Do you believe that there is some sort of secret that people that have successfully lost weight are refusing to share?

Well as someone who has successfully lost weight I will tell you the secret.

You ready?

Lean close so no no else will hear.

THERE IS NO SECRET!

Sorry had to do it.

For those of us that have lost weight and kept it off, we just found out what works for us.  And then of course we stuck with it.

Researchers for the NWCR, who claim to be smarter than me, followed 6,000 people since 1994 and ‘discovered’ six habits that, if followed, will help you lose weight and keep it off.

1.)  Have Breakfast.  If you skip this meal (or any meal for that matter) you are making a big mistake.  Eating a healthy breakfast puts  your metabolism (i.e. fat burning) into high gear after its night time crawl. It will go from tortoise to hare.  Skipping a meal, especially breakfast, slows down your metabolism and puts you into starvation mode.  When you finally get hungry (and you WILL get HUNGRY) your body will store what you eat as fat.  Eating regularly stops you from overindulging later.

They took a picture of me eating a nice healthy breakfast without my shirt on ant then replace my head with THAT.

2.)  Get Cooking.  No, you don’t need to change yourself to the stove.  Just make sure that you prepare your meals in advance and then portion them out for later meals.

If she can do it so can you.

3.)  Find Inspiration.  80% of those who have successfully lost weight recall a time in their past that trigger their desire to lose the weight.  Mine was when my mother told me that i was getting fat and should think of losing weight.  For others it was having to buy bigger pants, have to purchase 2 seats on an airplane (and they were traveling alone) and/or being told by their doctor to lose weight or else.  Find a rock bottom moment in your past (or present), keep it fresh and use it to motivate you when you think of giving up.

It means don’t wait for the perfect time. Get moving and start now.

4.)  Hit the Record Button.  On average Americans watch 28 hours of TV a week.  These same people also claim not to have enough time to go to the gym.  Hmmm. On the flip side those that regularly workout only watch between 6-10hours a week.  So what doe s that tell you.  It tells you set the DVR and get to the gym.

Better yet, unplug the darn thing and find something move active to do.  Go to the gym.

5.)  Eat Right AND Workout.  Sorry, but you have to do both.  You can’t choose one or the other.  More than 90% of those that have successfully lost weight  and kept it off regularly do both.  So eat you veggies, cut out the sweets and get you butt to the gym.

“This isn’t just genetics.  I workout and eat right.”

6.)  Monitor Everything.  You can’t do what you have always been doing and expect to lose weight.  You have to change some things.  And when you change these things you are going to have to keep track of what you are doing to make sure that you stay on track.  Write it down then evaluate the findings and use them to plan what you need to do next.

Your friend and trainer,

Paul F. Sweatt