Hey! Listen to me, I'm talking to you!

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are first starting out on an exercise program is not listening to their own body. It's one of the reasons that I think working with a trainer, when you are first getting started on a fitness program, can be a bad idea.

I'm not a fitness trainer. I have not been certified in Physical Fitness. I am a Coach. You can call me a Fitness Coach. You can call me a Life Coach. The company I work for calls me a Beachbody Coach. The difference between me and a Trainer is that I won't tell you to drop and give me 30. I will encourage, uplift, motivate, inspire, and never give up on you, even when you want to give up on yourself.

I've worked with a Trainer before. Trainers can be great for getting you into the maximum shape possible, but personally, I believe you should already be involved in some kind of an exercise program prior to working with a professional Trainer. The reason for this is because if you are not already doing some kind of exercise beforehand, you are not going to be familiar with recognizing your body's signals.

Your body will tell you a lot, if you'll only listen to it. It's quite common for people to ignore their own body's signals. That's when you end up with problems such as:

• Fatigue
• Dehydration
• Injuries, including pulled and strained muscles
• Physical Exhaustion
• Heat Exhaustion
• Heat Stroke
• Irritability
• Illness
• and even Insomnia

A trainer can't tell when your muscles have fatigued, or when you feel dizzy or light-headed. They can't tell when you have sore muscles (beyond the normal exercise soreness). Or when you have a strained joint. Oftentimes the trainer will push you harder because they think you are just being a whiner. And that's when injuries happen. And then guess what? You are down, for who knows how long, nursing a pulled muscle, or worse yet, a torn meniscus.

One thing I love about the 21 Day Fix program, that I am doing, is that the exercises all have modifications. And the trainer on the dvds not only doesn't make you feel like a loser if you're not keeping up with all of the super buff athlete/models behind her, she actually encourages you to go at your own pace. This is very smart and healthy thinking. If you pace yourself, as opposed to someone else pushing you beyond your capacity, you will avoid injury and all of the other issues listed above. You might make slower progress, but you might end up making faster progress in the long run because you took it a little slower and didn't end up flat on your back with a muscle strain or sprain.

So do yourself a favor. When your body is talking to you, stop and listen to it. Take it slower if you need to. Rest if you need to.

And go harder when you need to, as well. Your body is smart. It will tell you when it's ready for more.

Nobody knows you as well as you do.

It's About So Much More Than Losing Weight

How true that statement is.

When you first start off on your journey to health and fitness, your goals are usually pretty much the same as everyone else who wants to lose weight and get control of their lives. You are focused on the physical changes you want to see. You have a goal weight in mind. You imagine yourself being able to wear skinny jeans and walk on the beach in a bathing suit, feeling sexy and confident. You want to look in the mirror and smile instead of cringing. You're human. It's natural to compare yourself to the toned bodies you see in the magazines and on TV. We all want to feel good about ourselves and feel attractive.

But what if the healthy, toned physique is actually just a by-product? What if the most important thing you gain from all of your hard work of exercising and eating right, actually happens on the inside? Did you ever consider that along with gaining physical strength, you are also gaining other kinds of strength?


Strength of Character

Strength of Will

Strength of Discipline

Strength of Conviction

Strength of Persistence

Strength of Self Control

Strength of Integrity

Strength of Courage

Strength of Vitality

Strength of Hope

And even Strength of Spirit


Who knew that so much could be gained from a little exercise and healthy eating? And you thought you were just losing some pounds and inches! Compared to all the other strengths you gain, the physical strength seems almost insignificant. Not that it isn't important to take care of your physical body. On the contrary. It's a two-way street. The discipline it takes to forge ahead and do the work of creating that strong body is what helps you gain the other strengths. Sure, someone could have a lot of those strengths without being physically fit, but they are going to have a hard time having ALL of those strengths. Think about it. It's going to be really hard to have Strength of Discipline when you let your body go and don't take care of it. It's kind of hard to have the one, without the other.

So next time you are working out and you are noticing how strong you are getting physically, ask yourself if you are noticing increased strength in other areas of your life, as well. You might be surprised to find the answer is yes!

It's A Marathon, Not A Sprint

.

I finished my first round of the 21 Day Fix this week. I had a one pound loss from last week's weigh in (four pounds total for the three weeks). It doesn't sound like a lot. “One is the loneliest number...” as the song goes. When we think of the number one, we don't get very excited. Especially when you think about how many total pounds we still have to go. But when you really think about it, a pound of fat is pretty significant. The picture above shows what a pound of fat looks like (yuck!). Think about a pound of butter. Think about how big and heavy a pound of butter feels. I burned that off my body! Wow! Of course, I still have a lot of those pounds to go, but it's best if I focus on one pound at a time, one day at a time.

You have to think of it in terms of the title of this post. Anyone who is familiar with running, whether you've done any running or you've watched the Summer Olympics, you know there is a BIG difference between a marathon and a speed race. There is a HUGE difference between running 26.2 miles and running a 100 meter dash. If you're going to lose weight the right way... the healthy way, you need to treat it like a marathon. Sure, you could do it the "speed" way. There are plenty of fad diets, starvation diets, weight loss programs that promise you 5 pounds lost in 2 days, etc., etc. But are you really losing fat? Probably very little. When you follow a fad diet, you usually do something extreme that you can only maintain for a short time. And what you usually lose is A LOT of water and most likely some muscle. So you look skinnier, but you are still a skinny "fat" person.

The last thing you want to lose is muscle. Muscle burns fat. And the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. That's why exercise is so important to a proper, healthy weight loss program. When you combine strength building exercise with well balanced, healthy eating, you can guarantee that the pounds that you see on the scale are actually fat pounds you are losing. And besides burning fat, strong muscles are going to give you strength and energy to live your life. You'll be able to walk farther, run faster, climb stairs instead of taking the elevator, etc. Plus, you will look AMAZING! Think about how great people look when they have defined, toned muscles as opposed to someone who is skinny, yet kinda flabby. 

That kind of weight loss takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes work. It takes endurance. Like a marathon. I've never run a marathon, nor do I have any desire to do so. Running 26.2 miles all in a row does not appeal to me (thank you very much). I have run 5k's and I hope to some day run a half marathon. Whether you run a marathon or a shorter race, there is always a sense of accomplishment. You feel like all of your hard work and training was worth it. I've heard marathon runners talk about how the last few miles are the hardest and you really have to dig deep and give it all you've got to make it to the end. Weight loss is a lot like that. You don't think you can keep going. You want to give up. You question whether all of the hard work is worth giving up your couch potato/potato chip eating ways. 

I can answer that in one word. Yes. Yes, it is. I've been there. I'm working on getting back there. Because life was so much better when I was on the fit side of it. There was so much more I could do and I just felt better. I felt better about myself. I felt better about life. It's worth it. Keep "running" and don't stop until you cross that finish line.

I will be there cheering for you at the end.