Reinvigorate your 2011!

Make 2011 the year you reinvigorate your body and mind. Every year billions of people make getting in shape and losing weight a “New Year’s Resolution". I hope the following information will help you stick to those goals this year and every year after! First, let me remove any ambitious ideas about the latest fad diets. Losing weight and getting in shape requires three main components, without which success is not possible.

The first component is modifying your behavior. This is simply (not to be confused with simple!) changing some behavior that is adding unnecessary calories to your daily diet, or walking the mile to the club house instead of driving, not using milk in your coffee, cutting out sugary foods or desserts not forever, but most of the time.

The second component is nutrition. Use the hunger scale of 1 - 10. 1) is a level so hungry you could eat your golf shoe. 10) is so full you might be sick! (we’ve all been there!) You want to spend your life in the 3 - 6 range. At 3 you EAT, when you have finished half your meal you pause. That does mean being mindful while you are eating. If you are not quite at 6 take another bite and check in with yourself again. The key here is to SLOW DOWN while you are eating.

The third component is exercise. A balanced routine includes both resistance training and aerobic conditioning, hopefully combining with those activities you already enjoy. Perhaps you will discover a new activity you enjoy by trying other exercise options too? Within this third piece of getting in shape and losing weight there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is to dispel the notion of “The Fat Burning Zone”. Yes, you will get most of the calories burned during exercise at this low level from the fat cells, but you won't burn that many calories at that low a level. The bottom line is that you want to burn as many calories as you are in shape and emotionally ready to burn, and eat fewer calories. This means the harder you workout the more calories you burn. Sadly, we (me included!) aren’t all in shape to max out sweaty, heart pumping workouts, day in and day out without risking injury . Also, even if you were physically capable of pushing yourself daily, mentally it would take its toll and eventually start to resist the workouts and quit the program.

The way to avoid this is to vary the program. Include 1 - 2 days of a harder aerobic session for 10 - 50 minutes; 2 -3 days of resistance training; and the other enjoyable activities you do throughout the week. Include one day of complete rest so that you recover mentally and physically to keep up your motivation. For more help in designing a total healthy lifestyle work with a trainer to help you organize and commit to your chosen activities.