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!
