Talk getting in shape the sustainable way part 3 of 3

Talk: Getting in shape the sustainable way part 2 of 3

Talk: Getting in shape the sustainable way part 1 or 3

You Don't Need To Do 3 Sets

Having to do 3 sets per exercise in order to get best results from your workouts is not exactly true!  This has been one of the biggest myths to hit the gym, along with spot reduction. Two studies that I know of have shown that there is no difference in muscle or strength gains in the first four months of a beginner’s workout, between doing one set and three sets.  The difference came after the fourth month, where the people who did three sets continued to make gains, where the people that did only one set hit a plateau.  However, there is a way to do one or two sets per exercise and gain more strength and muscle than doing three sets per exercise.  But if you are a woman and you only care about toning your muscle, not bulking up or increasing strength, you do not have to do more than one set.  

Remember if you are trying to achieve a toned, defined body, although weight training is very important, more weight training will not help you get toned faster. In most cases, if you have been doing resistance training, what prevents most people from looking toned is not lack of tightness in their muscle, but too much fat covering the muscle. The best way to lose fat is by doing aerobics and eating a proper diet.  Once you reduce your body fat, you will be able to see the toned muscles that you have achieved through the weight training, and that will give your body the look you have been working for.

In a weight training workout, around 90% of the benefits come from the first set (if done correctly), and around 10% from the second set.  A third set is a waste of time in most cases.  The only thing a third set will do is increase your chances of burning out or getting injured by making the workout unnecessarily longer and harder.  Even if there is a small benefit from the third set, does it worth the risk of burning out or worse getting injured and end up with no results?  You don’t need to be dying at the end of the workout or feeling sore the next day in order to get results.  Did you know that too much exercising can be almost as bad as not enough?  If you trim off all the unnecessary sets, and exercise gimmicks, from your exercise routine you can get maximum results without having to spend hours in the gym. 

When it comes to weight training, more is not better. Better form, better exercises and using the right weights is better.

Why Are We Still Losing The Weight Loss Battle?

95% of people who lose weight, regain the weight back!

Every month some new diet or weight loss program comes out, claiming they have the secret that will  This has been going on for years and although there are thousands of weight loss and diet programs on the market today, we are still gaining weight as a nation, with no end in sight. 

help you lose all the weight you want overnight.

The fact is there is no secret when it comes to losing weight and getting in shape.  The main reason why we are still losing the weight loss battle is not because we have not come up with the right workout or the perfect diet, but because most weight loss and diet programs focus on the wrong thing when it comes to sustainable weight loss.  

You see, most weight loss and diet programs focus on the weight people want to lose and that is the mistake.  Yes, you read correctly, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you should not be focusing on the weight you want to lose.  The thing that people (and many fitness professionals) need to realize is that we don’t have a weight problem, what we have is a behavioral problem; weight gain is only the symptom.  If you want to eliminate a symptom permanently, you need to eliminate the cause of the symptom.  When it comes to weight gain, the cause is our daily habitual behaviors.  So if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need focus on the habitual behaviors you need to change in order to lose weight, and not on the weight you want to lose. 

Unfortunately, most weight loss and diet programs on the market today don’t help people lose weight by eliminating the habitual behaviors that got them overweight, but through temporary changes in their eating and activity behaviors, so they can lose weight fast.   This is the biggest reason why over 95% of people regain the weight back after they lose it. 

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, this is how you do it.  First, identify the habitual behaviors responsible for your weight gain.  Second, you need to work on changing one unhealthy behavior at a time.  This is the way I have been approaching weight loss with my clients for years, and as far as sustainable weight loss goes, there is no other weight loss system out there that can compete with the success of my system.

I have been in the weight loss business for close to 25 years and I don’t know of any other system that works better at helping people achieve sustainable weight loss than changing your habitual behaviors.  The sad fact is that most weight loss programs don’t really care about sustainable weight loss - all they care about is what sells and what sells is fast weight loss. 

My question to people who want fast weight loss is this.  What is the point of losing weight fast if you are going to regain the weight back?  Wouldn’t you rather take a little extra time and do it the sustainable way and never have to worry about your weight again?  Besides, the sustainable way only seems slower, but in reality, it is the fastest way to lose weight because you only need to lose the weight once.

If you would like to learn more about the Live Your Way Thin approach to sustainable weight loss, visit my website www.LiveYourWayThin.com

Are You Still Exercising?

Are You Still Exercising?

Did you know that there is an actual date that most people give up on their New Year’s fitness resolution?  Well according to Gold’s Gym most people stop going to the gym by February 9^th.  So if you are still sticking to your exercise program, you are doing very well, so keep it up, but if you are not let me give you few tips to help you get back on to exercising.

Tip #1:  Focus on the habits you need to change not the weight you want to lose.  Remember, weight gain is only the symptom, not the problem.  The real problem is you daily habitual behaviors, like your eating habits and/or lack of activity.  If you are overweight, the reason you are overweight is because you engage in behaviors that are bad for your health and weight.  

