In fact, it’s my guess that you’re healthier than most.

You probably exercise regularly. You watch what you eat. You keep up-to-date on the latest health concerns. You don’t binge on sugar.

And you never – ever – eat fast food. Well, almost never.

But you do have a few unhealthy skeletons in your closet -ones that you probably aren’t even aware of.

The following 5 Unhealthy Things are frequently committed by health conscious people. Once you break these bad habits, you’ll find that achieving your weight loss goals just became a whole lot easier.

1. You’re Dehydrated

• It has been said that 75 percent of the population is chronically dehydrated. Would you disagree? When was the last time that you actually drank 8 glasses of water in a day?
• Dehydration occurs when more fluid leaves your body than is taken in. Symptoms include: fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, rapid heart rate, and, in extreme cases, even death.
• Dehydration also slows your metabolism, which hinders weight loss.

You shouldn’t wait until the feeling of thirst or dry mouth hits you, at that point damage has already been done. Instead, constantly rehydrate throughout your day to avoid dehydration.

The best way to do this is to incorporate water into your daily schedule. Have a water bottle at your desk and train yourself to sip on it often, and get into the habit of drinking a full glass of water with each meal and snack.

2. You Eat Out Too Often

• Research suggests that most people eat out one out of every 4 meals and snacks. That’s an average of once a day.
• Restaurant food is designed to do one thing: to taste good. In order to increase eating pleasure, each item is loaded with fat, salt and sugar. This causes you to eat way more calories than you actually need.
• Even when you order ‘healthy’ items, you’re still taking in more calories and fat grams than you would if you had prepared the item at home. Imagine the last salad you ordered out. Didn’t it come with cream dressing, croutons, cheese sprinkles and a piece of butter laden bread on the side?

The main reason people eat out is for convenience, so with a little organization you’ll find that preparing your own meals takes less time than you thought it would. On the weekend sit down and plan out your meals for the week. Then go to the grocery store and stock up on everything you’ll need for those meals.

Pack your lunch and snacks each night before bed, then grab it on your way out the door in the morning. When you prepare dinner at home, make enough for at least the next day as well. Your efforts will pay off both in terms of weight loss and in money saved.

3. You’re Sleep Deprived

• In Gallup Poll surveys, 56% of the adult population reported that drowsiness is a problem in the daytime. That’s more than half of us that clearly don’t get enough sleep.
• Healthy adults require 7-8 hours of sleep each night. When you fail to meet this need your body goes into sleep debt, which continues to accumulate indefinitely until you catch up.
• A lack of sleep negatively affects your immune system, your nervous system, and interferes with healthy hormone release and cellular repairs.

The best way to combat sleep deprivation is to set a scheduled bedtime. Your body will benefit from a consistent sleeping and waking routine, and you’re sure to get all the rest you need.

If you have trouble falling asleep once you’re in bed, then try these two tips. First, make sure that you don’t drink any caffeinated beverages after lunchtime. Second, don’t eat for three hours before you go to bed. This helps eliminate sleeplessness due to indigestion, and will also turbo-charge your weight loss.

4. You’re Stressed Out

• I don’t have to tell you that we are living in a fast-paced world and that most of us have stress levels that are through the roof. But what you might not realize is that your stress levels are making you fat.
• Stress creates an increase in the hormone cortisol, and chronic stress creates a chronic increase in cortisol. This is a problem because is slows your metabolism, leads to cravings and is linked to greater levels of abdominal fat storage.
• The vicious cycle of stress and weight gain goes around and around. Stress causes you to eat emotionally, and your raised cortisol levels cause that food to be stored as fat.

One of the most effective ways to instantly eliminate stress is to sit down and write out a list of all the things that are bothering you. This should include things that you need to get done, issues that weigh on your mind and anything you believe contributes to your stress level.

Once it’s all down on paper, organize it like a to-do list and start resolving each item. Doing so will get the stress off of your mind and will put your body into the motion of resolving each issue.

5. You’re on Exercise Autopilot

• You do the same thing each and every time you exercise. Same machines, same pace, same duration. While your routine sure feels comfortable, your results have long since halted.
• A plateau occurs when your body adapts to your routine and weight loss stops. It is incredibly frustrating, and totally avoidable.
• You don’t have to increase the amount of time that you spend exercising in order to see quicker, faster results. It’s all about challenging your body.

There are two simple ways to instantly increase the effectiveness of your exercise routine. First, increase your pace. Secondly, increase your intensity. Constantly vary your speed and intensity in order to keep your muscles guessing and adapting.

Another way to break through the exercise plateau is to do something totally new. If you regularly use weight machines then start using free weights. If you normally jog on the treadmill then start using the bike.

Are you ready to break the plateau as you take your routine to the next level?

Would you like to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are going to lose weight in the coming months?

It’s my goal to see you achieve greatness. I believe that you’ve got what it takes.

It’s so simple. Call or email today to get started on a program that will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results.

Did the initial  weight loss slow down or stall all together?

Are you considering cutting back your calories even more or ramping up your exercise efforts?

Well before you do that, there is another part of the fitter you 2.0 program that you should consider increasing before you try the aforementioned strategies.

And what would that be?

Sleep.

It is recommended that the average person get between 7-9 hours of sleep a night (8.5 hours being the ideal) with a few 30 minute naps thrown in through out the week for good measure.

I know what you are now saying at your computer screen.  ”Yeah, right.  I don’t have the time to get that much sleep.”  ”Naps.  What’s a nap?” “I catch up on my sleep on the weekends.” This kind of thinking is probably why the average person only gets about 4-6 hours a night.

But not getting a full night’s sleep (remember 8.5 hours) can have some serious effects on your fat loss and fitness goals.

You remember those goals (i.e. resolutions) you made a couple weeks ago, don’t you.

1.)  Lack of sleep can cause fat gain. Not getting enough sleep has been shown in studies to increase the production of a hormone in your body called cortisol. Increased cortisol production has been shown to cause your body to store fat.  And cortisol especially loves to help you store fat in your stomach.

What lack of sleep can do to a FGAA member….and you. Real photo. Not doctored.

2.)  Your workouts will suffer. Not only will you not be able to workout out at 100% capacity, you will not be giving your body the recovery time it needs to rejuvenate and repair itself for the next workout. Also, if you are tired during your workouts your form will suffer.  Bad form leads to injuries.  Injuries lead to lack of exercise.  Lack of exercise leads to fat gain.

He’s getting in his recovery time.  If you can’t see the book, it reads “1,001 Ways To Get Fit.”

3.)  Not sleeping enough leads to a weakening of your immune system.  If your immune system is in a weakened state it makes you WAY more susceptible to whatever germs or viruses are lurking about.  You can’t work on your fat loss and fitness goals when you on the couch with a bucket ready.  And by the way, any weight loss that occurs when you are sick is most likely water and lean tissue. No, any weight loss is not good weight loss.

Just because this pig is cute doesn’t mean getting the swine flu will be.

Now that you know how important sleep is for your fat loss and fitness goals I want you to turn off your computer find a nice comfortable place and take a nice long nap.  Or if you are reading this in the middle of night, GO TO BED ALREADY!!!!

Your friend and trainer,

Paul