Often people will say to me that they go to the gym a couple times a week, and also invest about an hour on the treadmill a couple times a week and they see no weight loss, or muscle gains, or muscle definition.

Then I ask them what they eat, and their answers are typically junk like double cheeseburgers, deluxe thick crust pizzas, bags of potato chips, french fries, lots of soda, sweets, craft beer, plenty of deep fried foods, and white bread…

Then I ask them how long have them been working out, and often their answers are 2 to 3 months.

Here’s the deal, a person didn’t gain the weight overnight. Why would they expect to lose that weight that took many months to years to gain, to even be possible to shed in a mere 2 to 3 months? In addition, no matter how much a person works out, a person cannot out work a good healthy eating habit. These are physiological, medical, and statistical facts! Results are 80% or more in diet.

First of all if you want to lose weight you MUST be in a calorie deficit for a measurably period of time. Consume some good, proven, and scientifically tested supplements and vitamins. Eat until you are adequately content, and not full. Stop the sugary drinks and sodas. Eliminate most, if not all white enriched breads, step away from fried foods (go grilled, roasted, or baked, with no breading if possible), and processed foods as much as possible if not almost entirely for a while. Step away from the regular pastas and go with veggie pasta. It tastes nearly the same. If you cannot give up pizza, then go with thin crust, and minimal meat, or opt out of meat, and do a veggie thin crust pizza or better yet go with a cauliflower crust. If you love your cheeseburgers, and other red meats, then choose as lean as possible (i.e. 90% lean), remove the bun, go light on the condiments, and try leaner types of cheese. Choose Almond Milk, instead of regular fatty milk. Choose Greek yogurt with fresh fruit, and honey, instead of ice cream. My favorite way of eating that I am often able to maintain is the “Mediterranean way” using the “Mediterranean Diet” foods. Test out Intermittent Fasting (aka “IF”). You have to make healthy eating a way of life, not a temporary fix.

Two days a week is not enough to get good results. If you are over weight, or obese, and want to cut, increase muscle size, and strength; I recommend 4 to 6 days a week and isolate muscle groups every other day such as this example: Mondays= Chest & Triceps, Tuesdays= Legs & Core, Wednesdays= Back & Biceps, Thursdays= Legs & Core, Fridays=Chest & Triceps, Saturdays=Back & Biceps, Sundays= Complete Day of rest and recovery. Do cardio at the end of your weight lifting but not every day. Choose maybe 2 to 3 days a week. You often burn more calories with heavy weight lifting than you do on a treadmill (except for “HiiTs”), especially with leg work outs. You also want to save your glycogen for the weight training, verses expending it all on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical. Use the treadmill at the beginning for a fast walk for about 5 minutes for a warm up. Do light dynamic stretching and not static for a warm up. Start also counting your steps, calories and Macros with a Fitbit or other similar tracking device and start with getting 3 miles (6k steps) for the first month or so, then work up to 5 miles (10k steps) a day and strive to maintain 5 miles (10k) a day, every day. It is important that when a person is working out in this manner, or up to this manner, to stay well hydrated (no less than 1/2 to 1 gallon of water a day), and consume a lot of protein. No less than .80 per pound of body weight. Many trainers suggest 1.0 to 1.2 of body weight.

Now you may be thinking this is all impossible. Although you should most definitely check with your medical doctor and get his approval before launching into any exercise routing or eating habit, however I assure you it is possible as I do it. Now I am up there in years, broke 15 bones in a motorcycle accident at the end of 2016, tore my rotary cuff and dislocated a shoulder in karate tournaments, hyper extended my knees several times, including my elbow, in karate, told by my doctor I have arthritis in my hips… However, since my new years resolutions of #getfitstayfit started on 1/1/2020, I have lost over 40lbs, and kept it off. I am down well over 4 waist sizes, gained 1 to 3 inches in muscle size, lowered my resting heart rate by over 20 pts., and feel nearly as I did in my 20s.

To be candid, you will have to embrace the suck, and suck up the pain due to sucking up too much junk foods, and being sedentary for too long and/or too often. You will need to stop making excuses, or talking about what you need to do such as lose weight, get in shape, etc… And do it, right now, and stay with it to make it a way of life. You deserve it, and so do your loved ones. You can experience the pain of discipline, or experience the pain of regret. It is your choice.

Write out a plan that you can measure, get an accountability partner, or hire a personal trainer; then act upon that plan right away, and make it away of life for a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life. Start right now. Getting fit and staying fit is a lot more fun with a friend or family member. They can help motivate you and you them, as well as keep you accountable. Consider hiring a personal trainer that is certified, and not only gets results but lives out their own results.

Be patient, determined, diligent, and disciplined. Please keep in mind the results will not be overnight, not even over 3 months, but in about 6 months you will start seeing some results, and at about a year you will be doing much better, and possibly hit near your goal. In 2 years you should be there or at least almost there. But don’t stop then, make it a way of life. You and your loved ones are worth it.

In addition, getting fit and staying fit is biblical. So for those whom believe in the bible, and it’s foundational truths, or anyone of most any faith that thinks it is vain, selfish or narcissistic to get fit and stay fit would be inaccurate. Yes we are to love God, love people just as we love ourselves as the bible verses and even commandments dictate. However, do you catch the we are to love ourselves. Remember, we are God’s creation, and our bodies are referenced as temples in which we are to take good care of maintaining. We are also not just physical beings, we are also mental and spiritual. We should keep all three aspects healthy and fit.

Here are some verses that support getting fit and remaining fit;

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” — 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” — Romans 12:1–2

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” — 1 Corinthians 9:24–27

“Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ “ — Deuteronomy 1:13

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,” — Hebrews 12:11–12

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.” — Isaiah 35:3 “A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might,” — Proverbs 24:5

“At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.” — Daniel 1:15