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You’ve been thinking about this for months.
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“I really need to lose this extra weight. I can’t buy new clothes again.”
“There’s no way I’m going to spend another year missing out on going hiking and playing pick-up with the guys.”
Changing behaviors is a funny process. Sometimes the “thinking about it” phase can last months, even years. Finally you’ve taken the leap. You’ve moved onto the next phase – taking action! You are the closest you’ve ever been towards achieving your transformation goals.
At Capital Strength we are committed to making sure that you keep up the momentum! We’re going to give you some expert tips on how to make sure this transformation is the one that sticks – tips that we use ourselves!
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Patience
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There is a reason this is tip #1. In a world where bold claims are what’s needed to grab your attention, we’ve forgotten that a total-body transformation can take more than a mere 2 weeks. Trust the process. If your goal is to lose fat, think of it this way – your body didn’t gain all those extra pounds in 2 weeks. Why would you expect to lose them in that short time frame?
Packing on thick slabs of muscle takes work. Look at your favorite body builders or athletes – they’ve been in the game for years. Give the weights and your body the respect it deserves and allow time to do its thing. Anyone telling you 20 pounds of muscle or a 315 pound bench press is just 30 days away is throwing you for a loop.
This can be tough – but give your program a good 2 to 3 months to work. If you’re not seeing any results, talk to your trainer. It may be time to re-evaluate.
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Prep your food in advance
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In the trainer’s world, Sundays are the universal “food prep” day. We go grocery shopping then spend a couple of hours chopping, dicing and making ready-to-go meals. It’s a real life-saver when you’re crunched for time in the work week. Here are just a few ideas for things you can do on your food prep day:
- Make a big batch of mashed sweet potatoes. If your goal is to lose fat, go light on the milk and oil.
- Grill chicken breasts, burgers and other meats in big batches, then wrap them up ready to be microwaved for lunch or dinner.
- Dice onions and peppers to add to a quick omelette. You can even freeze omelettes and have them ready to go in the morning.
- Make a big pot of soup and put it in serving-size containers ready to grab for lunch at work.
- Prep crock pot bags: put all of your recipe ingredients in a bag, ready to be dumped in the crock pot before you head off to work.
Just a little work on Sunday can prime you for a whole week of fat-melting and muscle-building meals. Don’t see any ideas you like? Ask your trainer for some ideas tailored to your tastes!
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Take accurate, relevant measurements
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Many clients come to us and say their goal is to lose weight or gain weight. Most of the time, that’s not actually what the client wants. They want to either lose fat or gain muscle – often both!
So why do so many people track their progress towards these goals with the scale?
The number on the scale can’t tell you how much fat you have or how much muscle you’ve gained. Scale weight can go up or down depending on a lot of factors outside of fat or muscle – how much water you’re carrying around that day, what time of day you decided to weigh yourself, what scale you’re using, the last time you went to the bathroom, what you ate for lunch – the list goes on.
So rather than rely on the scale only, take some alternative measurements:
- If your goal is aesthetic, TAKE PICTURES! Many clients are reluctant to do this at first, but trust us, you’ll want those pictures later. Some spandex shorts and a tight top work well to best see the changes. The less or tighter clothing you can get away with, the better!
- Use a tape measure. If you want to lose inches on your waist or gain them in your biceps, you need to know where you’re starting at.
- Similarly, use pant or shirt sizes. There are many clients who gained scale weight but lost pant sizes.
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Lean on your coach
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Having a tough time getting up the motivation to cook or get to the gym? Give us a call or shoot a text!
Have a question about your training program or nutrition? Give us a call or shoot a text!
Looking for a second opinion on a certain food or exercise? You know what to do.
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It’s the start of a new you!
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Keep the momentum going. Use these tips and your transformation is guaranteed. You are our next success story!