5 Signs of Weight Loss Success!

November 6, 2012 By 8 Comments

Today’s guest post is by Davey Wavey’s good friend and spiritual weight release coach, Diane Petrella. Diane is also one of the contributors to The Davey Wavey Weight Loss Program.

If you monitor your weight loss progress, you probably look to your bathroom scale for feedback. Or perhaps you gauge pounds lost by how your clothes feel. While these visible indicators show you’re releasing weight, they don’t reveal the whole story. As any yo-yo dieter knows, these progress markers can come and go. Some other signs of success, however, aren’t so obvious, but once you achieve them they’re with you forever. 

A missing element in many weight loss approaches is developing your inner strength. You’ll reach your weight loss goal more easily when you erase negativity and doubt from your mind. Here are five signs that prove you’ve done so.

1. You Have Patience

Many people feel discouraged when they hit a plateau or the pounds don’t come off fast enough. They then give up too quickly. Permanent weight loss takes time. When you feel defeated re-evaluate your nutrition and exercise plan, and have patience. The longer it takes to release weight, the more time you have to change old ways of thinking that contributed to gaining weight in the first place. Patience helps you do that. You not only lose weight responsibly, you become a more confident person in the process.

2. You Persevere Through Set-backs

As you develop new lifestyle habits, you may falter sometimes. We all do. It doesn’t matter that you slip; what matters is what you do about it. Use set-backs as a valuable opportunity to strengthen your strong side. For example, if you missed exercising for several weeks, tell yourself with no judgment, “Tomorrow is a new day to keep moving forward.” Each time you persevere, you develop confidence. You weaken that taunting inner voice that says, “See, you can’t do this.” Perseverance responds, “Yes, I can”.

3. You Accept Your Body

Accepting your body doesn’t mean you tolerate being overweight. It means you honor your body as it is, while helping it become the best it can be. If it’s a big leap right now to “love” or even “like” your body, that’s OK. What’s important is to respect it. That means speaking to your body with kind words. It means giving it nutritious foods and movement so it thrives. You’ll reach your weight loss goals when you stop rebelling against your body. As you accept your body as the treasured gift it is, taking good care of it becomes your only option.

4. You Focus on Your Goal

Focus on where you’re headed instead of obsessing about where you are. You can’t move forward if your mind dwells on self-critical thoughts about being overweight. What we focus our attention on grows. Shift negative attention away from your current weight and concentrate on the positive lifestyle changes you’re making. This inspires you to succeed. When your desire to look forward overshadows the tendency to complain about where you are, you’ll reach your goal more easily.

5. You Make Yourself a Priority

To achieve weight loss success, your well-being must be of prime importance. This means setting boundaries. For example, if you plan to exercise after work and your friend asks to go shopping, what do you do? Do you skip exercise or do you skip shopping? If breaking promises to yourself becomes a pattern, you’re either not committed to your goals or you make other people’s needs more important than your own. When you make yourself a priority, however, you’ll not only reach your weight loss goal, your success will last forever.

What are your signs of success? Let me know in the comments below.

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How to Stay at Your Goal Weight.

August 9, 2012 By 4 Comments

Hi Davey!

First and foremost, I just want to say that I’m a huge fan of yours. :) I’ve been working out hard and eating healthy for the past six months and have finally dropped the 40 pounds to get to my goal weight. My question is should I change my workout regimen to stay at my goal weight and do lighter exercises? I want to obviously stay where I am, but I’m not sure how to keep the weight off.

From,
Alex

Does reaching your weight loss goal mean it's time to ease up at the gym?

Hey Alex!

Congratulations on reaching your goal weight. Though I’m sure there are many envious blog buddies out there, we’re all happy to celebrate your transformation and achievement!

As you probably know, weight loss occurs when we have a calorie deficit. In other words, we lose weight when we take in (i.e., eat) fewer calories than our bodies burn. By eating smarter and moving more, we’re able to create the calorie deficit that results in weight loss.

