Many people aspire to change their appearance through diet and exercise, but the intention can sometimes be misplaced.  You see, not everyone has what it takes to succeed at such an endeavour. The most important thing you have to embrace before embarking on a body transformation is your readiness for change.

I’ve always loved the popular 80′s slogan “You’ve got to want it!”  Although it was used to sell supplements, it really rings true for most things in life that are worth having. The problem is, it’s not enough to just want it. If you’re not ready to do the work necessary to accomplish your goals then improvements in your body composition, health and physical performance will continue to elude you. I’m now going to offer a checklist of attributes that you must possess before you attempt to make real, sustainable changes in your body. If you meet these criteria, then you may just be a candidate for a physical transformation.

You Should Attempt A Physical Transformation If . . . . . .

 
1.  You are willing to do at least five hours of physical activity each week.

2. You can accept responsibility for the way your body is today and understand that, while your old habits don’t make you a bad person, they still need to be changed.

3. You are ready to spend less time with people who offer little or no social support for your goals while spending more time with those who do offer support.

4. Your work environment presents significant barriers to you exercising and eating well, and you would consider speaking to your employer about changing some of these conditions or you are  willing to find new employment.

5. An expert presents some information on diet and exercise that contradicts what you currently believe, and you maintain an open mind and give it a try.

6. You have accepted the fact that you’re in worse shape now than when you were younger because you are far less active than you used to be.

7. You can accept that your workouts, at times, will be hard and that you will need to tolerate high levels of discomfort.

8. You often look in the mirror and feel frustrated, upset,or humiliated because of how your body looks.

9. You often feel run down and tired, and understand that the source of these feelings are your poor lifestyle choices

10. You are currently taking medications for heart disease, high blood pressure, or Type II diabetes that you didn’t have to take when you were younger.

11. You are willing to join a gym today.

12. Someone told you that you’d need to throw away all the foods in your cupboards today and go shopping for different foods that are more appropriate to your goal,you would do it.

13. You are willing to wake up in the morning a bit earlier and stay up at night a bit later to accomplish your goals if needed.

14. You are prepared to make a detailed log of the foods you eat, chronicling how much you ate and when.

Congratulations if you agree that you can adopt most of these habits. You clearly have things on track and the right minset for success. You’ve either realized your body’s potential or are on the road to a successful physical transformation. Way to go! If you’re not that far along yet, if you can agree to all of these terms with the utmost honesty, then you are ready to begin your journey. 

If most of these points don’t apply to you then you’ve got a tough road ahead. In fact, it doesn’t look like you really want to change at all. Is this true? Are you simply toying with the idea of improving your physical activity habits and eating habits? If so, you’re not really ready to make a change. With each passing year that you avoid good activity and nutrition habits your risk for disease increases. Not only that, you’ll progressively gain fat, lose muscle, and look much older than your actual age. These are the consequences of remaining indifferent to the weight you’ve gained, physical inactivity and bad eating habits. Are you ready to deal with these things? Don’t stay indifferent any longer. Take an honest look at how you’ve changed (on the inside and out) and admit that you could use a tune-up. 

If this sounds like you, step outside of your shell and seek out some people who are exercising, eating well, getting results, and having fun doing it. Clearly, millions of people out there are following a healthy lifestyle and loving every minute of it. But thinking that they never had difficulties to overcome like you do, is a mistake. At some point in time each and every one of them had some old set of unproductive habits to discard. Once this was accomplished, they could easily get into the zone. And you can, too. What are you waiting for?

In my last post, I pointed out why you can’t rely on exercise alone to lose weight.  It is clear that your food choices have a significant impact on your weight and need to be properly managed.  This can be difficult for a number of reasons.  Maybe you’re too distracted with other areas of life.  Maybe you have been taught bad eating habits.  Maybe you are so busy catering to your loved one’s needs that you overlook your needs.  Whatever the reason, most people can agree that their kitchens are stuffed with foods that aren’t healthy or productive for weight management.

You see, it’s human nature that when food is in your possession or readily accessible, it will eventually be consumed.  Even if you don’t want to or know that you shouldn’t eat it, you eventually will.  The convenience factor is too high to be denied.  So how can you fix this problem?  If you want to be healthy and lean, you must remove all foods that aren’t part of your healthy nutrition program and replace them with a variety of better, healthier choices.  I’ll offer some simple strategies to help you take out the garbage and make your kitchen more diet friendly.

Your Kitchen Makeover Checklist

1. Low-fat eating does not mean healthy eating.  Foods that are labelled as “low-fat” usually contain large amounts of added sugar ( so it’s palatable).  It also means the food has undergone further processing which can degrade its quality.  Fats in whole foods also help in the digestion and assimilation of the key nutrients that reside within the foods.

2. Grocery shop more often. There is no doubt that nutritious food spoils fast.  Food that can be frozen or stored for months is certainly an attractive alternative.  These foods (with the exception of frozen fruits and vegetables) are usually heavily processed and don’t offer anywhere close to the nutrient potency of their fresh counterparts. Try to shop every three days or so.  If you don’t live close to a whole food market then consider starting a garden. Fresh food tastes better and is better for you.

