Slim for Life (21 page)
Authors: Jillian Michaels
SOCIAL • • 2 POINTS
Working out can sometimes feel tedious, but it can be more palatable when you make it social. As they say, misery loves company. Kidding—sorta. A partner inspires progress. And if you really hate exercise, commiserating
is
much better than going solo.
Here are some ideas for keeping it social:
•
Get a buddy.
Your buddy could be a coworker or another mom at your kid’s school. Maybe it’s a neighbor, a family member, or a lifelong friend. Simply let them know you’re going on a health kick, and see who wants to kick it with you.
•
Join a running or biking group.
This is a great way to make new friends, learn a new sport, and get and stay in slim mode.
•
Look for organized fitness activities
in your city or neighborhood, such as basketball or softball games. Search the Internet to see what’s available. You’ll be surprised how popular such sports are for grown-ups, and by how easy it is to find a team. If nothing online or locally offered appeals to you, start your own group or team.
•
Take a class.
Fitness classes can become a culture and community unto themselves, like the CrossFit Junkies and the Zumba Addicts. Even if you’re not looking to join a cult, a class is a great way to compete with others, stay motivated, and socialize.
Treat yourself to a cool fitness gadget like a heart rate monitor, pedometer, or waterproof headphones. There are gadgets galore to give you feedback, motivate you, train you, and make your workout more efficient or pleasurable. Many gadgets provide you with personal info, which can be very incentivizing. The BodyMedia Armband will show you how many calories you’re burning from minute to minute throughout the day; it’s only natural to set goals with it. If you burned 1,800 yesterday, you’ll probably want to shoot for 2,000 tomorrow, and so on.
You can also download fitness apps from iTunes. My Slim-Down Solution app will gives you workouts, recipes, a calorie counter, and more. I love the app Strava for cycling, and also Running Coach’s Clipboard. The possibilities for apps are endless. They have ones for yoga, Pilates, dance, gymnastics, and rowing—anything and everything you can think of.
Apps and gadgets give you something new to play with, and because you’re excited to use them, you keep up with your workouts.
My Strava app, for example, shows me how far I biked, how many feet I climbed, and how long it took me. So the next time I go for a ride, I’m out to beat my best time.
Get your workout
playlist together. I’m serious. Studies have shown that people who exercise to music they love will work harder and for a longer time—they’ll put in up to 10 percent more effort and gain 15 percent more endurance. One study interviewed 2,000 individuals across the United States and found that 94 percent of those who exercised with music said they would never exercise without it. The same study found that music users feel they’re more likely to exercise when they’re
not
in the mood if they know the music is available. Apparently, the sound of the music blocks our nerves from signaling body fatigue and decreases our perception of our exercise effort.
SLIM MYTH:
Certain types of training can lengthen your muscles.
FAST FACT:
It’s physically impossible to lengthen a muscle after you’re fully grown. Muscles have a fixed origin and insertion point, so although you may feel longer and leaner after a yoga class or a Pilates workout, probably the fact that you’re leaner, more flexible, and more fit is giving you the illusion of having longer muscles.
Another study, geared toward measuring weight loss in women, determined that those who walked to music lost significantly more weight and body fat. Additionally, the music-listening group adhered better to the program, and fewer of them dropped out of the study. I know personally that a good tune will always inspire me to run faster and longer. While you can, of course, listen to whatever music
you
love that gets you going, there’s a suggested ideal rhythm of music for fitness, which is 140 to 160 beats per minute (BPM). If you don’t know what 160 beats per minute sounds like, check out
Runningplaylist.net
. It has more than 100 playlists, ranging from alternative to pop, and it cites the BPM for each song. In addition, I
create a new workout list monthly on my site, and my business partner, Giancarlo, who doubles as a DJ, creates a free downloadable exercise mix for my Facebook fans every month. Be sure to check it out and pack your iPod with these song recommendations.
Try a
fad workout like pole fitness, a barre class, punk rope, ballroom dancing, or drum training to keep your fitness routines fresh. This will not only keep your training well rounded, it will fend off boredom, train the same muscles in a different way for a totally new experience, and help you find new things you’re passionate about. It’s sort of like a mini-adventure every time you train.
Don’t hide out in the back of your
fitness class. Sit in the front row of your yoga, Pilates, or studio cycling class. The heat is on because you’ll have to set the example for the people behind you, and you’ll do no screwing around as you’re directly in the teacher’s line of sight. Being up front gives you the inspiration to go for it, and the oomph to keep going when you want to quit.
Take before, during (monthly), and after pics or video log your efforts and success. This is a big one. If you’ve followed my programs before, you know I’ve insisted upon it both in my Body Revolution ninety-day weight-loss DVD program and in my book
Making the Cut.
Here’s why: the before picture will show you how far you’ve come. It’s easy, along the way, to lose track of how much success you’ve already achieved. When you have a week where the scale doesn’t move, or you just need a frame of reference, the before pic will remind you of your accomplishments to date and boost your spirits. It’s a great way to measure your progress and will remind you why you started your new lifestyle in the first place.