Tip #2:  Whatever habit you are trying to develop in order to lose weight, break that habit down to the smallest action possible and then focus on taking that action on a regular basis.  For example, let’s say you want to develop the habit of doing aerobics on a regular basis.  Start by making a commitment to yourself that you will do some form of aerobics for 1 minute at least 3 times per week.  So if you have a treadmill at home, every time you get home from work get on it and walk for at least 1 minute.  Don’t judge whether you are getting any benefit or not from doing only 1 minute, just do it.  By keeping the action so small, it is easy for you to keep up with it.  Before you know it, 1 minute will become 2 minutes and then 5 minutes and so on.  This is how you develop habits.  By the way, you are getting a benefit from doing only 1 minute of aerobics consistently. 

Tip #3:  Don’t try to do everything perfectly.  Perfectionism is not a good thing when it comes to getting in shape and losing weight.  The fact is, you don't have to be perfect to get in shape, all you have to do is be perfect most of the time.  If you have the attitude that you must be perfect with your workouts or diet to get in shape, it is only a matter of time before you burn out and quit. 

If you need help starting an exercise program feel free to call us for a free consultation.  We can do the consultation at our facility in Danbury, or over the phone.  We now offer online personal training too so we can help you regardless where you live.  For more information on the services we offer visit our website:  http://www.liveyourwaythin.com/

How to Develop Sustainable Weight Loss Thinking

If you want to get off the vicious cycle of losing weight only to regain it back and finally achieve sustainable weight loss you need to realize the following 7 things:

1) If you want to lose weight and keep it off you must change the habitual behaviors that lead to you being overweight in the first place. 

2)  Before you can change any behavior you must first believe that is possible. 

3)  The only way to change habitual behaviors is through small steps and one behavior at a time. 

4)  Fast results are impossible to maintain because the only way to achieve fast results is through big changes and with big changes you can't develop new habitual behaviors.  Without the development of new habitual behaviors sustainable weight loss is impossible

5) You need to realize that you are in charge of yourself.  If you are not happy with your current shape you have the ability to change whatever needs to be changed in order to get in shape.  Think about it?  If you are not in charge of yourself who is?  Yes, I understand a lot of your behavior are habitual so you are not completely aware of them, but if a habitual behavior is bad for your health you still have the ability to change that habitual behavior. It is up to you, no one else. 

6)  Now, is the only time you control, not yesterday and not tomorrow.  So if you want to make a change in your life, focus on what you can change right now.  Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do right now.  The problem with tomorrow is that it never comes.  There is no point of dwelling on what you did yesterday either.  There is nothing you can do about what you did yesterday or even a minute ago.  Whatever happened, happened, learn from it and move one.  Dwelling on it will not change a thing.

7) You must be patient, it takes time to develop new behaviors and make them habitual.  Habits are like seeds they won't grow into a plant overnight and they need to be watered and nurtured in order to grow into a plant.  But once you have developed all the right habitual behaviors, keeping the weight off will be almost effortless.  Again, my question to people who want fast results is, what is the point of losing weight fast if you are going to gain the weight back?  Wouldn't you rather take your time and do it the right way so you never have to worry about your weight again?

The ironic thing is that losing weight by making permanent changes in your habitual behaviors only seems slow, but in reality is the fastest way, by far, to losing weight because you only need to do it once. Whereas the fast way, you need to keep losing the same weight over and over again every year with no end in sight. I know people who have been losing weight the fast way for years and they are still overweight.  So my question is, which way is really faster?

In all my years in the weight loss field, I have never seen a method that works better in helping people lose weight and keep it off than small, steady changes over time.  This is not just the best way to achieve sustainable weight loss, this is the only way to achieve sustainable weight loss.

Let me give you an analogy.  If you were the pilot of a Boeing 747 and you were flying from NY to Fiji and as soon as you took off you realized that the autopilot is set to fly to Antarctica, what would you do? Would you just grab the wheel and just turn it in the direction you want the plane to go and fight the autopilot the whole way to Fiji, or would you take the time to reprogram the autopilot to fly you to Fiji?  Of course, you would do the latter, it makes sense. 

Well, we also come with an autopilot, our subconscious mind.  Our habitual behaviors are the programs that determine where the autopilot will take us.  If you don't want to go where your autopilot is taking you wouldn’t it make sense to change the program (habitual behaviors) of your autopilot?   I think the answer is obvious. Change the programming in your autopilot and your task of getting in shape all of a sudden becomes much easier. 

This is the way I have been approaching weight loss for years at my facility, Live Your Way Thin, located in Danbury, Connecticut, with great success.   

ANNOUNCEMENT

Starting sometime mid-January, 2017 I will start offering online personal training & coaching, so no matter where you live in the world you can join my sustainable weight loss program.  I will be making an official announcement about my online personal training & coaching very soon!  If you are interested in my online personal training & coaching program, when the program becomes available you will be able to access it and learn more about it, by going to this link: http://www.liveyourwaythin.com/online-personal-training---coaching.html