3. Don’t buy food in bulk or economy sizes.  If you have a large family or hate grocery shopping then chances are you’re shopping at Costco and buying all the boxed food and sauces that you can fit in your cart to prepare for the next Great Depression.  This is a common practice of  “routine eaters”.  Those who eat only three types a food all year round.  They can go to the grocery store and mindlessly buy the same things year in and year out. Where’s the variety? You need  spectrum of nutrients in your diet and your can only acquire these with a spectrum of food choices. Don’t tell me that buying in bulk is cheaper. I just bought fruits and vegetables for five days for under seven dollars; and I’m an over 200 pound man. Fresh food can be affordable if you take the time to look around.

4. Get rid of the follwing items from your fridge and freezer:
   
    Packaged sauces                                                          Baked goods
    Juicy steaks or sausage                                                 Frozen dinners
    Margarine                                                                      White bread or bagels   
    Fruit juice                                                                      Mashed potatoes or pasta
    Take-out or restaurant leftovers                                      Soft drinks 

5. Get rid of the follwing items from your pantry:

    Potato or corn chips                                                        Fruit or granola bars
    Chocolates or candy                                                       Soft drinks
    Regular or low-fat cookies                                               Regular peanut butter  
    Instant foods like cake mixes and mashed potatoes         Bread crumbs, croutons, and dried bread products
    Alcohol

6. Make sure you have  most of these foods in your fridge/ freezer:

    Extra-lean beef                                                               At least four varieties of fruit
    Chicken breasts                                                             At least five varieties of vegetables 
    Salmon                                                                          Flax seed oil
    Omega-3 eggs                                                               Water filter
    Packaged egg whites                                                     Sweet potatoes
    Real cheese

7. Make sure you have  most of these foods in your pantry:

    Whole oats                                                                     Extra virgin olive oil
    Quinoa                                                                           Vinegar
    Whole-grain pasta                                                           Green tea
    Natural peanut butter                                                       Protein supplements
    Mixed nuts                                                                      Fish oil supplements
    Canned or bagged beans                                                 Green foods supplements

8. Don’t hesitate to throw out leftovers or foods you’ve received as gifts. No one hates to throw away food more than I do, but if it’s garbage for your body, then it’s garbage, throw it away!

What To Do Next. . .

If you have most of these already in check then you’re already ahead of the game. You may just need to refine your habits a little bit. Either way, never approach any diet or exercise plan without implementing most (if not all) of the points on this checklist. Your results will reflect your diligence.

If you don’t have these things already in order then you’re not doing very well in the kitchen department. I don’t care how much you exercise or how many supplements you use. You’d have a better chance at winning the lottery than winning the battle to improve your body composition if you eat this way. Because you’re in need of  serious help, you’ll need to execute some immediate action. Here’s what you need to do:

Get rid of all the foods listed in #4 and 5. Put everything in a bag and leave it out for the local sanitation crew to deal with. You could also make donation to your local food bank.

Go shopping and buy as many things from # 6 and 7 as possible.

Smile, because you’ve just taken the most imoportant step in transforming your body and life.

How many times have you tried to lose weight through diet and exercise? You exercise regularly and consume what you perceive to be a sound diet but the scale refuses to budge. Wait, it gets worse.  So you hire a personal trainer and sign up for a 12 week body transformation to get lean and beach ready for the summer. Your main goal is to lose 15 pounds of fat in that period.  Now the motivation and effort levels are intensified and  you actually start to see some results. But at the end of the program you’ve only netted a mere 1-2 pounds of fat loss. Not very much is it? At least your clothes are a little bit looser and you do feel better from your new fitness level, but let’s look a little deeper.

By the end of the transformation, you’ve been performing 3 strength training workouts and 2 cardiovascular interval sessions. Progressively getting better each time you go to the gym. This is great. You should expect regular performance increases as your body adapts and transfigures into the body you initially had in mind at the start of the program. While you’re happy about this, you can’t help but be dumbfounded by the lack of  fat loss. You think you’re eating sensibly right? What could be going wrong? Maybe you’re just meant to be fat.

So now you’ve given in and rationalized your failure. You’ve just spent about $2,200 for a new body and all you have to show for your sacrifice is 1-2 pounds of fat loss? I don’t care how you rationalize it, this is unacceptable.I see these kind of results everyday and I almost always blame the trainer. A lot of personal trainers will deflect the responsibility claiming their client just wouldn’t listen to advice given. Usually they give some generic nutritional advice like, eat less, cut down on the carbs and try to eat balanced meals. None of this meets your needs and your results will reflect this fact.

 While it’s common for clients not to listen to advice outside the gym walls, it’s not your fault , it is the trainer’s system that is not working. As trainers, we are always growing and systematizing our processes to make the biggest impact on our client’s results. If the client isn’t getting results, the system is flawed, plain and simple. Get yourself another trainer right away!

Here’s a fact: Exercise ALONE doesn’t really work all that well.  Many recent studies confirm this to be true. This especially when looking at body composition related outcomes, like fat loss– which is far and away the most important thing people are asking for help with.

