By Joseph Palumbo III
In my networking travels through Queens, I have spoken with several fitness trainers and dietitians. They have shared some of their expertise with me on how to begin and succeed at a weight loss program.
They all concurred that you should write down your reasons for wanting to lose weight. You need to set out something to work for and why you are working for it. Your reasoning can range from health issues to vanity. A health issue is a no−brainer, but vanity is fine, too. Most trainers said that when vanity is your goal, you will work even harder. As you see results, your positive effects will snowball into results.
Set small and attainable goals. Do not set the goal, for example, that you would like to lose 10 pounds in one week because you purchased a pill from an infomercial. A good goal to set is making it a point to exercise, say, three times a week for one month. Do not look to go either on a starvation diet or good−eating campaign. You will more than likely fail, so do not torture yourself. Diet for six days, but give yourself one free day a week to enjoy. If you slip up here or there, do not stop your diet but start fresh the next day.
Go through your kitchen and refrigerator and rid yourself of bad foods. You know what they are, so be disciplined about it. If you are lying in bed at 11 p.m. with hunger pangs and you know there are potato chips in the pantry, you run the risk of breaking down and eating them.
So How’s Business regarding being successful at a weight loss program? Every fitness person agreed that consistency is the key to fitness success. Also, do not look at the scale every day. Look in the mirror before the number on the scale. If you must weigh yourself, do it only once a week at the same time. All the fitness people I met with were in good shape, but did not look like magazine models either. The best rule of thumb to follow is slow and steady wins the race.
Contact Joe Palumbo at 516−297−4034 or jp@c21amhomes.com.
