Session One: Establishing a Starting Point
To individualize your Program, a starting point must be determined. I urge all of you reading this to contact a Fitness Professional can assesses your current body composition and eating habits and determine your initial statistics as well as provide basic recommendations..
Body Composition
The shape of your body is determined by three things: muscle, bone and fat. While there's really nothing you can do about changing your bone structure, there is a whole lot you can do about muscle and fat. This ratio of muscle to fat is commonly known as your body composition. To determine a beginning body composition value, your Fitness Professional should measure body fat percentage, circumference measurements and weight.
It is important to realize that altered body composition is attained through fat loss and lean muscle tissue gain, not weight loss. When your body receives the proper amount of calories and nutrients, you can reach and maintain your fitness goals. Additionally eating supportive foods that fuel muscle tissue will help burn fat efficiently during exercise and when at rest.
Why is it important to understand the difference between fat loss and weight loss?
1. Calories are burned in muscle tissue. One pound of lean muscle burns approximately 50 calories a day. Conversely, body fat is a store house for calories. One pound of fat burns approximately 5 calories a day and stores 3500 calories of energy.
2. By simply restricting calories to shrink the number on the scale, a minimum of 25% of weight loss (more than two pounds per week on average) will be lost from lean tissue.
3. As a result, your metabolism will be suppressed by 50%.
4. Rapid weight loss from under-eating causes muscle tissue to be used for energy, which cripples your body’s ability to burn fat for energy. In the future this will cause you to put the weight back on and most likely gain more than you ever had before.
5. Providing your body with a regular exercise program and the food and nutrients it needs will sufficiently fuel working muscles, initiate fat loss and develop an accelerated, fat burning metabolism.
6. Proper fat loss strategies will allow you to lose 75% of your weight from fat and less that 25% from lean tissue.
How to lose body fat instead of muscle tissue:
- Make positive changes in your daily eating habits
- Adhere to a supportive nutrition plan
- Commit to at least 3 days of resistance training and cardio.
- Take at least 10,000 steps a day (GET A PEDOMETER)
- Eat about one to two hours prior to exercising to fuel muscles and prevent muscle loss
- Eat within 30-45 minutes after exercise to replenish nutrients in muscle tissue and expedite recovery
- Take a multivitamin that is specifically designed for you to prevent muscle tissue loss. This in turn boosts your metabolism. Think of your multi as “calorie-free” insurance for your muscles.
How do you measure Progress?
Weight, body composition and circumference measurements are only a few of the many tools used to gather evidence of your progress. They should not, however, be thought of as the only way to measure success. There are several methods for measuring your progress. Our approach uses simple strategies to help keep you focused but at the same time – avoiding frustration.
CLOTHING: Find evidence by taking a trip to your very own closet. Take out a pair of pants that fit snugly before you began your new, healthy habits. Are you able to ease into them, when before you had to sit (or lie) down and yank them up your legs? This is a sure sign of progress toward a leaner you! Jeans are actually the best form of measurement because they are the least forgiving. They just won’t stretch to fit in those bulging areas. They will be your benchmark for you well you are progressing through this course. Try them on every 3-4 weeks. Unlike the scale, jeans do NOT lie. They can’t. They are ALWAYS the same size.
BODY MEASURES: Other numerical signs of progress. Watch the measurements of your waist, arms, neck and hips change. If you are not losing pounds, are losing inches all over your body as your figure slims down and tones up. Other numerical indicators include a reduction of blood pressure or cholesterol, BMI, and body fat percentage.
ENERGY LEVELS: Monitor how a eating supportively and regular exercise affects your energy levels. Not only will you be able to work out for longer intervals of time, but daily movements and chores will also become easier. Whether cutting the grass or simply walking up the stairs, these behaviors will come effortlessly. Think of all the daily activities you could use more energy for—grocery shopping, house cleaning, playing with your kids, and more. Pretty soon you’ll be training for your first 5K!
EMOTIONALLY: Lastly, be conscious of how you feel emotionally. You work hard to reach your goals. Hopefully, the hard work will come with a boost in self-esteem, confidence, and happiness. Are you beginning to feel more comfortable in your own body? What do you hear others saying to you? What are you saying to yourself?
Setting Healthy Goals
The first step to achieving results is setting a realistic goal. No matter what the reason, successful and healthy weight management depends on sensible goals and expectations. If you set sensible goals for yourself, chances are you'll be more likely to meet them and have a better chance of managing your weight long term.
Setting healthy goals at the start of an ongoing program can help you change and improve your physical activity and eating habits. To set goals that are right for you, think about what you want to change and why, and what steps you can take to reach your goal. These changes don’t have to be big. Even small steps can make a difference. Also, think about who can help you, and how you’ll reward yourself for making these changes.
5 Steps to Setting Goals
Make a choice - Look at your body, your quality of life. What do you really want to have?
Be specific - Leave no detail left behind.
Find Your Reason – Now that you know what you want to change, ask yourself WHY?
Form your plan – What is it going to take to get there? What are you going to have to do?
Take action - Do you know what the number one cause of failure is in most people’s lives? Never taking action. We develop these comfort zones and become afraid to step out of those boundaries and really go after our goals. We know that we must change; we know that we have to follow our plan to be happy, but seldom do. Do not let your written plan of action go to waste. Start immediately on working towards your goals!
Your Fitness Professional can guide you in completing your Goal Tracker Sheet during session one. Realistic expectations are based on the fact that – safe and long term weight loss is 1-2 pounds of fat per week, 2-3 months to drop one size or 2 inches off a belt size.
___________________________________
Complete…
All actions start with a change -- no matter how small. Answering the following questions in your Personal Success Journal is the first step toward making that change: an inventory of exactly how you really feel about losing weight and exactly what you are willing (and in many cases, not willing) to do.
List 3 Things you want to change about your body.
Why is this so important to you? What is your Reason?
IDENTIFY: List the habits or actions that have contributed to why your body is the way it is today. (What are you doing right now that allows you to keep this body?)
List 3 things you could do right now that will make a difference today (an action, no matter how small, that will bring you closer to your goal).
List at least 2 things that you are giving up by not being more fit or having a body you can be happy in. What is it costing you? (If you’re really ambitious and want some extra credit, try tackling this one as well: What do you gain by keeping things the way they are? What’s the hidden payoff?)
Week One Bonus - Daily Goals Suggestion List
Want Your Own Personalized Total Body Transformation Program?
Get Your Very Own Complete Tailor-Made 8-Week/2-Phase
Total Body Transformation Program
Personalized Manual!
James Cipriani
Cutting Edge Personal Training
YOUR TBT!
Coach Cipriani is available for online personal training which includes
a 2-phase individualized training program, nutrition plan and unlimited email/phone
support.
YET he can only take on a limited number of clients at any given
time.
ACT NOW!
So if you’re interested in having Jim as your own personal coach,
click the link above for more information and/or to purchase or email him with any questions you may have.