The Weight Problem
Before we can solve our weight problem we need to figure out what is causing our weight problem in the first place.  Once we know the cause of our weight problem we can eliminated it thus eliminating the problem.

Why are we gaining weight in America today?
To answer this question all we need to do is look what has changed in the past 30 years that could have contribute to our weight gain.  The one this that is for sure is that our genes have not changed but our diet and activities have changed dramatically.  We eat a lot more refined foods, we eat a lot less vegetables, we eat a lot more deserts, we drink a lot more soda, and our consumption of refined sugar has quadrupled.  It is has been estimated that the average American eat around 300 calories more per day than we did 30 years ago.  And to make things worst most calories come from foods that have been denaturized and provide little if any nutritional value.  Not getting the proper nutrition besides weight gain, it can create a whole other set of problems for your body. And when you thought it can’t get any worst it does! Due to all the modern conveniences, our activity level has dropped dramatically also. 

We don’t walk as much as we used to and we don’t challenge our muscles as much as we used too.  It has been estimated that the average person I America burns 300 calories less per day than 30 years ago.  The problem with that is that your body was meant to be active, and when is not, it runs into problems like the following.   The average person the does not challenge their muscles on a regular basis loses ½ pound of muscle every year after the age of 25.  As you might know, the loss of muscle translates to a slower metabolic rate and weight gain.  Also due to the lack of physical activity your bones deteriorate faster than if you were active.  Another effect of inactivity is the weakening of your heart and circulatory system, making you more susceptible for heart attacks and strokes.  Also your lung capacity goes down and the blood’s ability to carry oxygen diminishes.  These are just few of the problems with inactivity. 

Knowing the above facts, isn’t obvious why we have a weight problem in America today.  Do you still think is our genes or our eating and activity habits?  It my opinion, if you start eating the foods our bodies was meant to eat and start being more active like our bodies were meant to be, the vast majority of the people would lose weight and improve their health no problem.  Yes I would agree that there are medical conditions that prevent some people from losing weight, but even those people with the proper medical attention can lose weight and improve their health.  For the rest of the people it is only a matter of how well they need to eat and how active they need to be to lose weight.  The difference of the amount of activity and how good someone needs to be with their diet to lose weight is due to genetic differences.  So your genes can make it easier or harder to lose weight, but not impossible.

So what is the permanent solution to our weight problem?
A permanent solution to our weight problem will have to integrate back into our lives the foods our body was mean to eat and activities our body was meant to do, and there is no way around it.   There are 4 key components that will make up for everything your body needs but no longer gets due to our dietary and activity changes in our everyday life.  I call these 4 key components; “The 4 Keys to Permanent Weight Loss” For any weight loss program to be successful at permanently eliminating the weight problem has to include all 4 keys.  The 4 Keys are:  Keys #1 some form of resistance training, key #2 some form of aerobics, key #3 proper nutrition that includes plenty of vegetables, fruits and beans, and key #4 consistency.

About Consistency
If you want lifelong health and a body that you are proud of you must stay consistent with your exercise program and your healthy diet.  The secret to consistency is making exercise and a healthy diet habitual.  There is no way around it!

Six Facts you should know about habits

Fact #1:  Your current habits have gotten you to the shape you are in today.  If you are not happy with the shape you are in today you must change the habits that got you here in the first place.   That is the only way you can achieve lasting results.

Fact #2:  A habit is like a program that runs on automatic, with very little thought on your conscious mind, which also translates into very little mental effort on your part.

Fact #3: To change or eliminate any habit requires effort, not just physical effort but mental effort.  The more changes you are trying to make at once the more physical and mental effort it requires.  As the new action is becoming a habit, less and less physical and mental effort is required to keep up the new action.

Fact #4:  Effort is a form of discomfort, and naturally our body tries to avoid discomfort.  The amount of discomfort and the length of discomfort anybody can tolerate, varies greatly from person to person.  When you exceed your tolerance level for discomfort, you burn out and quit the action or actions that are causing you that discomfort. 

Fact #5:  Most people cannot tolerate high amounts of discomfort for a long time, but most people can tolerate small amount of discomfort for a long time.  Remember Fact #3, as the time goes on the amount of effort required to keep up a new habit goes down, which means the discomfort is reduced over time and eventually the new action is not a discomfort at all.

Fact #6:  The key to developing new habits is introduce them slowly and few at a time, so you can keep the amount of effort required as low as possible, thus keeping the discomfort lower, thus greatly increasing your chance of sticking to the new actions long enough to become a habit. 

About our weight loss approach
What makes our approach to permanent weight loss so effective is the fact that it incorporates all 4 keys to permanent weight loss and also takes into consideration all 6 facts about developing new habits.

You are invited to come in for a Free Fitness Consultation
If weight loss is your major fitness goal, you will greatly benefit from this free fitness consultation.  At this consultation we will go over your current lifestyle and identify the major causes of your weight problem.  Some causes are obvious but some are not as obvious.  Once we identified the root cause of your weight problem, we will create a plan of action of how you can eliminate them without burning out.  Burnout, as you know, is a big problem when people try to change their eating habits and add exercise into their life.  We have a unique way we approach weight loss that decreases the chance of burning out and at the same time greatly increases the chance of keeping the weight off after you lose it.   This consultation will enable anyone interested in our services to make an informed decision if our weight loss approach is the right approach for them.  Absolutely no obligation to join!

 To schedule your Free Fitness Consultation, call us at (203) 778-9545 or email us at olympus@liveyourwaythin.com.  If you choose to email us please include in your email the best times that works for you for an appointment.  The consultation usually runs around 30 minutes.