Article written June 2004by Helga Marin
Have you ever started a diet at the beginning of one week, only to be right back to where you started the next week? Or have you ever started exercising feeling the motivation fading away after only few sessions.
Isn’t this exactly the time when the summer is getting closer and we want to look our best in our bikinis where we are all looking for the quick fix to loose weight fast without much effort? Don’t we all get excited when we hear about new fad diets, diets that can change our life just in 2 weeks or new exercises that can do wonder for our bodies just in 4 weeks?
This time of the year is definitely the most popular time to go on diet and start a new exercise program.
How about doing it right this time? How about starting something right now that will maybe not put you into your best shape ever in few weeks but it can definitely put you into better shape, make you feel better about your self. You know that starting one more new diet or trying one more new training program hoping to get into your bikini shape in few weeks is not going to happen and in stead of feeling better about yourself in your summer clothes it is more likely that you will be left with a feeling of worthlessness after failing one more time to get into shape. In reality there is little chance of achieving your goal in this way, understanding how your body works and how it burns fat will open your eyes and you will come to realize that fad diets and short term commitment to exercising don’t work.
To loose 1 kg of fat you need to burn 7500 kcal and as an average woman burns 1500- 2200kcal a day, burning 7500 kcal is something impossible to do over night.
Loosing more than 0.5-1kg a week you are not losing fat, you are eating up your own muscle mass. As muscles are metabolic active, reduced muscle mass will affect your metabolic rate in a negative way. Going on different diets is a sure way to put on more and more weight. In the end you will find that although you are hardly eating you are still putting on weight. Dieting cannot only crash down your metabolism but can also leave you with a feeling of failure and depression.
So is there an easy way to get into shape and stay in shape?
You can only get into shape and loose weight successfully when you accept the fact that it is not a matter of losing as much weight as possible in the shortest time possible. Successful weight loss can only begin when you accept and learn to change your lifestyle.
It must all start in your mind. The most important factors for getting into shape and staying in shape are actually more psychological rather than physical. To change your lifestyle you need to change your habits and to do that you need confidence, you need to believe to achieve, you need to be organized, motivated and you need concentration.
If you have a shaky self-esteem you are more likely to fail. Indeed that moment of failure is also a decisive moment, because you will probably engage in negative self-talks “IM never going to succeed, “IM a looser”, etc. Negative self-talk reinforces the loss of confidence caused by your initial failure. Listening to these messages further hinders your capacity to focus on the task. Moreover, without the focus you will probably fail repeatedly.
Negative self-image is often a result of in ongoing experience during childhood that made you feel bad or made you believe you were somehow less than other kids were. Bottom line is your current view of yourself may be disorted by old, perhaps inaccurate, information. For this reason, its potentially empowering to reevaluate the assumption about yourself you have held since childhood.
A good organization starts with setting a goal. The very process of goal setting can serve to focus attention, increase concentration and encourage persistence. If you are hoping to loose 10 kg in 2 weeks you are setting up unrealistic goal. You might wanna loose 10 kg but you have to be reasonable regarding how long it is going to take you. Your goals must be specific. Do my best is not going to get you where you want to go. Break your goal into small ones and make a plan how you are going to reach your small goals.
You need motivation to succeed. If you follow a plan you hate, you eat a diet you can’t stand and you do some kind of exercises you don’t like you will never succeed. Find a diet that fits you and that you like with that in mind that it is going to help you to loose weight. Find an exercise form that fits you and that you enjoy doing. Another way to stay motivated is to make a personal commitment. This commitment may stem from any number of things, including your emotional investment in succeeding, the pleasure you get from your new lifestyle or the satisfaction to see your hard work pay off.
Concentration is the ability to focus attention on whatever is important to completing a task without being distracted. If you don’t concentrate on your plan you are soon going to fall in the trap of your old habits. you are going to behave in a way you used to do, eating the wrong food, skipping exercising and so on. Everything eventually becomes a habit so it is mostly in the beginning of the process you need to find time to exercise and so on. Without concentration you won’t get far so keep it in mind it is crucial for you to get started on your new habits.
How much is enough?
How much do I need to train and for how long are frequently asked questions. Also how much can I eat and what shall I eat? It is all highly individual, it depends on your height, weight, age, your shape, how long you have been training and what kind of training you have been doing , your body-type and muscle-size, your metabolic rate and your previous lifestyle, your work, your daily activity level and so on. So how can you know what is right for you? An expert in fitness and nutrition should be able to get you started on a tailored made nutrition and exercise program. Following general outlines could get you started if you are a beginner or somebody who hasn’t exercised for a long time.
Start with changing your mind setting. For that you need as I already mentioned, confidence, organization, motivation and concentration. Then take small steps in changing your diet and integrating exercises into your daily routine. Start exercising 3 times a week and try to vary your training between weight training and aerobic training. Weight training alone or aerobic training alone is not going to do the trick, you need the combination of both. Now when it is getting warmer it is going to be more difficult to exercise out door. For you who can tolerate the heat make sure to have a bottle of water with you so you don’t risk dehydration. For those who don’t like the heat exercising indoors is always an option, keep in mind that aqua aerobic or simply swimming can be refreshing form of exercising when it gets warmer
8 weeks to a new you is a program specially designed for men and women who have not exercised seriously in their lives or have not exercised for a long time. It a is new program that takes the holistic approach to weight management and it includes exercising, nutrition, behavior modification and mental training. The combination of these elements is what makes this program go beyond the regular weight management program. It is through mental training you learn to use the power of the mind to achieve better self confidence. Mental training also helps you to stay focused on your goal and motivated. The behavior modification helps you to organize yourself and is of importance for your concentration and motivation.
Get in shape and stay in shape can happen to you, commit yourself for life and you will see results beyond belief.
Helga Bergsteinsdottir
Sports and rehabilitation counselor
Nutrition counselor
Nutrition tips;
To get into shape you need to eat balanced, make sure to include both fruits and vegetables. Most importantly eat 4-6 times a day (or every 2-4 hours) and reduce your intake of food at night.
Few refreshing snack ideas:
Fruit juice
Put strawberries, pineapple or any fruit that you like into a mixer. Blend it with ice and water. Use the whole fruit (not only the juice) to get the fibers as well.
Fruit smoothies:
put fruits, ice and low fat natural yogurt in a blender and you can enjoy eating ice cream without the extra fat and the refined sugar.
Published in Beauty and Style june 2004
Written by
Helga Marin