3 Keys to Tapping Into Your Weight Loss Zone: Part 1

What Is A Weight Loss Zone?

When Kobe Bryant scores 40+ points in an NBA game, we say "he's in the zone."  When Michael Jordan scored over 60 points in an NBA playoff game, he was in the zone.

When Drew Brees, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning completed over 20 passes in a row in route to an NFL victory, we say they were in a zone!

Likewise, there is a weight loss zone that everyone has that can be tapped into.  It’s that place where you can shed the pounds like an animal sheds a bad coat of fur & it stays off!

I have tapped into that Zone!  I used to weight about 270 pounds.  I weigh just under 190 pounds & I've kept the weight off for over 5 years!

Part #1 will cover Key #1.

Key #1:  Put Your Body In Position to Succeed – Get Into the Zone 

It was Einstein who said the definition of insanity was to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results!  Let’s face it! You’re not going to lose weight trying to stick to the same eating habits for years and years, and expect different results.

And let’s not kid ourselves either!  We’ve all probably heard it: “Give me 2 Big Macs, a large fries, AND a Diet Coke!”  As if to think that the diet coke is going to help!  

No, you’ve got to do something different! 

The simplest way to put your body in a position to succeed is to change your eating habits!  If you've read my blog, I did that by eliminating added sugar and high fructose corn syrup from my diet.  You can Google the benefits of eliminating these 2 things from your diet and how that speeds up your metabolism.  When I changed my eating habits in this way, I lost 30 pounds in 4 months, without exercising or counting calories!

I understand that it may seem hard for some people to figure out how to change their eating habits to lose weight.  I started this blog by showing people how I did it.

But even if you don’t do it the way I did, there are lots of companies out there whose business model is that very thing: losing weight by eating their meals.  For example, here in Texas we have MyFitFoods, Mel’s Meals, and Snap Kitchen. 

These companies prepare the meals for you: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks in between the meals.  For example, MyFitFoods (which also has locations in States other than Texas) has a 21 day challenge, where the typical client loses 6-15 pounds, just by following their eating plan.

Snap Kitchen has a similar 21 day program as well.

So if you want to tap into your weight loss zone, change your eating habits!  You can do this be doing what I did, or find companies that will set up a plan for you, even with meals they have prepared!

On a side note, I've tried meals that were prepared by each of the companies I've listed, as a post-workout meal, and they taste very good!!

Stay tuned for Parts 2 & 3!

It's Not Too Late to Lose Weight!

I don't know when that age is, but there are a lot of people that reach a certain age & think they are too far gone to lose weight!  At that point, they just kind of "let themselves go."

Let me tell you, you are not too far gone, and it's not too late!

Look at me!  I used to weigh about 270 pounds!   I'm in the high 180's/low 190's now!  AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) sends me mail at least 2X per month that says "please join us!"

So if I can do it, you can do it!  Go for it!  And keep reading this blog & be encouraged!

WOW - Workout Wednesday

I want to first say that I consider myself very blessed to be able to train and compete in Master's Track & Field.  I am at an age where I constantly receive mail from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) asking me to join!  LOL!

I've come a long way since weighing about 270 pounds!

If you don't know my story, please read my blog profile.  Also take a look at my before & after pics!

Now this blog post highlights something I've been wanting to do for a while: post a video of one of my workouts.  So what you'll see below is one of my track workouts...I'm calling it WOW for Workout Wednesday (shout out to Flotrack.org for the idea).

Anyway check it out.  I expect more WOW videos to come!

WOW - Workout Wednesday Video

Quick Workout after Eating Too Much!

Today is one of the few days that I'm doing two workouts!  I needed it because I had fajitas for lunch yesterday and Chick-Fil-A for dinner!  LOL!

I did a quick 20 minute workout around lunchtime.  Then late this afternoon will be my track workout where we will run some bleachers (among other things) as part of some one's graduate school research project!

Here was my lunchtime workout:

1. Jogged 1/4 mile on the treadmill to get the juices flowing - about 2 minutes
2. Did some stretching - about 3 minutes
3. Did the workout in the video below
   
   

4.  Then I did 3 sets of 100 sit-ups per set consisting of knee-tucks, twists with a 10 pound weight, scissors, and combination dumbbell press.

Real simple, real cardio, real quick!

Weight Loss by HIIT!

If you've Googled anything about losing weight and exercise, you probably found that High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT is the rage!

What is HIIT?

HIIT is when there are alternating periods of intense exercise with periods of recovery.  For example, you go as hard as possible on an exercise for let’s say 1 or 2 minutes have a recovery period of say 4 minutes, and then repeat the cycle maybe 4 times.

Another thing about HIIT is that your body will spend the rest of the day expending energy to recover from the butt-kicking you gave it from a HIIT workout!   This means you’re burning calories/fat while sitting!  And it also speeds up speeds up your metabolism!

4 Benefits of HIIT

#1:  Less time to exercise.  You can do a hardcore HIIT workouts in 30 minutes or even less.  And the workouts are so intense, many experts recommend no more than 3X per week!

#2:  Burn more fat!  As I stated earlier, your body will burn fat/calories recovering after your workout!

#3:  You don’t need equipment or to join a gym!  These workouts can be as simple as running as fast as you can for 100 Meters, then taking a 2 -4 minute recovery period, then doing it again 4X.

#4:  It’s challenging!  I remember a time when going to the gym to workout was boring.  With HIIT workouts, there is never a dull moment!  You can do a HIIT workout with dumbbells, or you can do a series of plyometric (jumping type) exercises.  Or you can do different sprint workouts on a track.  Or you can purchase a program like INSANITY that incorporates HIIT concepts.

An Example HIIT Workout

All HIIT workouts typically consist of 3 things:  Warm-up, the HIIT, and cool-down.  It’s that simple.

I train and compete in Master’s Track which is part of USA Track & Field.  What’s fun to me about it is that it’s really just structured HIIT workouts with goals and camaraderie all wrapped up into one.

For example, I train for the 200 meters & 400 meters.  After warm-up (jogging, stretching & mobility drills), a typical workout in March would be 3 sets of 3X 200 Meters.  We would take 2 minutes recovery between each 200, and 6 minutes recovery in between sets.  We would set a goal of what to run each 200 Meters in…for example below 32 seconds (most of us are between 50 – 58 years old - LOL!).

We workout 2 – 3 times per week.  And believe me, not only do you feel the workout all day, but you welcome the typical 2 day recovery period!

If you want to find out more, I encourage you to Google HIIT.  But I also want to encourage you to get involved in some type of club or organization that does HIIT workouts on a routine basis.  Who knows, it may be so enjoyable, you'll completely forget about losing weight just from enjoying the camaraderie, goals, and accountability.  Then you'll realize that you’ve lost more weight in a shorter time than you could have imagined!

Still Losing Weight: Now Down to a 34!

I've had a lot of people remark that I've lost weight.  I'm thinking - of course, I've lost weight and kept it off for almost 6 years! 

I've been noticing over the past 6 months or so that my clothes were getting too big.  I finally got around to hopping on a scale and I weighed 189 pounds!  The last time I was below 190 was about 30 years ago!  I've come a long way from when I weighed about 270 pounds!

I've also dropped another size!  This is amazing, considering now I'm not trying to lose weight!  I'm just doing the Master's Track thing, training hard, setting goals, and trying to achieve them!

Fun Workouts!

Master's Track is fun!  The camaraderie is great, the workouts are fun, and it's very inspirational!  I think the best ways to lose weight is to do something fun that also involves exercise & goals!  You don't even have to pay attention to weight!  That's what my "Phase 3" of weight loss is about!


Check out the video below!