If your goal is permanent fat loss, weight training is the answer, and it is a vital part of the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (see Part IV on exercise).
If your eating habits have been less than healthy, you have the power to make the change! Every step you take to improve your health will get you closer to adding life into your years. The foods you choose, along with your activity level, will determine whether you become fat or not. The most notable causes of being overfat or obese are lack of proper diet and lack of physical activity. Thank goodness these are things you can change. If you can visualize it, you can become it!
Being an obese, out-of-control Type 2 diabetic, I talked with my doctor, who said he could no longer help me, I had to help myself. Then I heard the words “train like an athlete”. So I started practising being an athlete—started a food and exercise journal, joined the gym, bought athletic clothes so I could look like an athlete, and after work and days off I would change into my athletic clothes to feel like an athlete. So who cares if I looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy®? In my mind I was an athlete.
—Donald Housden, age 55, lost 33 pounds,
and is now an athlete
Getting and staying motivated
How do you get motivated and stay motivated? Motivation comes from within. Webster’s Dictionary defines “motivation” as “a mental force to induce an act or purpose”. “Inspiration” is any influence that inspires thought or action. What inspires you?
I have found that my clients are inspired by money, family, and other people’s successes. In the beginning, you may be motivated to win (through a bet) or to look like someone else (if they can do it, so can I), or you may believe that if you can make a change it will help inspire your family to change. But what will really keep you progressing towards your goal is how good you’ll feel as the changes add up.
Some people are naturally self-motivated and others need a little extra help from outside influences. Here are a few ideas that may inspire you to get started:
• Try a walkathon.
• Train for a marathon.
• Shape up for your class reunion.
• Work out with your significant other.
• Decide to improve your family’s eating habits.
• Aim to fit into your smallest clothes size.
• Read the success stories in Part V.
TIP: Find something or someone that inspires you. Health clubs can be inspirational because you’re surrounded by people with a common interest—getting healthy!
Are timelines a good thing?
Does focusing on a short period of time, such as 12 weeks instead of a lifetime, prove unsuccessful for permanent fat loss? It all depends on whether you are enjoying the experience of getting fit or struggling throughout the entire process. You may be highly motivated when you first start a new diet or exercise program, but maybe your motivation dissipates over time if you cannot see or feel results.
Most people who start the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet adjust over the first few weeks and are excited by how good they feel. For some, it’s more difficult, especially if they’ve never exercised or been aware of their eating habits. On the other hand, if they finish the 12 weeks, they are thrilled with their progress. And more important, most of them maintain their results.
Twelve weeks will pass by anyway, so why not do something during that time that will make a difference in how you look and feel? Think of 12 weeks as just the beginning of a lifetime of healthy behaviours.
TIP: Set small, realistic, short-term goals that will lead you to your major goal. If you bite off more than you can chew, it can be overwhelming!
The Importance of Setting Goals
Health versus fitness
What is your goal in following the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet? Do you want to improve your health or improve your fitness? This is an important question because the answer helps determine what goals to set. You can improve your health by making simple or major changes such as adding or increasing activity, improving diet, quitting smoking, reducing stress, getting adequate rest, and laughing.
Yes, laughing. According to William Fry, MD, professor at Stanford University, who has conducted 50 years of laughter research, laughter conditions the heart muscle, exercises the lungs, works all the abdominal thoracic muscles, boosts the immune system, and even increases adrenaline and blood flow to the brain. Humour can add years to your life! Many of these changes will show up in improved mental health status but not necessarily as a noticeable physical change.
Fitness improvements may take more effort. But the resulting change in body fat, increased muscle tissue, cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency, and improved mental alertness will all be worth the extra sweat!
That said, fitness goals require fitness-oriented strategies, including a regular exercise routine, a well-balanced meal plan, adequate rest, and a plan of action. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is designed for fitness-oriented people, but most people can use this plan for health improvements, too.
Determining your goals
Do you want to run to your goal or walk? In other words, do you want to achieve your goal quickly or make gradual changes? Goals need to be set according to what you are planning to accomplish. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet was designed for people who want to lose body fat and keep their muscle tissue. The following examples may give you some ideas for setting goals:
1. Although weight loss should not be the primary focus, most health experts agree that 1 or 2 pounds of weight loss per week is safe and healthy. Rapid and extreme weight loss can also result in muscle loss, which is often associated with low-calorie meal plans.
TIP: Make your goals specific and measurable so you’ll know what you’ve achieved.
2. Reducing your clothes size is a measurable goal. Get out your smallest-size clothes so they’re visible. If you can see it, you can achieve it!
3. Waist, hip, and thigh reduction—measure those areas and try to lose one inch per month in your “problem” area (waist or hips).
4. Lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, or blood sugar by starting a regular exercise routine.
5. Increase your daily energy by improving your eating exercise and habits. You can measure your progress by keeping a food and exercise journal (see the section on journaling later in this chapter).
6. Gain strength or increase lean muscle tissue through weight training. Improvements can be measured by increased weights lifted or body composition testing.
7. Commit to eating breakfast every day.
8. Switch the nightly food binge to fruits, vegetables, or lean proteins only.
9. Reduce body fat to the healthy range—women 17 to 24 per cent, men 14 to 20 per cent.
10. Exercise for 20 minutes during your lunch hour every day.