“How do I do that?” is a question my friends ask when they want to start their own fitbattle…
One of my personal goals, after all of this work, is to inspire others to save their lives and get fit. Inspiration is great but if I don’t give advice that my friends can implement easily and immediately and get results what’s the point of all that inspiration?
Getting fit and healthy is not that hard to do, but getting started is a bit overwhelming.
What are the first two or three things I recommend? I’m so glad you asked! It depends on your answer to a few questions:
Do you eat breakfast every day?
Tip #1 is based on your answer…
If the answer is yes, then my next questions is “what’s a typical breakfast?”. Most people do not eat enough protein for breakfast. If your breakfast is coffee and a healthy portion of carbs I recommend that you incorporate some protein into your breakfast.
If the answer is no (no breakfast), then my advice is simple…START eating breakfast tomorrow! Make sure it’s a high protein breakfast. Most people tell me they just don’t have time for breakfast. Yep, wow my first tip and they don’t have time how the heck are they going to implement tip #2, #3, #4, etc. if they are too busy to start with #1?
I overcome the “too busy” objection by recommending a protein shake. It only takes about 3 minutes to make one and it travels well for consumption in the car on the way to work or even quicker…you can buy ready to drink protein shakes.
Dr. Oz agrees with me… If you have a few minutes watch this video where Dr. Oz discloses his #1 secret weapon to weight loss…yep you guessed it…eat breakfast!
Click Here to watch the video.
Next question?
What beverages do you consume during the day?
Most people consume too many beverages containing calories and carbs.
Tip #2 is usually to replace soda (both regular and diet), juice, yummy coffee drinks, etc. with water.
Yes, I’m a big fan of coffee…but a triple grande carmel macchiato is not okay if you really want to win the fitbattle.
You’re right! Most people can’t imagine parting with their carbonated beverages. I’ll usually offer a smart ass comment like “well you probably aren’t ready to start your fitbattle then…call me when you are serious”.
If we get past question #2…things start to get real interesting.
What carbs are you consuming at night?
You’d think I’d asked the person how much they weigh or what age they were when they lost their virginity. Oh my! It’s clear if you are carrying around some extra pounds that you are eating carbs. This is not a dirty little secret it’s how we eat.
It doesn’t matter what the answer is.
Tip #3 is to cut out all carbs with dinner unless it comes in the form of a very vibrant colored vegetable. Yes it’s okay to cheat now and then, but if you are eating carbs every night it’s gonna be more challenging to get your fitbattle kick-started.
I suggest you stop here and focus on the first three tips for a couple of weeks. Once you’ve got them locked in it’s time for two more tips. Just like the first round of advice, I’ll start with a question:
How many meals do you eat each day?
I’ve found that most people are doing good if they get three meals in each day. Life, work, responsibilities, schedules…all get in the way of taking care of ourselves. Of course I’m going to push my friend and recommend they implement…
Tip #4… a five to six meal a day plan. Yeah I realize that this means that they (or you) will feel like you are eating all day.
I’m convinced this is an important change to make. Why? Well if you are eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two to three snacks the candy machine at the end of the hall or the candy dish on your co worker’s desk wont be as big of a temptation when you have a bad day and end up working through lunch and your last meal was breakfast.
If you are prepared for a couple of snacks during the day, worst case if you do work through lunch, you’ve had breakfast and a morning snack and rather than eating a snickers you can eat your afternoon snack.
Tip #5 doesn’t require a question…it’s simple…start keeping a log of everything you eat. I believe if everyone kept a journal of what they ate everyday and how they were feeling they wouldn’t need my advice.
We all know what is bad for us and what is good for us. You’d have to be living in a cave to avoid ever seeing the “food pyramid”. For most of us our problem is that we believe our own B.S. excuses and justifications for why we are overweight.
Heck for 45 years I convinced myself that I was happy being fat.
This is a good time for a new soldier in the fitbattle to implement accountability. You can lie to your friends and family, even your doctor, but you cannot lie to yourself.
I would bet hard cold cash that anyone who implements these first five tips will lose weight.
If you’ve committed to logging all of your food you are ready for Tips 6 & 7. If not, I suggest you bookmark this blog and come back to it after you’ve started logging your food. Tips 6 & 7 are kind of related to the much overused question… “What came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Tips 6 & 7 rely on your commitment to Tip 5!
Tip #6…start counting calories, protein, carbs and fat. Determine the max number of calories you should consume per day. There are a lot of online resources that offer calorie calculators. Chris, my trainer, has one on his site. Click here to use his calculator and read more about nutrition.
If you are already logging food this is a rather simple next step. Start reading the labels and/or researching the details of the foods you are eating. There are plenty of free online resources for researching the calories, carbs, protein, and fat in foods. If you have an iPhone check out the “mynetdiary” app. From your PC you can try fitbit.com or thedailyplate.com. Or simply google: free calorie counters and find one that you like.
The great thing about most of these resources is that you can log your food online and it will calc the totals for you. If that’s not your cup of tea you can use the Internet for information and keep a manual log. You can also find food logs (with an index in the back which has details for most foods) at your local bookstore.
Tip #7…Eliminate all of the food booby traps from your pantry. By now, assuming you’ve logged your food and you were honest on the log, you know what weaknesses you have. It’s time to eliminate all temptations! If you live alone this is easy. If not, you may need to get some help from your family and/or roommates. Once the temptations have been removed it’ll make it harder to cheat.
Tip #8…Get moving! Walk/run outside, ride a bike, or use the treadmill. Got a gym membership? Use it. Not only will this help you burn more calories…you’ll feel better too. No Gym membership? That’s okay! Park your car further than normal from the door…at work, the mall, the grocery store, anywhere and everywhere.
Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Ever heard the saying: “two down, one up”. If you are going up one floor or down two floors don’t use the elevator…find the stairs and use them! Not only does this help you get moving it saves energy too.
Join the kids outside for some catch or whatever kids do outside. This will set a good example for them too. Childhood obesity is an epidemic and it’s up to us adults to demonstrate that exercise is important and a priority.
Dust off those old workout DVDs and give them a try or find a workout channel on your TV. Any movement is better than none.
Tip #9…Forgive yourself when you slip. It’s okay to fail! We are flawed by nature, so don’t quit if you cannot maintain perfection in your fitbattle. Just dust yourself off and start again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had set backs, been in a funk, lost my mojo, or plain old gave up for a day or two. When I came through the other end of whatever was going on with me…I forgave myself and got back to the basics. Being in control is a great feeling. Being out of control sucks!
Tip #10...Listen for negatives and make them positives. Remember we are the biggest enemy we have in the fitbattle. So catch yourself when you are talking yourself out of fighting a good fight. You can do it. You deserve it. You are worthy of the effort. Yes it does matter. Think about it…imagine how great it will feel to lose a few pounds.
This is probably the hardest bit of advice to follow. I’m sure that the person I see in the mirror every day is not the same person my friends and family see. I’m not sure why this is but we are our worst critics. Recently someone told me that I was attractive. Let me tell you “attractive” is the last word I would ever use to describe myself. This got me thinking about one of our most basics flaws. It’s not a physical flaw it’s an emotional or psychological flaw. We only see what we do not like about ourselves.
I stood in the mirror for quite some time searching for “attractive” features…trying to understand and see what this person sees in me. If pressed I can come up with a few features that others might find attractive but those few features do not add up to a whole “attractive” person…at least not to me or should I say not me.
What’s the lesson in this? You are a beautiful person even if you cannot see it! Fight to free the skinny, healthy, happy, youthful person inside of you!
