Weight loss requires a conscious effort and it is easy to feel frustrated as you travel down the road toward your goal. Sometimes the scale doesn't move like you expect it to and occasionally you fall off the dieting wagon, these things happen. But the thing that determines if you will reach your goal or not is how you respond to these bumps in the road.
Jack Canfield, a well-known self-help teacher, uses this simple formula to explain the idea further:
Event + Response = Outcome
In other words, life happens (Event), how you choose to Respond to these Events determines the Outcome you will see. So if the scale doesn't move (Event) you can choose to Respond by getting mad or getting curious. I suggest the latter - pose the question to your mind, "Why have I stopped losing weight?"
How does curiosity help?
Curiosity allows you to remove emotion from the Event and encourages the brain to search for a solution. This allows your mind to stay open, keeps you calm and prevents you from repeating the behavior. In contrast, if the scale doesn't budge (Event) and you Respond by getting mad at yourself and say, "This stupid body of mine never does what I want." then you have shut down your mind; your brain doesn't have to search for a solution because you already gave it one - you didn't lose because your body is stupid and it never does what you want.
Curiosity is a true friend when you are losing weight. Rely on this friend often and not only will you reach your goal you will learn things about yourself that will allow you to keep the weight off.
As summer approaches, many fitness enthusiasts will switch from muscle building routine to doing light weight high reps routine to cut away their body fat and to reveal their ripped muscular body. After all, it is shirt off time for the beach and poolside parties, isn't it?
Well, I am about to bust this popular light weight high rep to tone muscle myth. Did I hear you gasp? Good. This is because the myth is so well entrenched and a lie being told too often will generally be accepted as the truth.
To get toned and well defined muscles, you need to lose body fat covering the muscles. Period. When you get rid of your body fat, your muscles will show through. You will look sinewy and muscular. Of course, that is provided that you have built muscles below those fats.
Let me ask you, how could light weight high repetition exercises build muscles or melt away fat? There is no logic in this.
To build muscle mass, you have to do heavy weight low rep compound exercises, exactly the opposite of light weight high rep routine. To lose body fat, you have to do intensive cardiovascular exercises and eating correctly.
There is no such thing as spot reduction short of invasive medical procedures such as liposuction. That means no matter how many crunches and side bends you do, the fat isn't going to come off your belly and neither will your love handles melt away.
So if you want to reveal your well toned and defined musculature, you have firstly to build bigger muscles and then subsequently cut your body fat. Medium weight high repetition compound giant set exercises may help you burn more calories if the exercises keep your heart rate up and get you panting and sweating throughout the entire exercise workout session. However, this will already be a cardiovascular workout session and not a weight lifting workout session.
So next time when some smart aleck advises you that to get a well toned muscular body, you must workout with light weight and with high repetition, just ask him to explain the logic behind his statement and have a good laugh when you see him fumbling for a logical answer.
Both Dr. Becky Gillaspy & are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dr. Becky Gillaspy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Brain. If you've tried diet and exercise but have had difficulty losing weight then you will benefit from my FREE e-report Think and Grow Thin! Get your free copy by visiting