Yes, it’s clear that you will lose weight if you eat less, but it is also possible to eat too little, which is guaranteed to result in slow metabolism. To skip a meal, such as breakfast, causes the blood sugar to fall, and you will get really hungry during the day. The next food intake causes your blood sugar to shoot up.

Eat 5 or more smaller meals a day, keep your blood sugar levels steady, and reap the results of a more efficient metabolism, and lots of energy! A good trick is to eat an apple or a little cottage cheese with blueberries straight after an intense workout, to continue the metabolic effect.

Image: SweetOnVeg

The stomach clearly becomes stronger from sit-ups, but it’s stomach fat that affects whether you can flash your “six pack”! You have to combine good nutrition and fat-burning exercise (walking, running, biking, etc.) to reduce “fluff” as I like to call it, and to define the muscles that you worked so hard to get.

Abs are like any other muscle in the body, i.e. they need rest to develop. The smartest way is to focus on your form, mix crunches with ball training and Pilates-type core training, and rest them on alternate days to prevent over-training. See your fluff melt and give way to a six pack – or more importantly: functional, effective, and strong abs!

Here in Los Angeles, a city where everything becomes exaggerated, I constantly wrestle with the teaching of rhyme or reason. My job has become a blend of motivator and Training Encyclopedia! It takes a while to inspire my clients to a comfortable-is-best mentality.

It has recently been shown that, contrary to LA’s hysterical H2O intake in order not to die of dehydration, too much water can be just as damaging – and if nothing else, it’s uncomfortable! A study of long distance runners in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that too much water caused blood salt levels to drop, so-called hyponatremia: an imbalance in electrolytes in the blood, which in turn can be harmful to the nervous system.

According to the American Council on Exercise, you should drink 1-2 cups of water 1 hour before exercise, 1 cup every 15 minutes during exercise, and 1-2 cups within half an hour after exercise. For me, it is just difficult to drink too much water, because you have to go to the bathroom every two minutes, which can ruin a date or fitness class at any time, don’t you agree?!

Image: gfrphoto

I don’t have time.
Its all about priorities!! Create a schedule and decide beforehand when you can workout during the week. KEEP YOUR APPOINTMENT!

I’m tired.
Energy levels are low when you don’t exercise! If possible, schedule your first workouts in the morning; 30 minutes is enough to get your blood flowing and energy up!

I’m too stressed out.
Physical activity is a well studied stress relief. As exercise increases, stress hormones and anxiety levels go down. Something to look forward to!

I can’t afford a gym membership.
In-home workouts are the BOMB! Become a Loud Fitness member to download great workouts for anywhere but the gym!

I don’t have a gym nearby.
See the above!!

I’m embarrassed about my body.
Your fundamental belief system about your body is something that is conditioned by the outside and reinforced by yourself. Begin your change today on a mental and physical level! Let yourself know that you love and accept yourself in any shape or form. Celebrate your beautiful body by giving it what it wants: Activity!!!

I don’t know how to start.
The 10-Week Transformation on this blog is a great place to start.

I tried working out before and it didn’t work.
Maybe you were experiencing a bump in the road and something made you stop. Make the decision, explore different options, and create an environment where you can keep working out. Meet with a friend, join a group, find something you find fun and interesting. You deserve it!

I get bored with exercise.
Part of your motivation process is your attitude! Try to get rid of the negative thoughts and take a positive approach to your health and ultimately your life. Find something that’s FUN to do! What did you like to do as a child?

I have an injury.
Go through proper channels to determine and heal the injury. Ask a professional about safe ways to move. There is always an option! Swimming is great!

Is there something else that’s stopping you from exercising? Ask me for help!

Diets, exercise programs, nutritional supplements, and glycemic index methods can seem complicated and mysterious to the uninitiated, leading some to shy away from even trying. It absolutely doesn’t have to be so confounding. It’s really all about discovering a fun form of activity, and a good start to a healthier life.

The body loves to move. Don’t set unnecessarily difficult goals. A daily walk is better than no walk at all.

Learn, gradually, to eat right. Think about what food really consists of. Then begin by eliminating sugary and salty foods like soft drinks, chips, baked goods, etc. It’s not especially complicated, but it’s a big step for a body that’s addicted to sugar. You will react positively – mentally, physically, and emotionally – if you improve your diet.

