The Art Of The Start

There is a path that everyone chooses when one wants to accomplish something. Many times it's the wrong one. Many times it's the correct one.

Since I'm a health professional, I going to use weight loss as an example. You see once we get information on something, such as your doctor telling you that it's time to take off some weight, or you figured out that you are very uncomfortable being out in public in a bathing suit, (that's information that our brains take in and processes as things we need to do something about), we then need to choose our path to success or failure.

There are two paths that people normally take, and I'm going to explain both.

In one path, once we get INFORMATION, we then move to CONVERSATION. This is where we talk to ourselves a lot about needing to do something about it. This is where you tell yourself about what you know, or what you think you know. This phase alone could last a very long time, and usually after two weeks or so of conversing with ourselves with no action, everything just comes to a stop at that point. However, sometimes we move from the conversation phase into HESITATION. When we hesitate we keep asking ourselves "What am I doing?" We ask this over and over again because nothing is happening. This then leads to FRUSTRATION. Now we ask ourselves "Is this really for me?" At this point is where most people make the decision to fail. That phase is called RESIGNATION.

This path is where you usually are working alone trying to accomplish a goal, thus feeling alone. This only leads to that dredded resignation.

Then there is a different path that we choose...

Let's start over with just getting the INFORMATION again. You just decided that you need to lose weight because your doctor said you are at a high risk for heart disease. In this path the next step is INVITATION. This is where you meet with a professional introducer. This professional will be introducing you to a way for you to reach your goals, such as going to a consulation with a personal trainer where they talk about the type of program you could do with them. Once you decide the right fit for your goals, you then sign-up and go to PRESENTATION. The presentation in where the success system is put into action. This is where the trainer would start showing you how to exercise or how to eat better. This is physically doing the program. Now that the program, or success system has been put into action, momentum has now begun. This is what we call DUPLICATION. It's like forming a habit, working this success system over and over, getting you closer and closer to your goals, until finally yo've reached your last phase of the process...DESTINATION! Your goal has now been met.

Here is a vital part of your life...

Once you attain that goal and you have reached your destination, now what? Now is where you gather new information. Your fitness level has changed, it's time to set new goals. Let's say your inital goal was to lose 10 pounds, and you did it, but your body fat percentage is still not quite where you want it to be. So you gathered your information, learning that your body fat could be a lot better, so you set a new goal, and start towards the PRESENTATION phase again. This is where you re-evaluate with your trainer to see what type of plan they might have for you to accomplish that. Pick the best plan for you, and keep moving through the phases.

What you don't want to do is just stop and be content with what you are doing. Once a goal is reached, it's time to set new ones, otherwise there is nothing to work towards, and you will become complacent and bored.

So, there are your two paths. Which one will you choose?

INFORMATION-->CONVERSTATION-->HESITATION-->FRUSTRATION-->RESIGNATION

or...

INFORMATION-->INVITATION-->PRESENTATION-->DUPLICATION-->DESTINATION

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts fitness training center in Bluffton, SC.

Losing More Than 2 lbs per Week

I’ve given you the knowledge you need to lose 2 pounds a week; however, I know you want to lose more than that. Most people, unfortunately, want more than 2 pounds. So the question is...how can one lose 4 to 5 pounds a week?

Let me try to make it as SIMPLE as possible for you. It all comes down to calories in, calories out. It’s really just simple math. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you, I was a horrible math student, as many of my teachers will agree. However, I’m pretty good at it when it comes to weight loss. Here’s how it works: To lose a pound, you must burn 3,500 calories. We must figure out the how to burn more calories in the most effective way.

There are things we don’t want to do, like too much resistance training. Working muscles too much will damage them because they never get a chance to recover. You want the muscles to recover because that’s when they get stronger. So my suggestion on resistance training is total body workouts only three times per week.

You also DO NOT want to get the weight off by starving yourself. If you eat fewer than 1,200-1,500 calories a day, you will sabotage your optimal results. By eating, you are putting fuel on the fire or keeping the metabolism going. When food is not in the body, there is no energy for the metabolism to work off of, thus slowing it down.

Therefore, cardiovascular training (walking, running, elliptical training, rowing, biking) is weight loss extra credit. It allows you to burn additional calories without overtraining. This is why you see people on TV shows lose a tremendous amount of weight in only a week, even weeks into the program.

Think about the math: If you are eating 1,500 calories a day, assuming your BMR without exercise is 1,600, and you do two 1-hour cardio sessions that burn 500 calories each (one in the morning and one at night), the two sessions, along with your regular daily activity, will speed up your base metabolism to at least 2,000. As a result, you will have burned about 1,500 calories that day — that is, almost half a pound. At that rate you will be losing up to 3.5 pounds a week. But most of that is because of lots of cardio. Not extra strength training.

With that said, you are more apt to lose more weight during the first two to three weeks of any weight loss regimen because of the dramatic change in your nutrition and the loss of excess fluid. After that, it's all about crunching the numbers, and cardio is the key.

If you want to lose more than two pounds per week, simply do more cardio. But do LOTS of it.

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts in Bluffton, SC.