All the things I did WRONG to try to lose weight and get fit.
Have you been in weight loss plateau forever? Or have you just been overweight for a long time and you feel like — maybe you start a lot of diets but you don’t lose any weight…and therefore, you assume your body has just changed and maybe your metabolism has slowed and you just aren’t able to lose weight? Have you said any of these things? Do you work out more each week but see the scale going UP? Do you feel like none of your clothes fit and all you want to do is lose 10 pounds or lose 20 pounds or lose a size…but you feel HELPLESS?
I’ve been there. We all have. The key is to 1) know that you are not permanently stuck and 2) know that you can lose the weight you need to — it is SO DOABLE- but it’s also work and discipline and it takes a commitment. But you can do this. You need to read this post because I’m betting you’ve been making some if not all of these same Top 10 Fitness Mistakes that I’ve made in the attempts to lose weight and get more fit. Read on and let me know if these resonate with you. In future posts I’ll go into detail on how I fixed all of these mistakes and what I’m doing now to get the fittest EVER and at age 51! BAM!
- Aiming for a body size or shape that was so far off from my own, I could never each it. Back in the day, I wanted to have the body of Jennifer Garner. I wanted NO curves and all muscle. I wanted small boobs and a small runner’s ass. Ladies. I am built so much more like Jennifer LOPEZ (but with BOOBS) than Jennifer GARNER it’s scary. Now I see, that’s scary GOOD. No- it’s scary awesome. Thank God for Beyonce and J-LO and the Kardashians because now, my curvy figure is IN- and I don’t see the “trend” going anywhere. But seriously ladies, when we work out and diet and mentally are comparing ourselves to becoming something we can not physically EVER accomplish– that’s a long road to nowhere.
- COMPARISON. Perfect segue from the last mistake above– if you spend all day on instagram comparing your body to the latest model or Kardashian or insta-celeb, you might as well buy a dozen Krispy Kremes and get your binge over with now. Seriously- you cannot compare your body to the filtered, posed, airbrushed, photoshopped, lightroomed people online. It will destroy your mental state of mind and it certainly did that for me.
- Trying to do whatever is the most “IN” workouts. Here’s the deal. When you try to do what’s COOL or “IN” just because everyone else is doing it, you won’t like it. It’s like trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. You won’t like it and you’ll probably not do well and then you will not keep at it. The best workouts are what you love. If you love Taebo, do Taebo. If you like isolation training and all your friends are Crossfitters and you hate the idea of going to a non-air conditioned gym to do thrusters and row your ass off– don’t try to become a crossfitter. I’ve never done a spin class. It really intimidates me and I’m not much of a stationary bike person. But in the past I’ve tried to make myself do spin or even yoga or pilates because all the cool kids were doing it. It never stuck. I wasted time and money. DO WHAT YOU LOVE and make no apologies for it.
- Doing ONLY cardio. In the early days, all I did was cardio. So did everyone but- that’s a mistake. Ladies if you want to be FIRM and not have cellulite, you need to not do ONLY cardio. If your body jiggles, you probably aren’t lifting weights. If you keep adding more cardio, you won’t “firm up”– you’ll just get a stronger heart. Cardio is awesome and I love it – in fact I’m back to adding a lot of it back in- but I am ADDING IT TO MY WEIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM. Notice the difference. Cardio is the icing to my cake which is lifting.
- Not being focused first and foremost on STRENGTH TRAINING. Ladies, if you want to be TONED, you need to LIFT. Too many women see an actress – or even someone like Michelle Obama and they think those “toned arms” are done with pink 2lb dumbbells. WRONG. Muscle is built with STRENGTH TRAINING and ladies– per what I said above– when you BUILD MUSCLE UNDER YOUR SKIN — I’VE SEEN IT HAPPEN — THAT CELLULITE OR LOOSE SKIN SITUATION- it diminishes greatly. Think of your skin like a balloon with no air in it- wrinkly, loose and not firm. What happens when you fill it with air? FIRM, tight, smooth. Same with muscle. You gotta make lifting weights the foundation of your workouts.
- Overtraining. This is so common- as you start to see results, you think- more is better. It’s not. I got into a bad place where I would work out 2-3 hours a day. No joke. It ended me in the adrenal fatigue class and then ADRENAL BURNOUT. Do not think more is better. Do not think you need more than one workout a day. Do not think more training will SPEED UP YOUR FAT LOSS. It won’t. Train CONSISTENTLY and when you train make it count– then REST, let your muscle and mind repair. Watch what happens.
- Not sticking with anything long enough. OMG this was me for years and years. I am so impatient and I always thought my results should happen in like a WEEK. If they didn’t I would immediately start researching something new or more extreme and I’d START AGAIN. I was always switching never sticking to anything. YOU HAVE TO GIVE YOUR WORKOUT PROGRAMS A MINIMUM – IN MY OPINION- OF 60-90 DAYS!!!! Stay the course. Commit to it. Watch what happens!
