6 Steps to Healthy Weight Loss – Rita Rudner
“The word aerobics came about when the gym instructors got together and said, ‘If we’re going to charge $10 an hour, we can’t call it jumping up and down.’” ~ Rita Rudner.
Aerobics is so “eighties”! Now it’s Pilates, Ballet Boot Camp, Wii, and Zumba. If you need help with healthy weight loss, check out the P90X Extreme Home Fitness with Tony Horton
6 Steps to Healthy Weight Loss – Rita Rudner
1. Have realistic expectations. Healthy weight loss happens slowly, so don’t be discouraged after the first couple of weeks! It can take six weeks before you see physical changes in your body. “To avoid getting derailed,” says fitness instructor Amanda Vogel, “follow this six week approach: In the first three weeks, expect mental and emotional changes – more energy or a confidence boost. Expect to start seeing a slightly slimmer, tighter body after three weeks.”
2. Find what motivates you, and keep it under your nose. Do you get discouraged when you hear comediennes like Rita Rudner say, “I burned sixty calories. That should take care of a peanut I had in 1962.”? It’s true that it’s easier to NOT eat food than to eat it and burn off the calories you consumed, but don’t let that stop you from working out. Keep inspirational quotations or motivational sayings in your workout clothes, taped to your mirror, and on your computer monitor. To avoid becoming blind to them, move them around or replace old motivational sayings with new ones. Highlight strong, successful, athletic women like Venus and Serena Williams!
3. Put your workout gear on first thing in the morning. If you work from home (like me!), you may have an advantage when it comes to healthy weight loss. As soon as I get up in the morning, I put on my workout gear. Since I can “go to work” in whatever clothes I want, and I’ve found that putting on my workout clothes first thing solidifies my goal to exercise. If you can wear your workout clothes under your work clothes, you may find yourself one step closer to losing weight and keeping the pounds off.
4. Sleep in your workout clothes. Check this tip out – it’s from Barb Gormley, the owner of Custom-Fit Personal Training in Toronto. “Sounds crazy, but in winter, I wear my sports bra and workout T-shirt to bed so it’s super-easy to get out the door on cold dark mornings.” That’s like me, putting on my workout clothes as soon as I wake up! But, I don’t work out until 11 am or 4 pm, depending on how the day’s going.
5. Don’t exercise forever – exercise better. You can get a great workout in just 10 minutes! Instead of an hour-long workout with exercises or reps that isolate one body part at a time, try five or six exercises that target multiple muscles. Pilates is a great way to do compound movements, which is a healthy way to lose weight. The 10 Minute Solution Rapid Results Pilates
6. Factor in your personality traits. Are you an introvert? (take this test for introverted personality traits to find out!) Introverts may not enjoy working out with groups of people, and may lean towards solo running, biking, or swimming. On the other hand, extroverts prefer intense workouts with groups of people, and are prone to exercising fairly often. Scientist Amy Hagan said, “These excitement-craving people love lots of activity, and want to go, go, go.” Extroverts also prefer to listen to music while exercising. To lose weight in a healthy way, be aware of your personality traits.
One last quotation from Rita Rudner:
“Men are very confident people. Even a sixty-year-old man with no arms thinks he could play in the Super Bowl if he had to.”
Wouldn’t it be great if women were this confident? We need more exposure to women like Whoopi Goldberg, Eleanor Roosevelt, Judge Marilyn Milian, and Queen Latifah!
If you have any thoughts or questions on these steps to healthy weight loss, I welcome you below…
Source of quotations: “Resolve to Tone Up,” Best Health Magazine, February, 2009.
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I like all your tips here, if you may I want to add something that has helped me lose weight too, aside from my weight loss supplement. Start by being kind and patient with yourself. Weight loss does not happen overnight it is a process that it takes some time. You will do this by setting small and doable goals and reaching them. Because anytime we set huge goals and we don’t attain it, we feel bad about our self. Set small goals like losing 4 or 5 pounds in the next however long you want to do that, 7 pounds in the next 4 weeks is an example, and you start taking action to get there. The next thing you know you are almost achieving it. Weight loss plans like any other plans need ratings to measure its progress. Post them on walls or on your favorite pants, dress or swimsuit or whatever it is you want to fit in so you can see it every single day. This will help you know that you are getting closer and closer to it and serve as an encouragement to you as well
I sleep in my workout clothes most days when I’m hitting the gym first thing in the morning. or at least a sports bra- cause that takes the most time in the morning to get on.
I *love* the suggestion to sleep in your workout clothes! That is absolutely genius! I will totally try this!