My Top 10 Fitness Secrets

When I worked as a personal trainer, I was able to coach and share with many people the health, fitness, and eating habits I had learned over the years to help improve their fitness level. More often than not, the same issues and questions would come up that I wanted to address to shift their mindsets to come closer in line with the truths below that I had learned through watching others or just through trial and error (i.e. the hard way). These aren't fast, cheap over-night success ideas, they are truths that will always remain the same.

Aim for 3 meals plus 2 mini-meals

#1- First and foremost: You must accept your body. Absolute acceptance for your body being the way it is is as important as beginning a health and wellness program. Be ok with you. I'm 5'6 (and a half inch) and stocky. I'll never be the 6' tall, thin guy on every Aeropostale poster and GQ magazine cover. And I'm fine with that. BUT- I can ramp up my metabolism to be a fat incinerator and build muscle that fills out shirts. Those two are absolutely in my control. So that's what I'll focus on, not what I can never attain.  Focus on eating 3 meals without fail combined with 2-3 mini meals every 2.5/3 hours. Logs on a fire keep it going and burning hotter, right? Same with our bodies. 

#2: Change takes time. Like several MONTHS! Don't see progress? Continue another week, keep going. Your better body will reveal itself after constant, consistent work. It will not come after a few weeks in the gym, and definitely from a much-hyped "10 day weight loss secrets" infomercial or book. Forget the tv and Internet ads. Forget the new latest fad diet. Forget the diet pills. They are money traps. If you want to throw money away, I'll gladly send you my address! It takes consistent work, sweat and a positive attitude that you are moving forward a little bit every single day. People know this, but they forget it- often. Consistency is the key that will open every fitness door you are looking for.
"Time" is the keyring that "Consistency" is found on.

#3: Listen to and respond to your body. Our body communicates in one simple language-for everything it needs. Are you tired? Are you thirsty? Do you need to add more clean sources of protein, vegetables, or nutrients to your diet? Have you been stressed lately? Do you know how our body tells us these things? It communicates through the "hunger" signal that something is lacking. We interpret as "I need to eat" when we truly need to sleep, drink water, eat cleaner, or slow down and take a break. Do you see how often we misinterpret that?

#4: Sugar / refined starch / breads / pastas= Stored Fat. Our fast-paced, fast-food culture have hit the shelves at home. Processed sugar and processed foods are the worst cause of our health problems today. Eliminate these nasty sugars and you're halfway there. (Very difficult I know, but it's manageable and doable. I'm guilty as anyone of having a sweet tooth.) But these do not STAY at my house. If you must have bread, look for 100% whole multi-grain breads and brown rice instead of white. Just because it says "lite" or "low fat" does not mean it's healthy. Plan your meals for the week, buy them, cook them a day before you need them, take them in containers wherever you go, and stick by them. A meal or two out is not the end of the world. Just cut out highly processed carbs, breads and sugars when and where you can, you'll start seeing results over time. I even cut milk out because of its high starchy sugars and went to a 30 calorie almond milk. Lost 5 pounds of fat in 2-3 weeks. 

Water is life

#5: Water. Water. Water. Repeat. Water is our body's transport system for the nutrients our cells need to operate, as well as waste removal. Do you feel tired, sluggish, and always reach for that 3 pm coffee or energy drink? Can you see why? Try about a liter a day and then work up from there. Add lemon and/or sugar free teas if you need to spice it up. If you're working out, your body will tell you it's thirsty more often-obey it and drink water! Aim for about half your body weight in oz of water a day.  

#6: Expend more than you consume. The only way to lose it is burn it faster than you consume. You want to build muscle and gain a little. That is awesome! Muscle is your friend. Fat is food for your muscles. It will go the other way eventually. Re-read #2 for clarification on time. 

#7: Make workouts a priority in your life next to your children, church, and spouse. Socializing, working, and daily to-do's WILL crowd everything else out if you don't plan and dedicate time to working out. Again, I'm human and prone to thinking, "maybe tomorrow will be better." Guess what happens tomorrow? Life. Problems. Fires to put out. Something goes wrong or a friend just needs you all the sudden. Make working out happen or else, it won't.

#8: Protein and resistance training are your muscles' best  friends, and fat's worst nightmare!!! Somewhere along the line in our culture some women have been lead to believe that protein and weight training only makes for big, bulky muscles and therefore is not for them because they want to be thin. NOTE-Unless you are lifting excessively heavy weights that only Arnold Schwarzenegger can lift, and even taking testosterone supplements, you WILL NOT EVER GET BIG BULKY MUSCLES! 

Resistance training is your friend

Also, there seems to be a tractor beam located in every gym that pulls many women and even men straight to the treadmill and won't let go for 45 minutes, and then they start their workout. That's backwards! Make resistance training paramount and cardio a collaborative add-on tool, not the very first thing you always do when you work out, and then labor for 45-60 minutes and then go work out, tired and spent already with no glycogen stores left for the heavy lifting. Try alternating days of resistance and cardio. If you have to have cardio daily, incorporate HIIT cardio into a well balanced resistance routine to knock them both out together.

 
Either way, protein and resistance are the absolute musts in burning fat. I don't even say losing weight anymore because no matter what your weight, muscle is more important. Also, unless you add muscle, your body will never ever burn more calories faster on its own. That's like telling a decreasing number of workers on a job to complete the job faster and more efficiently with less and less capable workers. If you're not adding muscle, you're losing it, and the weight will stay on until you do. Even worse, it may spiral down to where you have an upside down muscle to fat ratio.

#9: Workout partners are indispensable. You will see more progress and be more apt to continue in the hard times, I guarantee it. I have a workout buddy, and will we not begin a training program without figuring out details and helping each other over time constraints. He helps motivate me, keeps me honest, and keeps me accountable. On the days either of us have to miss, there is an encouraging butt kicking text waiting for me when I pick up my phone. These can be your best friend, or a new one in the gym, and groups can be even better sometimes. In the words of Woody from Toy Story, "If you don't have one, get_one.wav !!!"

#10: There are no "secrets". Nothing can ever top sound, sensible food choices and eating habits, backed up by a trustworthy accountability partner and/or group, consistent WORK, plenty of SLEEP, water, and a motivating goal. You have to make the WHY strong enough, and be visible and attainable as well. We all know what a good, better, and best choice is. Let's work at doing that with our bodies more often than not. Agreed? I look forward to hearing your comments, goals, and progress! Feel free to share this!

Blessings!

-JDH



Images courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography, rakratchada torsap, David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net