- Not trusting my gut. This is a big one. Ladies, we have a woman’s instinct for a reason — it’s so powerful. Every time I have NOT listened to my gut I have regretted it. When I do listen to my gut, I experience GOOD THINGS. For years, I did not trust in my own ability to decide what to eat on my diet plan. I didn’t trust in my own preferences or that I knew my own body. So– if my trainer or a follower told me something I was doing was WRONG (Like eating an apple or having ketchup) I’d 1) immediately follow their advice and 2) start researching more about that advice and probably add more limitations thereby putting myself in this culmination of a “diet” with 800 extra rules and limits that made NO SENSE. The worst and biggest mistake I made in not trusting my gut was when I paid a dietitian who was recommended to me– for 6 MONTHS to help me figure out my diet so I could bust through a plateau. She analyzed my history and said that because I had adrenal issues I should not be training hard – in fact I should be barely training – only some lifting and nothing “strenuous”. I was told to eat whatever I wanted and just eat intuitively to get over my eating issues. THINK ABOUT THIS: I was told to STOP WORKING OUT for the most part- never do cardio, never get my heart rate up, not lift too heavy and eat more. Um….what do you think happened? This was the latter half of 2018 when I got the biggest I ever got in the past 4-5 years. But all that time I would call her and complain and cry but I kept following her advice. NEVER AGAIN. Trust your gut ladies.
- Winging it. I’ve been talking about this a lot here. Winging it means “just eating healthy”– and not tracking your calories. It means getting up each day and when you go to work out you just go with what feels right at that moment. You aren’t on a program- you aren’t working TOWARD anything you are just doing the fitness version of “busy work”. Nope. Doesn’t work.
- Not TRACKING calories. CALORIC DEFICIT IS THE KING OF ALL THINGS. For years I have followed every stupid diet “rule” out there– no carbs, low-carb, paleo, whole 30, clean eating, intuitive eating, no fake foods, intermittent fasting, keto, no fruit, no alcohol– I could go on and on–but the one most important factor for weight loss which is what I DID track when I first lost weight at age 35ish- CALORIC INTAKE– is the one thing all these past years (until now) I have not tracked……and the second I started….the pounds started coming off. Go figure.
The Most Important Things to Do To Lose Weight.
Here is what I know. Here is what I am hyper-focused on now that I’ve learned all the relevant lessons. Here is what I am doing to lose weight and see AWESOME RESULTS– AT AGE 51 hellllooooooo— and it’s working like a charm.
- I’m counting my calories.
- I’m on a caloric deficit based diet- that includes calorie cycling (not carb cycling) and cheat days – so I can have wine and cheeseburgers and love my life while I’m dieting.
- I’m on a WORKOUT PROGRAM. No more “winging it” and just doing whatever workout I want. I’m on a 60-day PROGRAM designed to create results with heavy LIFTING. When I’m done with that I will start a new PROGRAM- always changing things up to shock my body.
- I’ve added in cardio again– but not overkill. I do cardio every other day and LIFT 4x week then I add 20-30 minutes of HIIT cardio before my LIFT sessions.
- I eat the foods I want.
- I don’t follow dumb rules like no fruit or no alcohol or no packaged foods ever.
- Because of the above- I am less STRESSED and my cortisol is in control.
- I am on BHRT which regulates my hormones- hormonal balance is KEY!!
- I have started weighing myself. Taking progress photos. Being accountable on social media with what I’m eating and my workouts.
- I’m being accountable with my man: we keep each other focused on our goals and compare notes with our weight/progress.
That’s it. I honestly think what’s creating my success now is far more about the bad practices I’ve left behind than anything I’ve added. The single most important thing I’ve added is CALORIC DEFICIT focus and counting calories. My new program – the way I’ve designed it with calorie cycling plus casual intermittent fasting and cheat days: it works and keeps me sane and happy.
On that note. Because I’ve had so many women reach out – I kid you not- begging for help and accountability — I’ve created the option for a max of 10 women to hire me for maximum one-on-one accountability and coaching. Starting June 1st, if you want to crush your goals with me and have me help you with a personalize diet plan and workout recommendation — plus daily 16 minutes with me via phone- to keep you on track– COMMENT BELOW- 2 spots are gone already– It’s $25/day with a 30 day minimum commitment. If you have ever complained “I’d pay anything if I KNEW that what I was doing would WORK”– then this is your nudge. You cannot NOT succeed when you are on the right plan and you don’t quit. My program addresses both of those holes; most women aren’t on the right diet and give up too soon.
You want in? Comment below or fill out the contact me form. Do it now before my group is full for June!!
How about this is the time you finally decide to go ALL IN?? you are WORTH IT.
