At my age....

                I hear this a lot from people I know (many of whom are in their early 40s and up). It’s usually followed by a statement of dissatisfaction with some part of their body, with a sense of resignation that some things are beyond repair. 

                I’m 43. I understand where they’re coming from. I’ve been there.

                I also understand that some people have medical issues that limit certain activities. As we age, our bodies start to lose resilience. We can’t put off aging forever.

                But I’m absolutely convinced that most people grossly underestimate their physical potential, regardless of age.

                Assume for a minute that you’re in your mid-40s, 25 pounds overweight, and you haven’t been exercising regularly for a long time. (Sounds like somebody I knew last year). You go for walks, occasionally go to the gym – you’re not sedentary, but you don’t have a system in place to keep fit. You feel like your body is starting to decline… 

And guess what?  You’re right – your peak physical potential is declining, and has been for about a decade. No matter how hard you train at this point, you aren’t going to qualify for the Olympic track and field team. That ship has sailed.

                Even though we can’t reverse the aging process, but we certainly can slow things down. And, if you’re unfit but generally healthy, you CAN make the decision to get back in shape, rebuild your muscle mass and look and feel years younger. You can feel energized when you wake up in the morning. You can tone up your arms, lose a bunch of cellulite – you might even wind up with a nice set of abs. You have no idea what’s possible unless you give it your best shot. I did it – and so can you.

All I did was find the right tools, adopt the right mindset, and get to work. There’s no magic to getting fit. There are no special pills or creams to dissolve your body fat.  It takes focus, determination and dedication to transform your body, but you CAN do it.  

                First, don’t go on a diet. That might seem counterintuitive, but depriving your body of the nutrition it needs to tone up and build muscle is the last thing you want to do. Instead, for the first few days, keep a food journal. Write down everything you eat, and don’t leave anything out. Seeing your food choices – good, bad and ugly – can help you focus on areas for improvement. In my case, seeing the volume of food I was eating made it much easier to cut back my portions to a reasonable size.

                You’ll need to find an exercise program that you can stick with, at least 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day. I don’t mean a walk around the block – you want to get sweaty and raise your heart rate. If you have bad joints, modify and avoid high impact work - but push as hard as you can and don’t give up. Programs that work the entire body, which incorporate both cardio, strength training and stretching, will give you the best results.

                Don’t do too much, too soon. You didn’t put on the excess weight in a month, so it’s not going to come off that fast either. If you haven’t been working your joints for a while, they aren’t going to be happy if you start off doing hard-core plyometrics. You’ll injure yourself, get frustrated and quit. Instead, give the muscles surrounding your joints and spine time to build up, and follow a sensible exercise program. Don’t worry, you’ll be shocked at how quickly you’ll improve. Then you can take on the harder stuff…

                Accept the fact that you can’t choose WHERE to lose weight. Blame Mom and Dad – where you carry your body fat is determined by genetics. Some people carry it around the middle, others on the hips and thighs. When I started losing weight, I went down a bra size (which was NOT my intent). Your goal must be to reduce your overall body fat percentage to a healthy level, not to be rail-thin. This isn’t about chasing after some idealized body image – it’s about reaching your own potential, so you can live a healthy, active life for decades to come.

                Constantly work to improve your nutrition. Slow, gradual change is your friend. I started with portion control, started reducing the amount of refined flours and sugars in our food, eliminated most processed foods, added a nutritional supplement (Shakeology) to replace my One-a-Day multi-vitamins (and to stop snacking on junk every afternoon). Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither are healthy habits. 

                Finally, find some like-minded people to support your efforts. I had a lot of great support when I started, from both local and “virtual” friends. Now that I’m a Beachbody coach, I try to offer the same support to MY friends, because I think that everyone deserves a strong, healthy body. 

So if you’re ready to get back in shape, let me know. I’ve been down this road, and it’s a lot more fun if you’ve got a good team to support you. Join me at www.lauratfitness.com - let's do this!