REWARDS PROGRAM • • • 3 POINTS
Plan on doing something special when you achieve your goal, so you’ll have something to look forward to that will drive you to cross the finish line. It could be big like a beach vacation or small like a pedicure. Try to make the reward correspond to the accomplishment of a wellness goal. For example, decide that if you hit the gym four times this week, you’ll give yourself a mani/pedi on Saturday. If you lose the last 20 pounds, you’ll take that beach holiday you’ve been dreaming about forever. Having additional positive incentives can go a long way when it comes to staying motivated.
Many of my friends have signed up for charity rides or runs. I did the Stand Up to Cancer Malibu Triathlon. Another friend of mine did the AIDS Ride. Yet another did a 100-mile bike ride to raise money to fight cancer for Livestrong. The key here is that signing up both obligates and motivates you, since you’re doing it for a cause.
One of the hottest trends in fitness these days is the fitness event where individuals can test their athleticism and physical toughness. Maybe you’ve heard of the Warrior Dash (
www.warriordash.com
), the Spartan Race (
www.spartanrace.com
), or Tough Mudder (
www.toughmudder.com
), to name a few. Maybe you’ll want to try one. The idea is to incentivize yourself with a goal that drives you to be the best you can be—to push yourself and defy your limits. These races are
not
for everyone, but for those of you who are goal-oriented and love a challenge: pick a race and start training for it. Make sure, though, that you select a competition where you can give yourself enough lead time to properly train and be prepped and ready to compete.
This one works really well on my
Biggest Loser
contestants. I help them create mental motivators by dedicating
milestones of their workout to someone or something important to them. Try it out. Dedicate a mile out of your jog to your son, or do a circuit from your workout in honor of your significant other. You get the idea. Although you and your best life should always be your greatest motivator, it’s important to remember that the slimmer and healthier you are, the better mom, husband, parent, friend, child, worker, and all-around person you’ll be to the important people in your life.
Collect inspirational notes from people you love and post them on your treadmill. Or take a picture of your loved one and look at it on your phone during your workout. I do this with my kids all the time. I snap their pic, then use my iPhone for listening to tunes when I train. Right there are their little faces, reminding me that I need to be around for them for years and years to come.
Do you remember that movie
What About Bob
? (If you’re too young to get this reference—damn you, youngster!) On the days when you just can’t imagine getting to the gym, do a little negotiation with yourself. Give yourself permission to do just 1 mile on the treadmill, or just a 20-minute circuit block on the gym floor. Then get up and go. Once you get there and get the blood pumping and the feel-good brain chemicals flowing, you’ll likely be inclined to dig in and knock out an additional 15 minutes before you finish your workout. I’ve seen it happen over and over. Give yourself permission to do less, and more often than not you’ll end up doing as much, if not more, than you expected.
☐ Make it personal.
☐ Establish your agenda.
☐ Behold the power of the pyramid.
☐ Paint a picture.
☐ Don’t be a perfectionist.
☐ Set the stage.
☐ Make an announcement.
☐ Communicate your needs.
☐ Support goes two ways.
☐ Clean house—haters have to go.
☐ Set boundaries.
☐ Get your back.
☐ Listen up.
☐ Start a rewards program.
☐ Flip the script.
☐ Accentuate the negative.
☐ Ask for feedback.
☐ Inundate yourself.
☐ Dress for success.
☐ Be a kid again.
☐ Keep it social.
☐ Geek out.
☐ Jam out.
☐ Be a front-runner.
☐ Let love move you.
☐ Take baby steps.
☐ Strip.
☐ Live vicariously.
☐ Create a mantra.
☐ Blog.
☐ Be a team player.
☐ Make it tasty.
☐ Be trendy.
☐ Shoot it.
☐ Give back.
☐ Off to the races.
☐ Dedicate the deed.
Total
points
for
Chapter 5
Total number of
tips
I’m incorporating
EVADING
PITFALLS
Do you ever feel like the odds are stacked against you? Well, not to make you feel paranoid or anything, but sometimes when it comes to weight loss and health, they are. Between accessibility, time management, funds, and conflicting agendas, it can be pretty tough to lose weight. You can bypass these troublesome traps and get the results you’re looking for with the right tools and strategies.
Let me say before we get down to business that it’s okay to struggle. So often we feel shame when we struggle, as though it makes us less in some way. Many people have irrational thoughts like
If I were stronger, this wouldn’t be a problem for me
or
If I were more disciplined, I wouldn’t get strung up by that.
Utter crap. Struggle is part of life. The key is what you do with your struggles. And don’t get it twisted—being strong and disciplined is great, but if you don’t have the proper knowledge and information, you’re screwed anyway. So in this chapter I’m going to make sure you have all the info you need to combat these demons in the most effective way possible.