, more vital life? I'm confident that you answered
YES! to each of those questions, just as the hundreds of individuals
I've counseled, coached, and trained in my career as a Certified
Personal Fitness Trainer and Rehabilitation Specialist. I'm
now going to reveal to you the 16 essential strategies that
have enabled my clients to achieve the health and fitness
goals they always wanted! 16 Essential Weight Loss and Fitness
Strategies
1. In the beginning, your fitness program should not be overly
aggressive. One of the biggest problems people encounter when
starting a fitness program is rapidly depleted motivation
after only a few weeks due to an overly ambitious fitness
program. Attempting to do too much too fast is worse than
doing nothing at all! Because then you feel like exercise
is too hard and it's just not for you. Start out slow, maybe
just shooting for 1 or 2 workouts a week. Once you have successfully
added that to your normal routine, then attempt to slowly
add to your fitness program. Plus, most people don't need
to exercise more than 3-4 times a week. That doesn't mean
you can't exercise more; it's just not necessary.
2. Always have a detailed plan! In order to reach your health
and fitness goals, you must have a road map to follow. I can't
stress this enough. If you are unsure of how to put together
a fitness plan, or if you're uncertain of the effectiveness
of the one you have, I highly recommend you consult a professional
fitness trainer. With a well thought out plan you are much
more likely to be successful!
3. Set realistic, attainable goals. You must have tangible,
quantifiable, short and long-term goals so you can measure
and assess your progress. Too many people have totally unrealistic
expectations of what to expect from an exercise and nutrition
program. The best way for you to understand what is realistic
and attainable is to talk with a fitness professional - not
to buy into the "hype" of infomercials and diet
and fitness products that are blatantly misleading.
4. Keep a journal! This is one of the most important things
you can do. If you're not tracking what you're doing, how
will you know what worked? There are quite a few great exercise
and nutrition logs I've come across. You should keep track
of all your exercise and also each day's food intake. There's
a company called NutraBiotics that makes a great 90-day journal
that can be used to track strength training, cardiovascular
exercise, and daily nutrition.
5. You must be accountable! Set exercise appointments with
yourself if you're not working with a personal fitness trainer.
Use your appointment book to set aside times for exercise,
just like you do for meetings or events. Don't let things
get in the way. Nothing is more important than your health!
If you don't have your health you can't effectively do anything.
I often have mothers tell me that they can't find time to
exercise because they have to take care of their children.
I have 4 daughters myself, and a baby on the way, so I know
exactly how hard it is. Whatever your situation is, making
the commitment to exercise and your health IS possible, and
very important. Plus, it sets a great example for the children!
6. Remember the benefits of exercise. Being physically fit
affects every aspect of your life: you sleep better, eat better,
love better, overcome stress better, work better, communicate
better, and live better! Remember how good it feels to finish
a workout, and how great it feels to meet your goals!
7. Exercise safely and correctly. So much time is wasted
doing, at best, unproductive
exercise, or at worst, dangerous exercise. Educate yourself
on how to exercise correctly. The best way to do that is to
hire a personal fitness trainer. It could be for just a few
sessions to learn the basics, or it could be for a few months
to learn everything. It's completely up to you. But statistics
prove that those who understand how to exercise correctly
get better, faster results. And that's what you want, right?
8. Enjoy your exercise! For example, if you hate doing strength
training, try to find ways to make it more enjoyable. Circuit
training might be a more fun and exciting way to fit this
important part of fitness into your program. The key is you
should enjoy it, and if you don't you need to look for other
exercises or activities to replace whatever it is you don't
enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, how do you expect to stick with
it?
9. Make time to stretch! It has so much benefit and takes
very little time. So many people suffer from various aches
and pains of which most can be eliminated by basic stretches!
Try to spend at least 5 minutes after each workout stretching.
10. Don't think you need to exercise 5 days a week! I touched
on this earlier. Many people feel they're getting fat because
they're not exercising. Totally not the case! Exercise is
not the answer! It's all in your eating habits. However, exercise
can aid in burning body fat, plus there are numerous health
benefits. Think of exercise as a bonus. How many people do
you know who exercise 3-5 times per week, but still fail to
meet their weight loss and fitness goals? I've met hundreds!
First look at your eating habits, such as: when you eat, what
you eat, how much you eat, where you eat, and how often you
eat.
11. Never skip breakfast, or any meal! If you want to maximize
your fitness or fat-loss efforts you've got to eat breakfast!
So many people skip breakfast, and it's the worst thing you
could ever do when it comes to fat-loss. Skipping meals throws
your blood sugar all out of whack and it sets you up to store
your next meal as fat, almost guaranteed!
12. Eat fat to lose fat. Healthy fats are necessary to your
body for numerous reasons: regulating hormonal production,
improving immune function, lowering total cholesterol, and
providing the basics for healthy hair, nails, and skin. The
key is to eat the right types of fats. The "good' fats
are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like olive oil,
canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and avocados, to
name a few. The "bad" fats are partially hydrogenated
oils, and trans fats. Most processed foods contain large amounts
of these bad fats.
13. Drink plenty of fresh, clean water. Yes, I know that
you have probably heard this one over and over again. But
there's a reason for that - it's that important! The recommended
daily intake of water is 8 glasses, or 64 oz. You should even
be drinking even more if you are active or exercise regularly.
And no, soda, juice, coffee, and tea DON'T count! Nearly every
chemical process place in your body, takes place in water!
Proper blood flow and digestion are both affected by how much
water you drink, and poor blood flow and digestion can be
linked to numerous health conditions.
14. Stabilize your blood sugar! If you want to burn fat and
prevent your body from putting it back on, you must stabilize
your blood sugar. In order to do this you need to eat small,
balanced meals or snacks every 2-3 hours. Fasting, skipping
meals, and overly restrictive diets will enable you to lose
weight - in the short run. The weight you lose is primarily
water weight and muscle tissue, and in the long run has opposite
effect of what you want. When you restrict your diet, your
body instinctively thinks it's being starved and shifts into
a protective mode by slowing down the metabolism and storing
nearly all calories as body fat. Plus, losing muscle tissue
is the last thing you want to do. Muscle burns calories, even
while you sleep. You should be focused on increasing, or at
least maintaining muscle tissue.
15. Focus on increasing muscle tissue. As I mentioned previously,
muscle burns calories, so if you want to increase your metabolism,
you have to increase your muscle. The best way to do that
is with progressive strength training. That doesn't mean you
have to join a gym, buy expensive fitness equipment, or follow
some bodybuilding workout program; it simply means you need
to challenge your muscles! You can do that at home in just
15-20 minutes, 2-3 times a week.
16. Get the help of an expert! Obviously, meeting your health
and fitness goals is important to you, so why not eliminate
the guesswork and start seeing the results you have always
wanted? With the help of a qualified professional you can!
If your car breaks down, where do you take it? Mechanic, right?
How about if you have a cavity? Dentist. So why is it that
so many people attempt to solve their health and fitness problems
without consulting an expert? I don't know exactly, but I
encourage you to make the investment in yourself- in your
life- by hiring a professional to educate you and help you
meet your goals.
So there you have it. The 16 essential strategies for an
effective weight loss and fitness program that will have you
looking and feeling great!
About the author:
Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer and author of
the
best-selling fitness ebook, Burn Fat FAST. For more info:
http://www.guaranteed-weightloss.com