In the beginning, it’s enough to start with pretty simple steps, a shift in attitude, and a small change in diet and exercise. One step in the right direction leads to another. Eat right, exercise, and feel better, and you’ll find the motivation and energy to eat right, exercise, and feel better even more. And thus it continues!

Want the lowdown on fitness myths, plus a realistic plan for developing life-long health habits? Check out my e-book, Your Life Force: Training for Strength & Harmony.

Image: /eye.contact!

Do you find yourself saying this? Does it make you want to give up, or not even try in the first place?

Let me tell you the truth: having a large frame, a slow metabolism, or other innate factors are seldom valid reasons to ignore eating right and exercising regularly.

Genes do play a role, but how you choose to live your life is the most important factor of all. Nearly everyone who lives an unhealthy life actually has the key to his or her own well-being. If you learn how to listen to the signals your body sends out, it will tell you what it needs. The biggest hindrance is often oneself, not one’s genetic predispositions.

What is needed, and what is most difficult and takes time, is conscious engagement and hard work.

It also helps to be realistic, and to learn to like yourself just as you are. For example, if you have a body that is short-limbed and muscular, and you strive for Uma Thurman’s figure, you are setting yourself up for disappointment, since you don’t have the same fundamental body type as the slender actress.

The key to inner harmony and reduced stress is to start from your own body’s inherent characteristics and to strive to live as wholesome a life as possible.

Want the lowdown on fitness myths, plus a realistic plan for developing life-long health habits? Check out my e-book, Your Life Force: Training for Strength & Harmony.

Image: /eye.contact!

I don’t have time to exercise.

Most of us have said this at one point or another. Some of us say it often. It’s a common excuse, but you know what? It usually isn’t true.

By blaming lack of time, you have already stopped yourself from trying to do something about your situation; you have provided yourself a legitimate reason to absolve yourself of responsibility for how you live and feel. Obviously, you won’t always have the time, especially if you are the parent of a small child, have a demanding job, or lead a busy social life.

But above all, it’s about priorities. How important is it to create a good and wholesome energy for life – for your own body, for your family? I promise you, the time you invest pays good rewards.

Image: blakespot

When I go on these amazing vacations, I make sure I leave the responsibilities of LA and work behind me, to make space for new experiences, meetings, impressions. As you may well understand, it usually takes a few days to shake off the lifestyle I’m accustomed to and completely immerse myself in something new and exciting.

Sitting on the plane, I had my copy of Time magazine and was ready to slowly let go, just catching up with the last few weeks of American news. And there it was: an article on the myth about exercise…

As I read Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin, my eyes popped and I became upset and disappointed. The author suggests that because exercise won’t make you lose weight, you might as well stop trying. The article speaks to bad information, and the obvious confusion that the American people experience because they are bombarded with diets and fad exercises by the EAT THIS-GET FAT-LOSE WEIGHT money machine.

I looked up from my magazine to take a deep breath before I continued reading, and at that very moment, I heard the stewardess say, “For breakfast, we have a large chocolate chip cookie for $3, a breakfast box for $6 (blueberry muffin, crackers, cheese, and strawberry yogurt), and potato chips for $4″!

At that point, I wasn’t sure what was making me sweat more – the fact that the stewardess had just announced that she was selling obesity and a heart attack, or that the article was spewing out truths so relative that a regular guy with even a slight resistance to training and moving would never understand the real meaning of. A feeling of dismay came over me for a moment … but not for long.

In my business of moving and teaching health, we know that it’s the balance between exercise and diet that keep us healthy and hopefully a desired size and shape. The writer of the article (which I still can’t let go of, as you can tell!) uses sarcasm and cynicism to get his point across, which is not necessarily wrong in the context in which he is using it. The sad thing is that he completely disregards the important positive aspects of exercise. Training and staying active doesn’t only give you the benefit of weight control. And by highlighting the negatives, the author almost gets away with insinuating that people are clueless.

I do my job because I do not want to let this guy (author John cloud) get away with it!

It is important to learn balance. It is important to change habits. It is important to stop and feel and think about what works for YOU. It is important to become educated so that you can find the TRUE information among all the bad or loosely written material out there. Most of all, it is important for you to allow yourself to live your life out loud! Please don’t let disinformation, or even no information, get in your way. Live it! Today! Right NOW!

Image: Time