For most people, it’s worth noting that the calorie deficit is fairly small and may only be a few hundred calories. Over time, these few hundred calories add up to long term and sustainable weight loss.

Once a goal weight is reached, it’s time to close the calorie deficit. Though easing up on your workout would mean fewer calories burned and thus close the calorie deficit, I’d encourage you to continue pushing yourself and training hard. Going to the gym is a wonderful way to honor your movement-craving body - and it will continue to transform and shape your body. Rather than easing up on your workout, I’d recommend modifying your diet to close the calorie deficit. In all actuality, it probably just means an extra small snack each day.

Again, congratulations on your transformation! I’d wish you good luck on maintaining your weight – but there’s no luck involved. Just continued mindfulness, effort, persistence and dedication!

Love,
Davey Wavey

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When and How to Get Started?

January 3, 2012 By 2 Comments

Start here, and start now. 6 months from now, you'll be very glad you did.

It’s the new year and you’ve made a resolution to live healthier. Great! But when and how do you start?

The when is easy. The answer is, of course, now. The present moment is the only moment in which you’ll ever live – try as we might to live in the past or future. All decisions are made in the present moment and all actions are taken in the present moment.

And if you do act right now, in six or twelve months, you’ll be very glad that you did. Just think if you made (and stuck to) this resolution a year ago; you’d already be enjoying a transformed life. But instead of looking back, let’s stick to this present moment and know that the time for change is now.

The how can seem trickier. And indeed, the how will be different from person to person, and it really depends on your goals. As I’ve mentioned a million times, I advise my clients to commit their goals to writing (it makes it official!) and abide by the S.M.A.R.T. philosophy of specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals.

But while the details of what you need to do to make your S.M.A.R.T. goal a reality can seem overwhelming, remind yourself that all you need to do is take the first step. The realization of a goal is really the sum total of many small steps – and you just need to take the first one. It doesn’t seem so daunting, does it?

So the bottom line is this: Right now, take the first step. Just one step – whatever it might be for you. It might be the hardest step to take, but it’s also the most important.

P.S. There are only 48 hours left to use discount code “youtube” and save 25% off The Davey Wavey Weight Loss Program. It’s been my most successful product launch ever – and I’ve been getting tons of great feedback. Snag your copy today before the discount ends!

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Group Fitness Classes Vs. Individual Training.

November 24, 2011 By 4 Comments

Is it better in groups?

Dear Davey,

For the last 2 months I have been working out through class exercise groups and have had great results. Currently I do 3 days of spin class for cardio and 3 days of BodyPump for strength training. I love my classes, but I am starting to plateau. Is it time to break away from the class atmosphere and start my own individual workout routine?

Thanks,
Kevin

Hey Kevin,

As you’ve discovered, group fitness classes are great. I like group classes for a number of reasons:

  1. They are fun!
  2. The instructor pushes you.
  3. You learn new exercises.
  4. You can socialize and make friends.
  5. They’re great at building confidence and skill for beginners.
  6. They hold you to a regular schedule.
  7. The instructor can teach proper technique.

But for more advanced exercisers, it’s often advantageous to focus the bulk of your workout on individual training. I, for example, take a group class or two per week – but most of my training is individual.

Why?

As an exerciser, you have individual goals. If you’ve never taken the time to actually articulate and write down those goals, it’s definitely something that I’d recommend. When you’re in a group class, each person in that class also has a set of goals; these goals may or may not be in alignment with what you’re looking to achieve. Moreover, each person is operating from a different level of fitness – and each person has their own set of health issues or complications. Considering all this, the instructor will put together a very general fitness program, but it’s not necessarily the most effective program to deliver on your goals.

The BodyPump class, for example, may be focused on muscle endurance – and you may be looking to build muscle size, specifically in your biceps. It’s very easy to achieve this in an individual setting, but it’s not something you’ll get in a group setting. Or, perhaps, you have a specific muscular imbalance that needs to be addressed. It’s unlikely to be corrected through a group class.

