Strategic Fitness and Weight Loss

When To Go Full Tilt and When To Rest and Recover

Between 2015 and COVID lock down of 2020, I attended a fitness club almost daily. As a regular, I knew all the other regulars and was often in the same space as those who worked with personal trainers. It’s no exaggeration when I say that in all that time, I noticed only one case of significant body composition change among the people who trained regularly. There could be many factors at play in why the others didn’t achieve results. I’m limiting myself to a few major ones.

Attitude is Key: Some folks view exercise as a chore to check off their list so they restrict it to the time with the trainer. They lack the intrinsic motivation to incorporate fitness into their life. A desire to work consistently with a positive attitude plays a major role in successful, sustained weight loss and improved

body composition (yes, we’re touching on the body-mind connection again A trainer educates, guides and offers support but the desire to be active and proactive is essential for all the time when you’re living your life.

Live your Fitness: This is a recurring theme in my blog entries for good reason. Find ways to be more active every day and throughout each day. The more you move, the more calories you burn. Incorporate all kinds of movement into your life so that fitness isn’t restricted to a particular place or time.

Eat and Drink to Nurture: Many folks will work with a trainer but neglect to make changes to bad eating habits and diet, including alcohol consumption. Image that your body is a sapling you’re cultivating for optimal growth. Aim for more of the essentials and cut down on sources of excess fat and sugar. When at the market, challenge yourself to buy only whole foods, avoiding anything processed. You have the option of cutting a guilty pleasure by a certain percentage rather than entirely. Reducing the amount you eat combined with adding more daily movement and exercise will give you results and perhaps also the encouragement you need to eat even less of that fat or sugar source.

Know When to Go Easy and Rest: When you’re not feeling well, whether it’s because you’re recovering from an illness, physical injury or acute onset of fatigue, go easy and rest so as to allow for healing. For women in their reproductive years, it’s critical to understand the monthly cycle of the female body and work with it. Time high impact exercise for when your period ends. Leading up to your period and while you have it, opt for gentle movement, low impact modalities and rest. Learning to listen to your body’s natural rhythm will give you much better results in the long run. I recommend Alisa Vitti’s book, In The Flow; it’s a great resource on the subject.