Ladies, when asked as to what your current body goal is, we
probably have the same answer; which is to lose weight and remain trim and
slim. Believe me, I feel you. I have struggled with weight all my life. It’s a
very sticky situation you and I are in; we love to eat and yet, we want to look
like a million bucks.
There are hundreds of different diets we easily find online;
the raw food diet, the carb-free diet, 7-days soup diet and I came across a
completely freaky one, the cotton ball diet! This one involves dipping balls of
cotton in orange juice and consuming them. It exists, believe me. Stupidest
thing I’ve ever heard of. Is cotton even food?
As most of you probably already know, I co-run a fitness
center with my husband and there is obviously a lot of pressure in keeping fit.
As it so happens, I first befriended a gym when I was 13 years old, which is a
really long time ago, so I am pretty much familiar with fitness techniques and
methods. However, there are many things your personal trainer probably isn’t
telling you, which I compiled into a
single list. Keep in mind, I am not a fitness guru, but the following are tried
and true. I learned it the hard way, but you don’t have to.
1. I have
heard so many people say “I am slim by nature, so luckily I don’t need the
gym”, which is very disturbing. Yes, you probably don’t need a gym, but
sweetie, you need the exercise. There is absolutely NOBODY in the world who
does not need to exercise. Age is not even a deal-breaker when it comes to
keeping fit. Always remember that exercising is not only used to lose weight,
but offers hundreds of other non-aesthetic reasons such as keeping your heart’s
health, your fat percentage balanced and ensuring that your muscle tissues are
intact. And don’t fear the word “muscle”. Men have them, women have them,
babies have them! They are not always the super-huge ones we see on
body-builders and yes, they need to be trained.
2. A lot of people skip the idea of keeping fit via
the traditional method as in sweating, and straightaway jump under the knife to
get some fat-removal (liposuction) procedures done. The benefits of liposuction
are something I can’t help enlighten you about, as I don’t know much about
them. However, I know people who have gone through this; they cause long-term problems
for some people. During this procedure, you lose fat the quick way, which means
losing a large proportion of energy. This is why the procedure condemns you
into a bed rest for a long period of time. As a result, the fat you lose WILL
eventually come back to you, if you don’t balance out the procedure with muscle-training
afterwards. And remember, you may not necessarily be able to exercise right
away; the stitches may keep you on bed rest for quite a while.
3. Quick body check! If you feel like you have been
eating right, training hard but yet have that pinch-able lower tummy, that’s
probably a result of sugar and alcohol. No amount of food you give up can make
up for binging on alcohol. I never liked alcohol to begin with, but I enjoy
sweet drinks like hell. Like, literally, I need a coke right now. I used to eat
less food to enjoy a glass of coke. Eventually, I realized that was ridiculous.
Unfortunately, alcoholic beverages
(which contains mad sugar) have massive effect on your body. To quote my
husband who is more of the expert in this field, if your target is to lose
weight, more than food, it’s the alcohol and sweet drinks that you need to give
up.
4. Be careful with your cardio. Running, walking,
cycling, jumping are all cardios. While they may keep you happy on the weighing
scale, they may not do you good if you don’t balance it out with some
weight-training. I once had a trainer who kept me on the machines for a
straight hour WITHOUT any strength training. When I pinch my arms and thighs
now, I regret every minute on those machines. Cardio doesn’t contribute much in
training your muscles, in fact if used wrongly, they may deteriorate your lean
muscle tissues. They support your fitness goals, but they are not your primary
fitness techniques. They must be incorporated in your daily routines, but they
should not take up your entire workout patterns.
5. As you enter a gym, your first step is probably
checking the weighing scale and fixing a “thin-fat” judgment based on those
numbers. I say, wrong. Get a proper weighing scale that can identify your
complete body vitals such as your tummy fat level (visceral fat), fat
percentage, how many calories we burn in a day (BMR), Body Mass Index and
others. Consult a nutritionist or certified trainer to learn about these vitals
and exercise according to your requirements. Also, don’t use your mirror as
your judge. As human beings, it is most natural to stand in front of the mirror
and identify our major body flaws. However, what you see is not always what you
are. Which is why, you need to learn what’s inside your body as opposed to what
it actually appears to be.
If you wish to learn more, our doors are always open.
Remaining healthy can be tough and we often need a support group. I may not be
able to help your every enquiry, as I am still a learner, but I am blessed to
have a fantastic team of personal trainers and nutritionists who are always
open to discussion about the human body.
Hope this helps! Wish you all the very best for the journey
of attaining optimal health, as I continue to attain mine.
