Strickland Fitness

Thanksgiving is over and more holidays are coming. Are you worried about gaining a few extra pounds or losing the shape you’ve worked hard to obtain? Take these few tips through the rest of the year and you will continue taking steps toward your goals instead of leaps away.

When the holidays come, our activity level seems to drop while our appetite seems to grow. Well, if you want to keep the pounds dropping, keep active. If you are eating more but doing less, then your calorie intake will far exceed your calorie output. This leads to weight gain. The more you eat the more activity you will have to do. Try and keep your workouts regular or even increase it.

With the holidays comes lots of tasty food. I will not say that you can’t have any of it. What I will say is be smart about how much and when you have it. Some people believe that if they don’t eat during the day, they can save the calories for a big dinner. This does not work. Not eating throughout the day will slow your metabolism and make it harder to burn that meal off. We need food for energy. There is no reason to have dinner be the biggest energy giver when the evening is the time we need the least amount of energy. If you have supplied yourself with healthy energy throughout the day, your body will not feel the need for lots of calories come dinner time.

This time of year doesn’t have to be the time you gain weight. If you keep your activity level high and watch your calorie consumption, there will not be the need for that famous New Year’s resolution.

If you are like most, the thought of “bulking up” from lifting weights while trying to lose weight is scary. Well let me be the one to ease your worries. It is very hard to bulk up. Most body builders need twice as much time to put on half as much muscle weight than others need to lose in body fat. To gain a lot of muscle or bulk up, you need to lift very heavy weights and consume more calories than normally needed. Lifting weights will help you to lose body fat. In fact, it is essential.

For people who are trying to lose weight: When we lift weights, we burn calories. When we burn calories, we burn fat calories. When we burn fat calories, we lose weight. Of course, it’s not that easy. This is what happens over time. Lifting weights also puts on lean muscle. This lean muscle continues that fat burning process because fat burns in the muscle. So the more muscle you put on, the more fat you burn.

Don’t be afraid of bulking up while weight lifting. Unless that is what you are trying to do, it is much harder than you think. Don’t forget, if you are not eating healthy, you are already working against yourself.

Why do we give up on our goals? Why do we put aside all of our hard work because the end results just seems too far away? Sometimes the gratification we are looking for only comes when the final product is established. Wouldn’t it feel great to have that gratification all the time? How do we get that when it comes to our fitness goals? The answer is setting short term goals for long term success!

If you want to lose 20 pounds, make that your semi-long term goal. Your long term goal should be to keep it off. Make losing 5 pounds your short term goal. After you lose that, make 5 more pounds your next goal. You will feel the gratification of reaching each goal giving you the determination to keep going. Losing all 20 pounds will come with your continuous hard work and persistence. You will also not have the feeling that the 20 pounds is too far away and it is taking too long.

Another great tool for your fitness goals is to keep a log of everything you are doing towards your goal. Whether it’s losing weight, gaining muscle, or just maintaining your already achieved success, log it. If your goal is to lose weight, write down what you are eating, drinking, your cardio, and your resistance workouts. That way you can go back and see what has been working for you or against you. If you put on a few pounds and you don’t know how, you can go back into your log and see what you were doing. This will keep you accountable for your results. This will also make you want to do more towards your goals so you can write it down.

When I ask a client how many calories they think they take in per day, the answer they give me is usually far less than the actual number. I ask them to write down everything they put into their mouth for a few days and then I count the calories. They actually are taking in almost 500 more calories than they thought. Their nutrition changes immediately. You can make fewer calories a day your short term goal. The long term goal will come with it automatically.

If you have been trying to lose weight and it just doesn’t seem to be working, read this carefully. Our bodies don’t want any extra weight that is not needed. Our bodies want to carry a weight that allows us to move comfortably and freely throughout our lives. Our bodies do not want extra weight that will cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and high cholesterol. We as people do not want extra weight that makes us feel bad and makes us spend more money on clothes because our sizes keep changing. Your body wants to be at the weight you want it to be at and it is built to be that way. You just have to do a few simple things to help it along.

Now, I know most people that are reading this are thinking that if it was so simple then I wouldn’t be in the position to have to lose weight. Well, to clarify, the things you have to do are simple. The implementation and dedication to these things are more difficult. What are these simple things: Resistance training, cardiovascular training, and healthy nutrition. That’s it! Actively bringing these 3 things into your life will get you to your goal weight. Your hard work and dedication with these 3 things is the recipe for weight loss and overall good health.  

I will discuss these key points in great detail in the following posts. If you have any questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment and I will post it with your answer.