Lesson 10: Resetting Your Threshold

For everyone who has ever attempted to lose weight there is a threshold they reach which prompts them to think about losing that weight. That threshold can be a number on the scale, the size label in their jeans, or simply not fitting into their clothes the way they like. Whatever the telltale sign is, for those of us who have tried to lose weight we have that threshold.

What happens most times is that we lose the weight and keep it off for a little bit, but then somehow we end up right back where we started, or perhaps even heavier! Why? Well, because we didn’t reset our threshold. Our internal trigger to straighten up and fly right is still set way up at the top of the scale!

We know that we can’t constantly be living on salad and fruit, so we indulge ourselves every now and again. But then, we forget that we used to be fat and how we got that way, and we have a few more snacks. When we gain weight, we rationalize by telling ourselves that we’re still smaller than we once were, so it’s no big deal and we can always go back to rabbit food and lose the weight again. No big deal. Then one day we wake up and we’re back in our fat pants again or perhaps even shopping for new fat pants.

Time to reset your threshold! You may remember from my first blog that my old threshold was 200 pounds. I have now lost 30 pounds and am trying to maintain my weight through the holidays before setting another weight loss goal. In order to maintain my current weight loss and not slip back into my size 14 jeans I have reset my threshold to 174 pounds. If I step on the scale and I am at or near 174 then it’s time to take the dogs on a walk, or skip desert for the next two nights. Time to do something… anything to make sure I don’t undo all my hard work.

What’s your new threshold?

Lesson 9: Take a Break and Maintain

The road to Healthy is a long one. Every now and again you need a break from all the hard work you’ve been doing to get to Healthy. Now, this isn’t license to eat whatever you want and to stop taking care of yourself. Remember, this is a new lifestyle.

What I mean by taking a break, is taking a break from your weight loss. Instead of trying to go full speed ahead until you’ve reached your goal weight, try taking some time to maintain the weight loss you’ve already accomplished. We all need weekends to recuperate from a long week at work, and the same is true for weight loss. We need periods of rest from constantly trying to make that scale move. Taking a break from weight loss, will also help you to practice your new permanent healthy habits and see if you have them all down, or if there are a few you need to work on.

While on your weight loss break, still weigh yourself every so often to make sure you stay within a few pounds of the weight you were at when you started your break. Keep an eye on your water intake, food intake, and exercise, to make sure you are keeping up with your healthy habits, though you don’t have to track everything as stringently as you would if you were trying to lose weight. If the scale moves too far in the wrong direction, simply try harder the next day to get in some extra exercise, or fewer calories, or more water.

Taking a break to maintain can be helpful especially during the holidays when there tends to be more food around. When you’re trying to lose weight, you have to have a calorie deficit. But, if you’re trying to maintain your weight, you are bale to eat a little more without feeling guilty that the scale may not have moved by your next weigh in. So, take a moment to review your new healthy habits and commit them to your memory, and then set them aside for a while and take a break to maintain. The road to Healthy will still be there when you’re ready to continue on your trip.

Lesson 8: Strength Training

If you’re a woman you’ve probably heard how you should be strength training to help prevent osteoporosis, and it’s true. However, I’ll bet that you’re still not strength training, and it’s probably because you think you may bulk up and look like the hulk. Well, let me allay your fears. You’re not going to bulk up… you don’t have the hormones. The bulkiest you could possibly get is like Madonna, and that’s still pretty bulky for a woman!

On top of preventing osteoporosis strength training can help you burn more calories. I’m sure you’ve also heard that muscle burns more calories than fat, and it’s true. A pound of muscle burns about three times more calories per day than a pound of fat. Now, while that may sound impressive, the actual numbers are 6 and 2 calories burned per day for a pound of muscle and fat respectively. So don’t go eating a Twinkie and expect your muscles to automatically burn those calories for you.

But seriously… strength training overall is good for you. Muscles are what support your body, helps you sit and stand upright, and helps you complete your day to day activities like making your bed! If you didn’t have muscles you’d be a big puddle of internal organs, bones, fat, and skin!

Here are some basics on strength training:

Rest between strength workouts. Strength training actually creates little tears in your muscles. When these tears repair themselves your body is building up more muscle. So give your body time to repair it self. You shouldn’t train the same muscle group two days in a row.
You should be lifting enough weight to actually challenge yourself. If you can do 30 repetitions of the same exercise and feel like you could just keep on going… you’re not lifting enough weight to actually be effective! You should only be able to do 8-12 repetitions before you feel like you couldn’t possible do another repetition with good form. This is called temporary muscle fatigue. You should do 8-12 reps then rest for a few minutes before doing 8-12 more. Each 8-12 reps is called a set, and you should be doing 2-3 sets of each exercise.
Make sure you are keeping your workout balanced. If you work only your abs, you’re going to feel a bit off balance and that is because you are. Work opposing muscles. If you work your back, make sure to build your chest and abs too, biceps and triceps… you get the point!


Now, I know that this all sounds really complicated. But it’s really not. You only have to strength train 2-3 days per week to reap the full benefits of strength training, and you only have to do about 6 different exercises each workout. So pick an exercise for your arms, shoulders, chest, back, core, and legs, and you’re set! That’s it, that’s all there is to it. Just be sure to change your workout every few weeks so you don’t get bored!

One last point… strength training combined with proper eating and a bit of cardio can really help to give you that toned and tightened look. Drop just one of these variables, and you can probably still look slim and trim… but all three of these combined can give you that body you’ve always wanted!