It’s summertime in St. Louis and it’s hot! That means that many of you are wearing less clothes or bathing suits.
For many people, the thought of wearing a swimsuit is motivation to lose weight or get their ‘six-pack’ abs in shape.
While I commend your desire to slim down before baring it all, I’m here to warn you of the five strategies that often fail or can backfire. Don’t waste your time on these last second Band-Aid methods.
#1: Starve the pounds away. Attempting to lose weight by starving yourself is not only ineffective, it’s also dangerous. It may seem that severe calorie restriction would deliver the quickest weight loss, but your body is complex and by doing so you’ll disrupt your metabolism and slow your results.
Tip: Don’t starve yourself – instead eat healthy small meals throughout the day. Sumo wrestlers eat two times per day in order to slow their metabolism to improve fat storage potential and increase their appetite so they can have their 5,000 calorie plus binge. Which is what will generally happen if you deprive yourself for too long.
#2: Take diet pills to boost your effort. It’s so tempting! The commercials make compelling claims about the power of diet pills, but don’t fall for it. The ‘magic pill’ has yet to be discovered (it has been discovered – let diet and exercise be your pill). Diet pills are more likely to damage your health and burn your pocketbook than to slim you down. If you just get through the first few weeks and get over the hump you will begin to feel better and generate your own energy. If you really need a kick in the rear try coffee or green tea. If you are living right this is all you should need for an extra wake up call (in fact caffeine has been shown to decrease pain perception and improve performance…but, this does not mean you rely on it or abuse it!).
Tip: Don’t pop a pill – instead burn calories with exercise. Eat small frequent meals, get regular sleep, and exercise daily and watch how amazing you feel. This natural high tops any antidepressant, sleeping pill/sedative, or speed you could ever find.
#3: Do extra crunches to flatten your abs. We all want our midsection to look toned as we stroll down the beach, but excessive crunches aren’t the answer for tight abs. In order to achieve a lean look you’ll have to focus on burning off the layer of fat that is covering up your abs. You can’t technically spot reduce with exercise so destroying your lumbar posture with all of these crunches is only killing time and your neck. Perform a well rounded core routine:
Such as:
A1) Crunch x15-20
A2) Knee Roll x10-15
A3) Oblique Crunch x10-15
A4) Plank x 30-60 seconds plus X1-3 rounds
And keep it at bay … no 1,000 crunch knockout sessions. Likewise, adopt a sensible diet and rounded exercise plan.
Tip: Don’t obsess about crunches – instead focus on fat burning. You do this with frequent … excuse me, DAILY exercise. You eat daily, you rest and sleep daily, you also need to be active daily. Rest days are important but sometimes simply changing the form of exercise you do is as good as a rest. Alternate strength training, aerobics, high intensity, low intensity, play sports, etc.
#4: Cardiovascular and aerobic exercises are the best way to lose weight. It is amazing to see so many people joining the rat race to either run a marathon or do countless aerobics to shed the pounds. While cardiovascular training is pivotal to health and weight loss there are some unfortunate pit falls. What happens is a 1:1 ratio of calorie burning to calorie intake. People will start eating carbs to fuel their long runs and tend to over shoot and gain weight. They may cover their miles and get more aerobically ‘fit’ but may not lose weight. If overtraining occurs, cortisol rises, sex hormones drop, slowing fat loss, and muscle maintenance, and injuries and burnout may follow.
We typically stick to high intensity interval training at The Lab to prevent these pitfalls and also place in the appropriate amount of steady state aerobics to help the strength training program remove excess calories. Ladies and gentleman weights will not make you bulky unless you train as a bodybuilder for years and consume massive calories (and have HIGH testosterone levels). Don’t ditch the weights for lass ditch efforts to cut the fat. Weights turn out to be a 1.5-2.0:1 ratio of calorie burning to calorie intake as resting metabolism will continue to burn calories around the clock. There is nothing worse than running excessively, burning out, and having nothing to show for it than extra body fat and injuries (but hey, you will have endurance.
Tip: Don’t eat packaged diet foods – instead stick with nutritious whole foods.
#5: Avoid all carbohydrates in order to slim down. Carbohydrates have been given a bad rap, which is unfortunate because you can (and should) eat carbs while losing weight. The key is to stick with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. You have to be honest with yourself and realize carbohydrates are high octane quick fuel. If you don’t plan on being active, why are you eating so many sources at each meal? If you are an athlete you need to fuel up. If you are a couch potato, you need to be a couch broccoli…that makes sense, right? Because if your going to sit on your butt, eat less dense fibrous carbs that will fill you up and not load up the calories like eating potatoes to watch the TV!
Tip: Don’t swear off all carbohydrates – instead stick with wholesome carbs. A good rule to follow is that all of your carbs should have FIBER!
Simply putting in the effort and dedication is the most important factor and you will find your way.