Did you know that your fitness level decreases significantly after only three weeks of non-fitness activity? In fact, those muscles that you worked so hard to build up can shrink to one-third their size in as little as six weeks of inactivity? This is significant because muscle burns fat for energy and if there is less muscle, that means less fat burning.

OK so how do you keep fit, stay inspired and on track? Simple, you have to have a plan. I talk about creating a plan to get into shape, but now that you’ve achieved the fit level, you need to plan how to stay that way.

1.  Your Workout

Look at the workout that you followed during your “get fit” mode. How did it work? Is it something you can continue to follow or does it need some tweaks? Remember, it it’s too taxing on your time and your psyche, you won’t follow it and that’s NOT a good thing. Adjust as needed so that your new workout fits into your lifestyle easily.

2. What You Eat

Of course, you must place your diet and nutrition high on the priority list for staying fit. You probably won’t have to be as strict, but you can’t throw out all those great tips and tricks you leaned either. Just as with your workout, you will need to adjust your eating to fit your new lifestyle so that it fits seamlessly.

3. Your Friends and Family

Look around you, were your friends and family the reason you got fit or the reason you got fat? The people around you have a much deeper influence on you than you may think. Re-examine your relationships; ditch the toxic ones and replace them with people who will cheer you on to even greater success. I realize that there may be some family members like your mom, sisters or spouse that you can’t really ditch, but you can decide how you will interact with them and use them to help you stay on track.

This article is part of Optimum Body Sculpting’s “Wellness, Weight loss and Fitness” series. Check out the other articles in this series:
Wellness and Weight loss: How they go hand in hand

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Losing weight isn’t easy, but it shouldn’t be a lesson in frustration either. Just because you decide to lose weight doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, there can be factors that come into play that you may not have considered. Knowing what you’re up against can give you the ammunition you need to win the war on weight loss. Check out these 10 scenarios that could be sabotaging your weight loss plans.

Drinking Too Much Wine

Drinking one glass of wine can help your heart and only adds about 150 calories to your intake, but drinking 2 or more glasses can have a detrimental effect on your waistline and your body. At this point, it reaches over into the over indulgent side, adds 300-500 calories to your daily intake and puts you at risk for serious diseases and conditions like Stroke and Diabetes.

Eating Mindlessly

Do you “snack” on supper while you’re preparing it or “grab a little” while fixing the kids’ lunch or snack? These mindless eating activities can add hundreds of “forgotten about” calories to your daily intake. So when you’re thinking you are on track, you’re really missing the mark. Be aware of everything you put into your mouth because it ALL adds up.

You’re NOT Moving

If you are relying solely on your diet to help you lose weight, you’ve got a wake-up call coming. Yes, you can lose weight through diet alone, but the catch is you will lose fat, muscle and water. And once your diet is finished, the weight will come back (sometimes in as little as two years) and it may be more weight than before. Why? Studies have shown that eating a nutritious diet along with strength training and cardiovascular exercise not only helps you to lose more weight, it keeps it from coming back. Most importantly, the weight you do lose is fat, your muscle stays intact, which helps keep the weight from piling back on.

You’re NOT Moving Enough

OK, so you started an exercise program to go along with your new diet, great! But are you really doing enough? Once or twice a week is not enough to help you lose enough body fat to make a difference. Yes, you will lose, but it will be so slow and incremental that you will most likely become frustrated and stop the whole program all together. Real, sustainable weight loss requires dedicated actions. You have to perform at least five (5) cardio sessions per week with each one lasting at least 30 minutes in order to see and maintain real change. In addition, you need to perform strength training exercises at a minimum of 2 times per week. Anything else is like swimming in quicksand, going nowhere.

You are Cheating Yourself On Sleep

Good shut-eye helps you lose weight. Studies have shown that people who sleep 6 or more hours per night are more likely to maintain a healthier weight than their sleep-deprived counterparts. Getting 8-10 hours of sleep per night is crucial to allowing your body time to complete all the functions it needs to do at night such as repairing and rebuilding muscle tissue. Your body uses fat to fuel its efforts, so if you cut the shut-eye short you’re really cutting down on the amount of excess fat your body is able to burn while you are sleeping.

Check Your Meds

Certain conditions like Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Depression and Heart Disease (there are more) are controlled by medications that can cause your body to put on weight or make it more difficult for you to take the weight off. Discuss the side-effects of any medication that you are currently taking with your doctor to decide on the right course of action for your individual case.

You are Not Eating Enough

Just as over-eating can lead your body to store excess calories as fat, under-eating or starving your body can cause you to store fat also. Most people mistakenly think that if they eat way less than before they went on their diet their body will lose more fat.  Unfortunately this type of thinking leads your body to go into starvation mode. This means your body is now on survival alert status and begins to slow down all its processes in order to conserve (save) energy (fat) so that it can get through this perceived starvation period. So instead of turning your body into a fat burning machine, you’ve created the ultimate fat-storing machine.

Follow the tips listed above to make sure your weight loss plan is on track. For help with getting your weight loss program started the right way, check out Lee Haney’s 7 Day Systemic Cleansing Detox. On Sale NOW!

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Christi Taylor

Christi’s workouts are very dance-oriented and include some fancy steps. These are Advanced Level routines.

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Christi Taylor

Christi’s workouts are very dance-oriented and include some fancy steps. These are Advanced Level routines.

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With a pair of light hand weights, Cindy’s expert training routine will push your muscles to the max. You’ll quickly define your arms and boost your upper body strength by working muscles you didn’t know you had. At the end of ExerciseTV’s challenging 10 minute body sculpting burn, you’ll be stronger, leaner and tighter.

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