- Put Yourself First. “You are worthless to your colleagues, friends, and family if you do not value yourself enough to take excellent care of you. Yes, you have to put yourself before your friends, parents, boyfriend, husband and even your children. It won’t make you a bad daughter or wife or mother; it will make you a less resentful, more confident, interesting, beautiful, patient, tolerant, and fun person to be around…. Love yourself enough to do whatever it takes to be the best you you can be.” Ironically enough, this inspiring quote comes from the most hardcore, in your face, tough love book on weight loss ever written. In my opinion anyway. Which goes to show that authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin really do have a heart, and their book Skinny Bitch is not meant to insult you. You will be constantly reminded that a new you is possible if you are willing to be totally honest with yourself. And, Freedman and Barnouin are great at coaching self-accountability. (To purchase your copy of this amazing book, click here.)
- Goals vs. Outcomes. The best way to stay on track with your weight loss goal is to change your vernacular. Instead of referring to losing 20lb as a “goal” refer to it as an “outcome.” Goals are what you do daily to ensure that you get the outcome (losing 20lb) you desire. Now don’t take an “outcome” like this too lightly. Losing 20lb requires a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day for 20 weeks. And the best way to achieve this is knowing exactly what daily “goals” to start with. I would suggest starting with the following three daily goals: 1) drinking your bodyweight in ounces of water per day, 2) eating protein with every meal and 3) sleeping 7 hours per day. And, of course you should be following a carefully designed strength and conditioning program that is just right for you as well. And, while there are other factors to consider, you don’t want to overload your mind and indirectly stress your body. Keep it simple at first and then add more daily goals after you have mastered these. (For more on goals and outcomes visit www.joearko.com)
- Journal everything. The best part about journaling is it allows you to see where you are going and when you get off track. As the old adage goes, “what gets measured gets managed.” You can’t track daily goals as discussed in Rule #2: Goals vs. Outcomes if you don’t journal. It is essential part of your success and I personally don’t take on any weight loss clients who are not willing to journal. It’s that important. So important in fact that I give a copy of Gretchen Rubin’s book, Better Than Before, to all new clients. I use it as support for why I am so adamant about this rule. I typically use notebooks, but you can buy an expensive journal if you so choose. There even journals with inspirational quotes on each page. To get your copy of Fitlosophy, my favorite journal for physical fitness tracking, click here.
- Strength train a minimum of 3 times per week. According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, “research on training frequency indicates that the optimum training frequency for improvements in strength is three to five times per week.” And since altering body composition (or the percentage of lean mass versus fat mass) is directly related to strength training, this frequency is used for fat loss as well. In addition to three days of strength training, I also recommend two days per week for high intensity interval training.
- Buy workout gear. The biggest part of joining any new fraternity is looking the part and speaking it as well. To look the part in the gym, you must invest in the proper clothing. This will help you feel more at ease in the gym and/or with your new trainer. Not to mention, these sweat deflecting, technologically advanced materials will allow you to move better than those old dingy cotton shorts and t shirts you own. And don’t forget the socks either. Any good trainer will probably have you take your shoes off from time-to-time and you don’t want to be caught wearing your religious socks. You know the “holey” ones. Lastly, purchase a flat tennis shoe or sneaker (we all call them something different) from a reputable brand. The shoe that I have been wearing for nearly 10 years now are Nike Free Run Flynit. Below are a picture of the one’s I am currently wearing.
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