Start Slow

A friend of mine who is overweight mentioned he is using a personal trainer.  He is paying good money to someone to help him lose weight and get in shape.  Although I applaud his efforts to improve his health, I think he is going about it the wrong way.  I believe it is best to utilize a trainer’s expertise once you are already in good shape and you want to fine tune your fitness goals.

The reason is commitment and results.  At the beginning of any fitness plan, the goal should be to just get out there and do something!  It would be nice to drop 5-10lbs in the first 30 days, but it would serve you much better to look at the big picture and gear yourself up to keep going after 30 days, and 60 days, and so on.

Change the way you think about exercise.  Instead of always waiting for the elevator, make a decision to use the stairs once a day.  Even start with just using them to go down rather than up.  Take a 10 minute walk.  Make one of your meals healthier by substituting whole wheat pasta for the usual white pasta.  Do things that make the statement, I am making this change to be healthy.  The more you do it, the more you will stick with it.

Running Without a Watch will not teach you to run a marathon, but it can help you to lose the pounds and get ready to start training for one.  Just remember one piece of advice I have learned.  Before making a change to your diet or lifestyle, ask yourself if it’s something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life.  If yes, then stick with it; if no, then skip it and try something else.

What do you think?