I guarantee you'll lose 100 pounds in 7 minutes!" OK, yeah, I'm being ridiculous. No one has surely ever made such a claim. Some sneaky charlatans have come darn close, though, and they're still laughing their way to the bank (and bad karma). Want to know how to beat them? And never allow them to take advantage of you again? Do you really want to know this secret kept hidden in dark caves and treasure troves for centuries?
Well, actually, it isn't a secret at all. It all boils down to plain old exercise and eating right. Now that may sound simple, but no two experts agree even on the basics. Some say no to bread, while others say it's OK. Hmmm....no more bread? The one food that humanity has consumed since the dawn of civilization has to be banned? Oh well! Sorry babe, you had a good run...Though actually, it's a little more complex than that. There's good bread and bad bread and too much and too little. So as you can see, this issue is anything but simple.
Here's one thing that is simple though. The body needs exercise, pure and simple. There's no getting around that. The body also needs good, nourishing food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a comfort to the body. They also help to increases mental clarity and happiness too. What? There's a connection between happiness and a healthy body?
Simply put, yes. Science will even back me up, since more fruit and vegetables has been shown to reduce stress levels and the incidence of cancer. Note by the way that tolerance to unhealthy eating habits does not equal health. The body can develop tolerance to poison.
So how should you go about losing weight effectively:
1. Decide on a course of action. What are you trying to achieve? How long do you think it will take to achieve it? Be realistic but don't play yourself down--be ambitious, too.
2. Make goals: Don't say "I want to lose weight", or "I want to gain muscle." Actually implant in your mind the amount of weight you want to lose, or the amount of muscle you wish to gain, and set yourself a time frame. That doesn't mean you should push yourself over your physical limits to meet that quota. The idea is to give yourself a guide to help keep your mind focused on what it is you want to achieve.
3. Believe it's doable: Give yourself daily affirmations on your goals, and believe those affirmations sincerely. Don't just repeat them like a parrot. Find something deep down in your heart that gives you the determination to believe in yourself and what you can accomplish.
4. Be patient: Anything worth doing takes time. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just not being honest.
5. Be Persistent. Persevere: There's no point losing weight or gaining six pack abs if the beer belly's back just weeks later. The moment you neglect those affirmations, you're going downhill. It won't immediately be obvious to you though, so before you know it you'll have to start all over again. As someone once put it: "To try, to persevere is to ensure complete and ultimate victory."
6. Eat Healthier: Notice I didn't say 'eat healthy'. When we begin changing our lifestyle in any way, we all too often jump from doing nothing to trying to do everything at once. In no time we've reached burn-out and we're back at square one. The key is to make step by step changes over time. That isn't a quick fix, but it's much surer to lead to permanent lifestyle changes. So if you really feel you can't live without a cheeseburger, indulge yourself once in a while. It may set you back a pound or two, but in the long run your lifestyle changes will become natural rather than forced.
7. Join a Fitness Club. See a Trainer: As much as many of us would like to do everything ourselves, I can't over emphasize finding a gym to join and having a trainer. Gyms are there for a reason. They wouldn't still exist if they didn't fill a need in peoples' lives. Find a gym you like and if you can afford it, hire a trainer to help you along the way.
Important note: If however a gym or a trainer are out of the question because you live in Siberia or somewhere, don't despair. There are many roads to Rome. The important thing here is to be inventive and creative and devise a health and fitness plan that suits you.
8. Give Yourself Rewards: Every time you complete a goal on your list of goals, reward yourself with something that makes you happy. Make rewards feel like rewards again. Treat yourself to a movie at the theater, a trip, dinner at a nice restaurant, a concert, anything. The point is to make sure that your health and fitness goals are associated with fun and happiness. If they become associated with obligation, their benefits can't possibly last. Only those of us prepared to walk through fire are going to succeed with such a rigid mindset. Since most of us, thankfully are not so fanatical, we need to take other steps to get where we want to be.
