Ask the Expert

This Month's Question:

What needs to be done for me to lose 20 pounds, and how do I get started? 

7 steps to follow
Great job you have already found your motivation to start, now do it right for long term success!!! 

First is to talk to your doctor before starting. 

Second and most important is to write down your goals for daily, weekly, monthly, and long term. A person without goals is lost and will not achieve the success the desire. Having goals keeps you committed to the plan you set in motion. 

Third, talk to a personal trainer to get a personalized workout routine setup and explained to you. This is crucial for most with the lack of knowledge on what to do when they walk in the door. Knowing what to do, and how to push intensity levels for proper progression towards the goals you wrote down. After getting started, it is a good idea to meet with a trainer once a month to get recharged with some new variations in your workout routine. Staying with the same workout will only get you so far, and you will hit a plateau. Plateaus are inevitable, but can be shortened with adding variations to your workout. 

Fourth step is a combination of a few things such as drinking plenty of water. How much water one would ask, and the easiest way is to take your body weight and divide by two which is the goal for each day to reach. Second part is to eat five small meals throughout the day, and eat three hours or more prior to going to bed at night. Do not skip breakfast since that is the most important meal of the day. A good breakfast choice would be a veggie omelet if all possible. Your body is like a wood stove; you must feed it to burn calories. Feed it with the better choices, and it will burn hotter. 

Fifth step is to look at eating habits, and how that relates to your goals that were written out. No one eats perfect, but a lot of people eat successfully. How does a person eat successfully, by eating low glycemic foods that do not raise your blood sugar levels? That means no candy bars, pop, or anything else that has a lot of sugar. Eat more VEGETABLES that are not from a can!!! Read the labels of all the foods before purchasing them. Transitions lifestyle system is the perfect way to change your lifestyle for those interested in becoming more health conscious. It is a twelve week program that will reshape anyone into a new person. 

Sixth is to join an exercise class or work 1 on 1 or in a small group with a trainer. Helps push workout intensities with extra motivation every step of the way through a workout. 

Seventh measure the results in three areas, weight lost, body fat lost, and inches lost. Biggest loser contests are the easiest way, plus they give motivation with support groups and prizes that always help when least expecting it. 

To reach the 20 lb weight loss goal…. Stick to the steps and try to stay on track of losing 1-2 pounds a week. Losing weight too fast results in burning muscle. Burning muscle lowers the metabolism rate, which as a result makes it harder to keep it the weight off long term. Get a routine set up for exercise and meal planning and keep committed each day and revert back to the goals for motivation!!! 

Great job if you can achieve all seven steps. For those who might not be able to get all seven accomplished short and long term, stick with the ones completed and work to accomplish one at a time until you have all seven. Remember don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is different and have different backgrounds on how they have gotten to where they are now. Challenges must be overcome everyday, and dedication must be prioritized with everyone’s busy schedules. 

One last phrase to put things into prospective is to think of exercise this way; could you go a day or each week without brushing your teeth all day? If you can go all day without brushing your teeth then there are other issues also, but generally most people will not go a day without brushing your teeth, so take that same dedication to yourself and put exercise into your day no matter what. It does not have to be 50 minutes it could be 5 minutes added up 10 times throughout the day that gives you a total of 50 minutes.