Your Personal Fitness Regime

Everybody knows that it is important to be fit. Your level of fitness is a major factor in your lifespan, and getting in shape should be a priority. There are plenty of celebrities, whether qualified or not, offering to sell you their latest fitness video or book, and more and more articles in newspapers and magazines about the cost of not having a daily workout; the impact on your health, the social effects of being unfit, and of course the fact that most fashionable clothes don’t come in plus sizes. Getting fit should be on your ‘to-do’ list all year round, and not just a New Year’s resolution that doesn’t make it past the first few days of January.

It is easy to start a fitness regime, and then run out of enthusiasm. With a busy work schedule, and an equally busy social life, it’s a common enough occurrence that people drop out of exercising on the basis that they don’t have enough time. The most obvious answer to this, and something that most fitness instructors will suggest, is just to get out of bed a bit earlier, and use that time to exercise. Of course, to some this may seem like a nightmare, and not something to inspire them; nightowls should look for something to do in the evening, perhaps a late workout session at the gym, or installing some home exercise equipment so that you can watch TV as the same time as working out.

Not everyone is suited to a traditional fitness regime of steps and ‘dancercise’. You might find it rewarding to try other methods to keep fit, such as martial arts. It is not important how you get fit: only the results matter. If you find that you enjoy fencing, for example, then that will extend your enthusiasm for your fitness regime. Doing something that you hate, or which you feel stupid doing, won’t last very long.

Keep your enthusiasm up in other ways, by working out to favourite tracks, or by keeping a log of how well you’ve done. You can work out with a friend and have a competition; or you can set yourself goals in your fitness regime, and reward yourself when you achieve them.

Fitness should be something that you work towards for all of your life, and a daily exercise routine will certainly help you achieve that goal. Even if your exercising consists of a short run everyday, and you never end up with a full six-pack, that does not matter. Fitness is not about getting the perfect body, it is about a general physical state where you feel more energetic, and you feel good about the way your body looks and works.

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Your Physical Fitness – Keeping Your Body Healthy

It is important to be fit, everyone knows that. Your physical fitness has a big impact upon how you feel about yourself, and how much effort your body has to expend in order to keep working. Lack of physical fitness has supposedly reached an epidemic proportion in America, though the truth is that Americans are obsessed with physical fitness, and TV doctors and celebrities alike make a fortune through selling fitness videos and books to the public. Unless you’re planning to buy ‘em all and use them as weights to lift up and down every day, none of these will ever do your physical fitness any good at all.

The best way to improve your physical fitness is by incorporating regular activity into your daily routine. It is not necessary to take out full membership of your local gym, or even attend one exercise class. What it does mean is choosing an activity that increases your heart rate, or improves your strength and general flexibility. Walking a few more blocks, doing some gardening or housework, climbing the stairs, are all examples of something that can fit quite easily into your routine, but which can also increase your physical fitness. Taking the elevator, driving the car to the shop at the corner of your street, and spending more time in bed are all things that will not improve your fitness level.

A healthy lifestyle cannot be a fad, or something that you will do ‘next year’. It should be on your ‘to-do’ list all year round, not just as a New Year Resolution that you never intend to keep. Once you start on an exercise regime, you will need to keep that up for the rest of your life; or your physical fitness will be lost, and you will have to start all over again. Without regular exercise, the muscles reduce, and fat takes its place (muscles do not become fat, they merely move over to make more room for it if they aren’t used). It is therefore important that you choose a regime that is going to keep you interested in the long term; every year throws up a new ‘fitness fad’, but most people take them up and then discard them after a fortnight. Instead, choose something that you enjoy. If the thought of being instructed on stepping up and down on a plastic board fills you with scorn, then you might try something else – martial arts are always popular, and a physical fitness regime which incorporates some kind of team sport will also help to keep you interested.

Remember: physical activity everyday is the key to fitness, and that is what is important. Improving your physical fitness can provide you with more energy, and will help you to feel more positive about yourself.

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3 Lessons From The Biggest Loser

All over the world, night after night, millions of people are riveted to their TV sets - but not to watch the latest soap, or CSI. Not to watch Jay Leno or Sex in the City. Not to see who outwits, outlasts and outplays others in Survivor. No - they are spellbound by the efforts of a small band of obese people trying to overcome the effects of years of overeating.

It's not surprising that for so many people this is compulsive viewing. Obesity is the new epidemic. Fat children lumber around school playgrounds while their overweight mothers fill shopping carts with wrong choices. Then... they sit down at night to watch The Biggest Loser. They see dramatic weight loss and startling new body shapes beginning to emerge. They want the same results - and they begin to think it might be possible.

But who has four or five hours a day to work out? Who can afford a personal trainer several times a week? And who has the luxury of their own personal adviser on calorie content and smart food choices? The answer is: not many people. But you have to remember that this is television: it's a false situation. As the players keep reminding themselves and the viewers: "This is a GAME. You have to make the most of your time here - it's going to be so much harder out in the real world."

IS it harder in the real world? Probably. But you can take lessons away from watching this reality show. You can make it work for you, as well as for the contestants. Here are three practical and useful lessons you can put to use immediately.

1. Put Weight Loss First.

In the Biggest Loser household WEIGHT LOSS COMES FIRST. Make it come first in your household, too. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is. In fact, so simple that many people just overlook it. They try to fit exercise and meal planning around everything else in their lives, instead of making it a priority.

Think: what is most important: getting the weight off, and becoming fit enough to put years on your life - or watching another TV show? Sit down with a pen and paper and allot at least one hour a day to planning meals, recording what you eat, and doing some form of exercise. You've still got 23 hours left to do everything else!

2. E is for Exercise - and Enjoy!

What else do you notice in the Biggest Loser household? The more they exercise, the more they seem to enjoy it. Oh sure, they grunt and they groan; they sweat and they complain. But as the weeks go on, you'll hear them say things like: "I never thought I'd say that I look forward to working out - but now don't feel right if a day goes past without exercise!"

The secret to enjoying exercise is finding what's right for YOU. If you don't really enjoy the gym, look for other forms of exercise. You need a mix of cardio and resistance training - but it doesn't have to be on machines. Walk, swim, dance, climb hills, push a wheelbarrow in the garden... there are endless choices that can be fun for you. Research what happens to various muscle groups - and to your heart - when you exercise, and pick activities that you will enjoy.

3. Identify the Triggers.

Emotions run high when the contestants have to face their demons. Weight gain is rarely from just a physical cause. If you keep a food diary, and faithfully record not only what you eat but when (and why) you eat it, you'll soon see a pattern of emotional eating. What are YOUR triggers? Boredom? Tiredness? Family arguments?

Once you have identified these triggers, you can start working on strategies to defeat them. This can be as simple as challenging yourself every time you want food. ("Am I hungry - yes or no? If I'm not hungry, then why do I want to eat? Am I really just thirsty? If I'm running to the fridge because I'm upset, is there something else I can do to feel better? Is there a long-term solution that will fix this forever?" and so on.) If you're not yet ready to deal with the root cause, then be prepared with food that won't add to your problems with the resulting rolls of fat. Make sure that you have 'good' food at hand - but also food that you LIKE.

These are just three of the lessons that anyone can take away from watching The Biggest Loser. And you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you did it all by yourself.


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