I’ve been training for almost 2 decades and over the years I have seem some incredible transformations. On the other hand, I have seen some people fall short of their greatness too. I am able to create these commandments based on those experiences. The individuals that followed and understand these steps were successful in their weight loss transformation. Hopefully, this guide can assist more people in understanding what it takes if you want a true transformation to happen!
- Corrective exercise/flexibility/dynamic warm up/Strength Training. Knowing how to properly use a foam roll roller and stretching will help tremendously in injury prevention from muscular imbalances we have throughout the body. As you ramp up your routine or when first starting out, you don’t want to be sidelined with any nagging joint pain that’ll prevent you from doing certain exercises or worst, discourage you from exercise altogether. A good dynamic warm-up increases range of movement, blood and oxygen flow to your muscles, tendons, and ligaments before they’re called upon to do serious workout. Strength training is provides toning, increased metabolism
- Consistency. A weight loss transformation requires consistency to get results. Consistency with your diet and consistency with your exercise regime. Setbacks are normal but you just have to get back on track as quickly as possible!
8.Get Comfortable with being uncomfortable. There will be times when everyone is eating and/or drinking and you are going to want to indulge with them. Not behaving in the usual manner with your peers can create levels of discomfort. Someone may bring attention to you not eating the same which can make you feel self conscious and uncomfortable. Get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable!!! Even when you exercise and your heart is racing and your breathing is stressed. It is ok unless you have a medical condition or taking meds that affect your heart or breathing. This doesn’t mean workout until you pass out but you do have to incrementally increase the intensity of your workouts. Staying in a comfort zone isn’t going to make you transform.
- No Starving! No Binge Eating! This is absolutely the fastest way to frustrate yourself and sabotage your weight loss transformation! These two extremes are a big BIG NO NO! Ideally we want to eat every 2 to 3 hours to keep our metabolism elevated! EVEN WHEN YOU AREN’T HUNGRY! Your body still requires the nutrients to keep everything functioning at optimal levels and to avoid catabolism of muscle tissue and fat storage. When we do allow ourselves to starve, most folks are more than likely to binge eat. Many people this is something people with a disorder does but every thanksgiving we binge eat! Many of us plan to binge eat and aren’t even aware of it! Have you ever ate only breakfast because you knew you were going to have a heavy lunch or dinner??? That’s basically planning to BINGE! Sumo wrestlers starve and binge eat to get fat on purpose! Starving then binging is the fastest way to get gain unwanted pounds!
- Meal Prep. If you rely on convenient meals you will FAIL! If you fail to plan you plan to fail! You MUST plan your meals out accordingly! Plan! Plan! Plan! Go to the supermarket with a plan of all the food you plan to eat all the way down to your snacks! And don’t go to the supermarket hungry. Being hungry will tempt you to purchase things you aren’t supposed to eat!
- Study food labels. An educated client is a successful client! Knowing how to decipher how much carbs, protein and fats per calorie in the foods and beverages you consume is critical in making smart choices. Also being aware of the ingredients food is prepared with helps in making a better choice that will not hinder a weight loss transformation.
- Set Realistic Goals. The last thing you want to do is discourage yourself with over expecting goals. Approximately, we can lose 1% of our total lean body weight per week. So if you weigh 200 pounds expect to lose slightly less than 2lbs per week.
- Sacrifice can be one of the biggest challenges many people will face when it comes down to truly experiencing a weight loss transformation. You have to make sacrifices to lose weight because the habits you’ve developed that caused you to become overweight in the first place are the ones contributing to your weight problem today.
- Your Inner circle can have a significant influence on your weight loss transformation success. Studies have shown that individuals who hang out with friends who make healthier lifestyle choices usually will influence you to do the same. The same goes for friends that don’t share the same value in their health. A supportive cast of friends and family is imperative in having a successful weight loss transformation.
- Your attitude and mindset on Fitness and Nutrition is EVERYTHING! Positive thinking plays a significant role in your weight loss efforts. Perpetual negative thoughts can lead to self-defeating behaviors such as going off your diet, overeating and skipping your exercise routine. Giving attention to the positive things will help to create greater self esteem and motivation to continue with your weight loss efforts. The key is to have emotional vitality. Emotional vitality is characterized by enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement in life, and the ability to face life’s stresses with emotional balance.