If the transition from group classes to individual training seems scary or overwhelming, I recommend giving yourself the gift of a personal trainer. Even if you book a handful of sessions, the trainer will be able to put together a great workout program for you and show you how proper technique. Or, you can always download my Ultimate Guide to Working Out to create a custom workout program around your goals.

I’m not trying to discount group classes; they can be a wonderful and very effective – especially for beginners. But for more advanced exercisers, focusing on individual training will provide the best results.

Love,
Davey

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Breaking Down Big Fitness Goals into Little Steps Forward.

August 23, 2011 By 3 Comments

Looking down toward Block Island's Corn Cove.

Last weekend, I went with my family to Block Island – a small chunk of land some 13 miles off the coast of my home state, Rhode Island. Block Island is a wonderful and largely untouched island (it’s considered on of the last 12 great places in the Western Hemisphere by the Nature Conservancy) with pristine beaches, hiking trails and scenic vistas that can’t be rivaled.

We followed a small path through the island’s bluffs to a beach known as Corn Cove. To get to the beach, visitors must descend a steep, 100-step winding staircase through eroding dunes and then scale a 25-foot cascade of split boulders. When considered as a whole, the task at hand seems overwhelmingly large. Looking down at the beach below from high atop the bluffs, it might even strike visitors – my mom and aunt included – as impossible.

But in actuality, the goal of getting down to the beach can be broken down into hundreds of small steps. And in and of themselves, none of those steps are actually that difficult; they’re doable. As visitors take their time and descend one step at a time, they’re soon surprised by their progress.

The same can be said about fitness. Our goals might seem unachievable or insurmountable – but in actuality, they’re really the sum total of many small and totally doable small steps.

To want to lose 20 pounds, run a 6-minute mile or add 15 pounds of muscle are all lofty goals. But really, each of those goals can be broken down into individual workouts. While each step to the beach or each workout might not seem like much, the cumulative effect of these steps is real progress.

Sometimes getting caught up in the big picture can paralyze us from moving forward. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When your goals seem overwhelming, remember that it’s only about taking the very next step.

And then the next

And the next.

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How to Reach Your Fitness Goals.

August 4, 2011 By 16 Comments

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu

Though the above quote works on many levels, I love how it applies to fitness.

My posture isn’t the best; I tend to walk on the outside edge of my feet with the toes pigeoned slightly outward. I often lock my knees and roll my shoulders forward. Such seemingly minor (and relatively unnoticeable) dysfunctions might not seem significant – but when they’re multiplied by the thousands of steps that I take each day, a path emerges.

Moreover, I’m an avid runner. Running several miles a day takes a toll on the human body and serves to further amplify my body’s dysfunctions.

As Lao Tzu reminds me, if I continue on my current path, I’ll probably get where I’m heading. And where I’m heading is in the direction of debilitating injury or joint replacements. It might not happen today – but as you extend the timeline of life further out, the likelihood of injury increases exponentially.

When looking through the lens of time, where I’m heading becomes clear. And so I’ve taken Lao Tzu’s advice and changed my direction. While I continue to run and exercise in the ways that I enjoy, I’ve incorporated Pilates and yoga into my fitness program. Such practices increase my flexibility and help to improve and correct my posture and various dysfunctions.

It begs the question: Where are you heading? Perhaps you’re heading in the direction of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Or perhaps in the direction of becoming obsessively thin. Or perhaps towards stalled or plateaued results due to a stale routine. The destination is different for all of us.

If where you’re heading isn’t where you want to be, ask yourself: What can I do to change course?

Tell me where you are heading in the comments below. I’ll select a random commentator to win a free copy of my Ultimate Guide to Working Out; it will help you get where you want to go. :-)

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Part II: Frustrated By Lack of Results? Create a Better Game Plan.

March 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you are frustrated by a lack of results, it’s probably one of two things. Either it’s an issue with your goals, or you need a better game plan. Yesterday, in part I, we discussed the importance of creating S.M.A.R.T. goals. Today, in part II, I’ll show you how to connect your workout routine to your fitness goals.

