Throw Away The Scales
| Yes, you heard me, GET RID OF THE DAMN THING!!!!
Did you watch ‘The Biggest Loser’ this week? Poor Dave worked so hard, ate well and put on weight. Can you believe it? Did you see how devastated he was? Have you ever had this happen to you so you have just given up because you did not think that the hard work was worth it? Why we let a number on the scales determine how we feel? I will let you in on a little secret “The scales do lie”. Meaning, there will be times when your body weight goes up, and your body fat goes down. That is just how it is! You will be burning fat and some of you, a lot of it. You will be putting on muscle. You will be decreasing the size of your waist, legs, shoulders, etc…Bottom line; you are burning fat from somewhere on your body. You don’t get to choose where your body you will burn the fat from, but rest assured, if you are following exactly what your slim coach is telling you, working hard on continually moving and training hard, you will burn fat. If you are working out on a regular basis you have more muscle. Does muscle weigh more than fat? Well, not exactly … I mean a kg of muscle weighs a kg AND a kg of fat weighs a kg. So why do you always hear muscle weighs more than fat? Think of it this way – A kg of muscle is denser, firmer and takes up less space. Isn’t that really your goal … to be firmer and take up less space? Why do we get so caught up on a number? Does this sound familiar? “How come the scale isn’t moving? I am smaller, and my pants are looser or I know I am losing fat, but the scale says (‘gasp’!) that I gained weight!!” If you are decreasing size and getting smaller, and know for a fact that you are burning fat, but you are still hung up on what your scale says…please, do yourself a favor, throw away your scales, and do it now. The only time you should see a number on the scales is during your slim appointment. Stop Letting this number rule your life and control how you think about yourself. Be proud of your efforts and know that your body is changing in positive ways. If you want to measure success there are better tools than the scales.
If you are following an exercise and thy eating program, you will put on muscle, you will burn fat, and you will probably retain water. You also will get fitter, stronger and leaner. STOP WORRYING ABOUT THE SCALES!! One more thing, you cannot expect to drop fat every single week. Your body will resist a lot. You have to keep changing things up so it does not get comfortable. Once your body reaches a state of efficiency, you will stop losing. Change it up. |
It is time to change your attitude. You are on a health & fitness journey and are making permanent changes. Why let a number determine your true results?
‘The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results’.
- Anthony Robbins
Dee Britton
Two Flat Stomach Secrets For Women
By Holly Rigsby, CPT
Have you tried everything under the sun to get a flat stomach, only to come up disappointed? Have you fallen prey to all the gimmicks, fad diets and shameless infomercials promising you that elusive flat stomach that you desire?
Well fret no more, I’m going to let you in on the two ‘secrets’ that will help you shed unwanted fat and reveal your toned, flat stomach once and for all.
The first secret for a flat stomach is eating supportively. While this doesn’t seem like a secret at all, most women get this wrong in spite of their best – but misguided – efforts. Women have fallen prey to low-fat, low-carb, Hollywood, grapefruit, South Beach and every other over hyped diet that marketers can dream up, all in hopes of shedding those unwanted pounds. But eating supportively is isn’t about dieting or deprivation; it’s about moderation and balance. While cutting carbs or fats out of your nutrition plan might give you a temporary loss of a couple of pounds, it’s typically followed by a drop in metabolism and a weight gain of more than you lost in the first place once you go back to your old eating habits.
So what is eating supportively? Eating supportively is having protein and carbohydrates at every meal. It’s grazing on 4-6 meals or snack each day instead of missing meals and then gorging yourself. It’s enjoying a healthy breakfast and not drinking your calories. But most of all, eating supportively is enjoying the foods you love in moderation instead of in excess.
If eating supportively is the first secret to a flat stomach, then what’s the second? The second flat stomach secret is resistance training. Unfortunately, just as fad diets have stood in the path of women achieving the flat stomachs they so desired, so have the myths of spot reduction and cardio being the best method for fat loss. Late night infomercials have long promoted gadgets that promised to spot reduce those trouble spots that women struggle with and sucked us in with testimonials from fitness models that undoubtedly picked up a nifty paycheck for endorsing their wares. But spot reduction is a myth. Think about it – have you ever met someone with a flat stomach and fat arms? Didn’t think so. If spot reduction was possible then undoubtedly one of these happy customers would have toned and tightened their stomach, yet kept their flabby arms.
The other myth that has led women astray is the belief that cardio is the best solution for fat loss. Treadmill manufacturers have sold the virtues of the ‘fat burning zone’ and led us to believe that we could plod along on a treadmill watching Oprah and before long a flat stomach would be ours. These two myths have diverted us from the path of what really does work – resistance training. Resistance training is a flat stomach’s best friend because not only does an effective resistance training session burn plenty of calories while you’re doing it, but it keeps you’re metabolism revved long after you’re done. One recent study showed that you’re metabolism would stay elevated for over 36 hours after a resistance training session.
Try to get that out of an aerobics class.
And there’s another benefit of resistance training when it comes to getting a flat stomach. The lean muscle that you gain will raise you’re resting metabolic rate and help you burn more fat all day long, each and every day.
There you have it, two ‘secrets’ that are guaranteed to boost your metabolism and give you that flat stomach you’ve been longing for. So ditch the diet books and the aerobics classes and start eating supportively and resistance training. Before long that flat stomach will finally be yours.
About the Author
Holly Rigsby is a nationally recognized women’s fitness coach, certified personal trainer (CPT) and the author of the internationally popular e-book – Fit Yummy Mummy – Burn Your Baby Fat & Get Your Body Back. Go to Fit Yummy Mummy to get your FREE copy of her special report: “The Five Ways To Boost Your Metabolism.”
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