I think far too many people begin a weight loss or fitness program with unrealistic expectations.  Men often fool themselves into believing (on some subconscious level) that a few weeks of bench pressing is going to turn them into the guy on the cover of Men’s Health.  Women, on the other hand, often think that a particular workout (such as yoga or Pilates) is going to make them “longer and leaner”.

Now I’m all for believing that great things are possible for all of us (both physical and otherwise).  But on the other hand I am also a realist.  Therefore, I always ask my clients to do an honest assessment of what fit might look like on them. 

Unfortunately, the media (women’s magazines mostly) help perpetuate the notion that if you do this workout for a month you are going to look like a particular celebrity or model.  But fitness doesn’t make people gorgeous (wise selection of parents usually does that), it makes people fit. 

For example, 8 weeks of a fitness walking program is going to do amazing things for you by potentially  decreasing: your risk of heart disease, your blood cholesterol, your blood pressure, your body fat percentage… on and on.  It will not, however, turn you into a bathing suit model.  Going into a program expecting to end up looking like Gisele by the end of it, is a sure-fire recipe for disappointment.

It is essential to remember to measure yourself by your own yardstick.  For example, if you have short legs…nothing is going to make them longer (they’d need to replace your femur to do that — sounds painful

– and messy), but exercise sure can make them leaner(which actually can give the illusion of greater length).  Likewise, if you have smaller breasts, exercise is not going give you massive cleavage (although having defined pecs actually can give the illusion of greater cleavage). 

The point is that being healthy and fit turns you into the best version of yourself.  Not somebody else.  Understand this from the get-go — embrace it and get inspired by it.  Remind yourself, you’re not aiming for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, you’re going for you looking better and feeling more comfortable in a bathing suit than you ever have before.  And (far more importantly to my mind) you are going for you being the healthiest version of yourself that you’ve been in years (maybe ever).

By starting with goals that are based around what is and what realistically could be you are setting yourself up for success and tuning out the culturally reinforced notions of what you are “supposed” to look like.   You’re supposed to look like you — only better .

  Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

Working out and staying in shape isn’t something that you do for other people– its something you do just for you! You have to want it just for yourself, you have to feel you truly deserve it — and you have to feel that you are important enough to make it (and YOU) a priority.

Unfortunately, far too many of us don’t feel like we deserve to look and feel in the best shape possible. We under-exercise and overeat for long periods of time — only becoming concerned with the situation when a wedding, a reunion or bathing suit season looms in the distance. Then suddenly we become concerned about what other people might think about our appearance.

What if we wanted to be in the best shape possible all of the time — just for ourselves — because we felt that we truly deserved to feel good about the bodies we inhabit?

I think some of this is just a function of being female. Most of the women the I know are very giving by nature…to our kids, our partners, our friends, our co-workers, our pets, our community…the list goes on and on. But too many times we put taking care of our health and our bodies at the absolute bottom of the to-do list. I can promise you one thing. If you don’t think that taking care of your own body is a priority — no one else will.

I once heard somewhere that it is a good idea to periodically take stock of how you treat yourself on a day-to-day basis. How do you talk to yourself? How do you treat yourself? What do you do for yourself? Do you do things for yourself on a regular basis, because as the famous L’Oreal ad says “you’re worth it”? Or do you grind yourself into the ground taking care of other folks needs without ever thinking of your own. The fact is, most of us treat virtual strangers with more consideration and respect than we show ourselves.

Today’s Action Challenge:

You are entitled to have some time to yourself (even 20 minutes) each and every day. You can’t keep giving and giving to others without replenishing the proverbial “well”. Just a half an hour a day that you designate to do something for your body will pay you huge dividends in how you look and feel about yourself. It doesn’t have to be a 2 hour marathon workout at the gym 15 minutes away. It could be:

• A brisk walk around the neighborhood
• 15-minutes of the sun salutation
• Stopping by a farmer’s market to get some fabulous organic produce Meditating for 10 minutes
• A bubble bath
• Taking advantage of an empty house — to dance around like a lunatic for bit (not that I would know anything about this personally, mind you

The point is to designate some time that is yours alone (ideally, each and every day) to show appreciation for your body. Regardless of your time constraints, resolve to do one small gesture…something kind to your body perhaps something that only you know about. And do it — just for yourself.

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, author of Fit + Female:  The Complete Fitness and Nutrition Game Plan for Your Unique Body Type and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women.  It’s a first of its kind program designed to fit into a busy women’s life.  Lose weight and look great — 90 Day Unconditional Money Back Guarantee!!

If you are trying to lose weight and having some challenges you are probably missing at least one of the three secrets to fat loss.  Despite what many people believe, no one thing alone will help you burn body fat and keep it off.  Body fat comes off as the result of the interplay of three primary things:

1. Eating only as many calories as your body needs, so that you do not end up storing excess calories as body fat.   Evolution has made us masters at storing up the extra food that we ingest beyond what we need so that we won’t starve to death.  Great for the survival of the species…not so great for bathing suit season .
2. Engaging in regular “metabolic training” (3-5 times per week).  Metabolic training is the Y2K term for what we use to refer to as “cardio”.  The difference is that there is now a lot more evidence to suggest that it is important to also include interval training in your program to  challenge not only the “aerobic system” but also the “anaerobic systems” (active when you are working out at a pace you can’t maintain for very long).  When you interval train you alternate between easier “active rest” periods and harder “work” intervals.  This trains the entire spectrum of your energy systems so you become more fit — it also helps you burn the maximum amount of calories in the minimum amount of time.
3. Doing regular resistance training (2-3 times per week) so that you can increase (and maintain) lean body tissue.  Lifting “light weights” won’t do it.  If they are “light” for you, your body won’t have to get stronger to move the weight.   People with good muscle tone have a reduce appearance (and presence for that matter) of cellulite, their bodies look more toned and it is easier for them to maintain their weight because muscle tissue is more metabolically active.

Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women