How to Create a Workout Plan that Achieves Your Goals

You have a goal or set of goals. It seems intuitive, but virtually everything that you do at the gym must be connected to those goals. Some people think that going to the gym and doing whatever is a means to achieving their fitness goals – but it’s not.

If your goals involve bigger muscles, for example, your workout must be intentionally structured around that. To get bigger muscles, you’ll want to stick with free weight exercises that involve either dumbbells or barbells. Moreover, you’ll be doing a low number of repetitions (probably between 4 – 8 reps) at a heavy amount of weight. You’ll want your muscles to be fatigued when you perform your last set, and you’ll need to constantly be progressing to heavier and heavier amounts of resistance. Most likely you’ll do different muscle groups on different days, and your cardio will probably come in the form of jogging, running or sprinting in intervals on the treadmill.

If you’re looking to maintain muscles, then your workout must be structured around that, too. When it comes to strength training, don’t increase the amount of resistance for those muscles you are looking to maintain. And, you’ll probably perform 10 or more reps since the weight will be only moderately heavy.

If you’re looking to lose weight, it’s important to build a well-balanced workout schedule that includes cardio and strength training (many people forget about the importance of strength training when trying to lose weight). Intervals are also great for releasing weight, and you’ll probably spend a higher percentage of your time doing cardio than your muscle-building counterparts.

Everyone’s goals are specific, and it’s beyond the scope of this blog post to create a personal workout routine for you (that’s what my Ultimate Guide to Working Out is for), but the point is this: Going to the gym and just doing whatever is not enough – each rep of each set of each exercise of each day at the gym must be intentionally connected to your goal or goals. Know what it takes to get where you want to go – and then do it!

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How to Create SMART Goals.

March 16, 2011 By 5 Comments

If you’re frustrated by your lack of progress or results, setting SMART goals could help get you there!

Spring is in the air, and the energy and enthusiasm of the season is palpable. As it turns out, Spring is a great time to re-evaluate your fitness progress, and to take a critical look at yourself and how far you’ve come. Or, in some cases, how far you haven’t come.

For those people that are struggling to reach their goals, the issue is likely one of two things. It’s either an issue with the goal itself, or with the plan for achieving it.

Evaluate Your Goal

Today, let’s start by looking at your goal (and tomorrow, in part II, we’ll look at your plan). I help my clients develop SMART goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely.

  • Specific: We can’t create a map if you don’t know where you want to go. Saying, “I want to look better” is abstract. Saying, “I want my waist to be 2 inches smaller” is more specific. Make your goals as specific and concise as humanly possible.
  • Measurable: To track progress, you need to be able to measure it. We can measure fitness success in inches, pounds, increases in energy, clothes fitting differently, the mirror, before and after pictures, pant/dress sizes, etc. As you think about your goals, keep “measurablity” in mind – see if you can build the measurements right into the goal. Instead of saying, “I want to increase my biceps,” you could say, “I want to increase my biceps by two inches.”
  • Attainable: If you only make 30 minutes of time available for exercise in your busy schedule, don’t expect to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The goals that you set need to be “reality checked” by the amount of time you’re willing to put into working out, the resources available to you, what’s healthy (i.e., losing 20 lbs a week is not healthy), age, what’s humanly possible, etc. Save yourself the frustration by picking realistic, attainable goals. On the other hand, don’t make them too attainable, either.
  • Relevant: The goals you select should be relevant to your life and your wants. The more relevant the goal, the easier it is to put time and effort into achieving it. The goals that you select should add real value to your life.
  • Timely: Set your goals to a specific date. You want a six pack stomach by what date? Beach season? Your birthday? Put it in writing – but remember, be realistic!

Creating SMART goals for yourself will save you a ton of frustration down the road. But what if a SMART goal isn’t enough? Sometimes, the issue isn’t with the goal itself, but rather with the game plan for getting there. Tomorrow, in part II of this series, we’ll help better connect your fitness routine to the goals you are looking to achieve! Stay tuned!