Finding your "Why"

In my last post I talked about why I don't look for day-to-day motivation when following a workout plan. I believe that if I'm fully committed to this lifestyle change, my workouts should simply be a part of my day, just like making dinner or finishing a project for work. But I think it's extremely important to identify your "why" - those factors have drive you to start (or continue) a healthy, active lifestyle.

In my own life, changes take hold most effectively when the desired change is incorporated into your sense of self and purpose. When something becomes a part of who you are, it's much harder to leave it at the doorstep. With this mindset, you're far less likely to abandon the change. 

This week I just started a new message board on the Team Beachbody website. Lots of people from my previous accountability group are taking part, along with a number of people just starting out on their fitness journey. So I've asked them - what is your "why"? What moment gave you the kick in the pants you needed to start, and what are your deeper reasons for wanting to make this change in your life? Defining your "why" is a first step to changing your self image and making fitness a permanent part of your life.

I have different "whys" - one was the kick that launched my fitness plan, while other underlying reasons will keep me going for the long term. In my case, a had a rude awakening back in February when I realized that my body image no longer matched the reality. I'd always though of myself as quite fit, and being 5'10" can hide a lot of sins. But I finally had to acknowledge that my clothes were just not fitting right, and that I was no longer in shape. When I saw that Insanity commercial, something told me to get that program. I deeply my body image match reality, so I pushed play every day and haven't stopped yet.

At this point, my weight loss is basically complete, and my "why" has changed. Along with a new and improved physique, my energy level is high, my lower back pain is gone, I feel strong and I'm more agile than I've felt in years. I want to keep this feeling for as long as I possibly can. I want to grow up to be an old woman - who can still chase after my grandkids at the playground. This is my "why", and I'm going to keep working for it as long as I'm able.

 

Creating accountability to ensure success

Each New Year's, millions of people across America resolve to start working out, get in shape, join a gym, lose weight, eat healthier foods, or some combination of the above. Most of them fail. Part of the reason for this is that most people try to go it alone, rather than finding support they need other people to help get them through.

Of course, the first thing a person needs to have before starting a fitness program is inner motivation. You can't do it for someone else - it sounds like a cliche, but you really have to do it for yourself.

However, as this brief article on the Mayo Clinic website notes, a support group of like-minded people can also offer accountability, which can be a strong motivation to stick to weight-loss and fitness goals.

When I first started Insanity in March, I didn't know what an accountability group was. I didn't think about whether I needed support. I decided to order the program on a whim, so I figured I would just do my best to keep up with the schedule (which was daunting, to say the least). I planned to jump from essentially no daily exercise to 40-60 minute workouts, 6 days a week. It was probably a recipe for failure, but I was lucky - I found a range of support, both on-line and among friends, which helped me stay motivated to finish.

Initially, I started reading some of the Insanity threads on the Beachbody message boards until I found one that suited me. The thread's leader was a really positive guy who'd had lots of success with the program, and other members offered encouragement and solid advice. Having a place to post what I accomplished each day (even if I had a bad workout or missed one altogether) kept my mind focused on moving forward through the program. Plus, having a community of people who were facing the same challenges helped motivate me to finish the entire program. Twice!

Even more importantly, some of my friends in Brussels started doing Insanity with me. Nobody else was doing the entire program, but at least 3 or 4 days a week I had someone else in the room with me, suffering through the same pain. Not only was it a great bonding experience, but knowing that others were planning to exercise with me kept me on track. I can't thank my friends enough for all of their support.

Now, with the upcoming move to England, I know I won't have a group of friends ready and willing to share in my suffering. At times I'm worried that I won't stick with my new-found dedication to fitness, and that I'll go back to my old ways. However, I've recently started my own on-line Focus T25 accountability group on the Beachbody website. I'm hoping for two things - that I can create a small community of my own to help hold me accountable, and that the community I create can provide support to other people, giving them a place to be held accountable as well. Even though we're all ultimately responsible for our own fitness success, it sure does help to have people supporting you during the tough times.