By Ryan Kobermann, CSCS
If you want this to be your springboard, a big start, or maybe a new beginning to a fulfilling and healthy time in your life, then follow these tips. If you follow these, work as hard as you can and have a positive mental attitude, you’ll change. I promise!
1) Eat Often Throughout the Day
For the first three weeks, do not skip one of your meals. Make a decision now that you will not skip. I find it is easiest to use shakes because it is easy and convenient. I recommend Muscle Milk brands, but pick a snack that is simple for you to prepare.
2) Try Eating Salmon and a Salad Until you Can’t (Within reason, of course)
This was a strategy from Dr. Perricone of Cosmetology fame. He promotes these foods because of the benefits Omega-3 fats can do for your skin and hair. But watch what it can do for your energy and weight as well.
Try eating it for dinner or lunch, not both. And, certainly do not have it for breakfast; just for one meal a day. For lunch, go to a restaurant and order their lunch portion and a double serving of broccoli. You can substitute veggies for a salad if you wish. If you select a salad, make sure that you use no more than 1.5 tablespoon of olive oil and vinegar. For dinner, grill some salmon, and make a healthy salad with olive oil and vinegar.
You’ll more than likely do this for four to five days and get sick of it. That’s fine. Switch to something else, but this plan gives you a great kick start.
3) A Non-Focused Athlete is the Last Athlete
I have worked with every sort of person of every race, gender, age and ability. In a group, no matter how elite, there is always a percentage of athletes who aren’t focused. And ironically, they are the ones who rarely improve, stand out or win.
Focus on your workouts every day. Not every workout will be great or strong, but you still need to focus no matter how you feel. You will see individuals with different abilities during your workouts, but that has nothing to do with how you can individually focus to get the most out of your workout each day. Don’t cheat yourself! You only have a certain amount of time each day to make a great, big leap. Make the most of it!
4) Get Enough Sleep
I know, we all have to get up early, and getting to bed on time can be a challenge, but do your absolute best. Research is pouring out as I write this on the power, benefits and necessity of sleep for health and weight loss. If you are consistently going on four to five hours of sleep, weight loss just isn’t going to happen.
Chris Mohr, PhD, industry consultant, media spokesperson and author, said this regarding sleep and obesity: “There is definitely
some cool new data with sleep and obesity. Connection is not quite there as to why it happens, but it’s very interesting and adds one more piece to this obesity puzzle.”
5) Eat More
I promise that most of you do not eat enough during your day. Shocked?
Most people are when I say that. But I can’t emphasize it enough: the only way to get your metabolism humming high enough to lose weight is to:
• Eat the right foods
• Eat them often enough (7 am, 10 am,
Noon, 3 pm, 6 pm and 8 pm)
• And eat plenty of them
Does that go against common sense? Well, God created our bodies with something much greater than common sense. Somehow, our bodies realize when we are eating more. If we are eating the right foods at the right time, our body stores it in the correct places, allows fat to be released for fuel and powers our workouts to new levels.
6) Get a Good Pair of Shoes
Injuries are an unfortunate part of exercise. Make sure that you have a pair of shoes that are proper for you. If you quickly start getting injured, look at your shoes first. Shoes can make a huge difference in comfort, safety and success.
7) Be Consistent
There is no magic secret. There is a direct correlation between those who show up and how much they change. There was a lovely lady who worked out with us for a very short period of time. She was obsessively consistent, and she was incredibly successful over an eight week period. Want to know why? She couldn’t afford more than eight weeks, and she had to make every day count.
Make a decision now, that no matter what, the next four weeks is your time to focus on you. You deserve it, and you deserve to, at least, get a good start on achieving the results you need!
Good luck, work out hard and work out smart.