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8 Ways to Think Beyond the Scale.

January 17, 2011 By 9 Comments

Taking a picture of yourself - and comparing it to another down the road - is just one way to think beyond the scale. (And yes, I got this from guyswithiphones.com)

When it comes to measuring progress at the gym, many of us hop on a scale.

If we’ve lost a pound, we rejoice. If we’ve gained a pound, we repent. Indeed, measuring our progress by the scale is one dimension of fitness success, but it’s not the only method of measurement. And it’s not always the most accurate. A scale doesn’t tell the full story.

Consider, for example, a 200 pound man looking to lean up and increase the size of his muscles. After months of working out, he may be discouraged to discover that he’s actually gained weight. But in actuality he’s deceased the amount of fat on his body and packed on some muscle. Muscle is heavy, and the scale won’t tell the story of his body’s transformation.

So, here are a few tips for measuring your success beyond the scale:

  1. Inches. Buy a cloth ruler and measure the girth of those areas that you’re looking to increase/decrease. For our above example, it’s likely that the man’s waistline has decreased – while his chest and biceps have increased.
  2. Body fat percentages. As you exercise, the composition of your body changes. Weight may stay the same – or even increase – but by testing body fat percentages, you should get deeper insight into what’s really happening.
  3. Before and after pictures. Take a picture of yourself in your undies – and store it in a safe place. Compare it to another picture in a few months or a year. See what has changed.
  4. How your clothes fit. As our bodies change, our clothes fit differently. Our pants might become looser, or our shirts tighter in certain areas. This is a very informal but effective way to stay tuned in to your transformations.
  5. Physical activity. Maybe you take the stairs and notice that you’re not winded like usual. This is a valuable indicator of success worth noting – and celebrating!
  6. How you feel. Perhaps you’re usually tired in the afternoons, but now feel energized and enthusiastic. Maybe you’re sleeping better at night. These, too, are measures of success.
  7. Strength. Maybe you’re lifting more weight today than six months ago. Strength is important, and an indicator of progression. I always recommend using a fitness journal to keep track of your progress.
  8. Health. Sure, the physical changes are important – but they pale in comparison to the health benefits of exercise. A friend of mine cured her diabetes through effective diet and exercise. That’s a huge victory, and definitely a measure of success! Compare blood pressure, heart rate and any other number of variables to any changes over time.

And if you do use a scale – it’s not necessarily a bad thing – remember to:

  • Weigh yourself on the same day (i.e., Monday),
  • At the same time (i.e., at 7:00 AM),
  • Under the same circumstances,
  • Fully naked,
  • While being mindful of a scale’s limitations; keep it in perspective.

The bottom line: The scale is just one way to measure your success. Don’t get too caught up on it; use the tips above to help paint a more complete picture of your transformation.

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Failing Your Goals.

December 11, 2010 By 9 Comments

If you’re exercising, then you probably have goals. If you don’t have goals – make them! Otherwise, it’s like taking a road trip without a destination in mind.

And if you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to write down your goals. I like to write “SMART” goals – goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Since my goals are specific, they contain a “by when” date. For example, I might want to increase the circumference of my biceps by 1 inch by April 1, 2011. When April 1 comes along, I can evaluate my results.

But here’s the kicker: Though our goals should be attainable – i.e., it’s physical or mentally possible for you to accomplish whatever goals you create – they shouldn’t be too attainable. Failing to reach about 50% of your goals is a good thing. It means you’re shooting high. It means that you’re really pushing and challenging yourself. After all, it’s better to shoot for the stars and land on the moon than aim for the mountains and reach them.

If you’re reaching all your goals, you’re probably not challenging yourself enough.

And remember, “failure” really isn’t failure. It’s just a result – and it’s an opportunity to re-evaluate your goals. Maybe you didn’t accomplish it because it’s actually not that important to you. Or maybe it needs a new deadline, or a new approach. Learn from your results, and evolve.

Want questions do you have about goal setting? And what are some of your fitness goals?

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