When it comes to losing weight, in most cases, you’ll need a radically different approach. Eating chicken breasts and broccoli at every meal is not the solution and eating well goes way beyond the narrow scope of Canada’s Food Guide.  Since your exercise is progressing quite well it’s time to get your diet working optimally for you. I assure you, if you’re exercising and not losing weight, then your nutritional needs are not being met in one way or another.  You need to really take stock of what you are eating, how much and when.

In my next post I’m going to offer you some at- home strategies you can use to bolster your weight loss efforts starting from your kitchen outward.  Remember that while being active is an integral part of attaining a healthy body,  it is only part of  a much broader picture. The diet always seems to be the area people struggle with the most for 2 main reasons:

• Seeking nutrition advice from unqualified fitness professional

• Completely misjudging the quality and quantity of the foods they eat.

 Find a personal trainer that employs a proven weight loss system, with consistant results to prove it’s effectiveness. The system should be realistic and customized to your specific needs. This is why hiring an experienced personal trainer is so important. It takes years to design an effective weight loss program that will work for everyone.

Until next time; get stronger and live longer

Today I’d like to write about something that has become alarmingly apparent to me.  My body is weak!  I can’t believe I am saying this but it’s true.  Let me explain . . .

I have been a bodybuilder for twenty years and along with that lifestyle came the acquisition of overall strength, muscle and the feeling of invulnerability to all external forces.  About four months ago I stopped weight training cold turkey so that I could spend more time on my business and in the almost forgotten arena of sport.  I just figured my mind and body needed a break from the wear and tear and overly structured daily regimen that comes with the bodybuilder’s life.

I’m 35 now, and I wanted to play again, interact with others and basically recapture some of those lost feeling of what it means to be young.  All good so far, right?  Well almost. I play hockey three to four times a week, and while it does keep me lean, I’ve lost significant amounts of muscle and strength.  Sure I’ve done a few “maintenance” workouts along the way, but they’ve been too infrequent and uninspired to be effective.  At least I’ve improved my endurance, flexibility and my hockey skills in the wake of my strength loss.

So how does this translate to my  life in general?  Not so good, I’m afraid.  I have noticed an awarness in my movements that I never used to even think about.  Bending, squatting, pulling, pushing and even sitting now take far more energy and concentration than they did only months ago.  Why is this so?

At the end of the day, playing hockey all week has just made be better at playing hockey.  This is truly a testament to weight training and the benefits derived from a properly structured program.  Clearly weight training was what kept me strong and injury free for 20 years.   No sport in the world can prepare you for the sport of life.  Sports skills are specific to the demands of the sport and don’t necessarily carry over well into everyday life. Golfing (if we’re calling it a sport – sorry Tiger) everyday will not aid your ability to bend down to pick up a pen or tie your shoe.  It won’t help you lift your children into their car seats.  It won’t make running to catch the bus any easier on your aching ankles either.  Weight training on the other hand, can help with these and most other day-to-day physical challenges.  Weight training is a key component to preparing yourself for the sport of life.  When done properly it is also the safest and most effective means to improving your overall strength and vitality.  You can train the muscles at any and all angles to develop strength in all planes of motion which is a major advantage to other modes of training.

You can always pick out the people who don’t take care of themselves or properly prepare for the sport of life.  They generally:

• Decay rapidly;
• Suffer needlessly from disease and degeneration;
• Experience higher than normal incidence of injury; and
• Experience prolonged healing and recovery periods from injury and illness.

This is unfortunate and certainly puts a major drain on our health care resources.  I have always believed that most illness and disease are preventable so long as each individual takes it upon themselves to learn natural ways to prevent ailments and expedite the healing process.

Even athletes aren’t except from this dubious distinction.  Although they may be very skilful in their chosen sport, for some, it ends there.  They live the rest of their life with reckless abandon.  Their diets are awful and most don’t appreciate how to eat properly in order to deliver the best performance.  They are getting injured at rapid rates, mostly due to poor lifestyle choices and inactivity off the field.  Being active on a continuous and daily basis is the only way to keep fit and strong.  If you’re one of those people who believe that playing a sport a couple times a week or suffering through some grueling weekly bootcamps are the answer to your health and fitness, think again.  Just look at my situation as an example. Nothing feels worse than being weak and there is no such thing as staying the same; you’re either getting weaker or you’re getting stronger.  I know I’m going to make a better effort to balance my fitness by lifting weights more often.

When you wake up every morning you need to plot a course of action that best prepares you for the sport of life.  From what you eat, how much you sleep, when you exercise and so forth, you need a plan that allows you to get the most out of your existence.  Eat foods that are produced naturally, lift weights regularly, play a sport, engage in physical activities and walk when possible. It’s a simple solution to most of life’s problems, and it works.

Don’t suffer through life, take the reins and be the master of your own fate.  Emphasize quality into your life and settle for nothing less. In turn, you’ll be a more productive and influential person, empowered with wellness that can’t believe you ever lived without.