New Year, New You (and me)

Welcome to 2008! This is the time of year that everyone has a New Year's resolution and many of these resolutions include some sort of health and fitness goal. This is all good but just remember, that when a goal is set it must be something that is realistic. If you have a goal to lose 30 pounds in one month, it's not going to happen. We have a society that is looking for instant gratification but not all things come instantly. Here are a few ideas for your new fit lifestyle for 2008.

1) Most people do need to lose weight. If you have not been active and your eating habits are not the best, it might a good a idea to lose a few pounds for your own health. We watch television shows like "The Biggest Loser" (which is a show that I personally love). We see the contestants losing 10 pounds in one week. Just remember that for the show the contestants work out for approximately 4 hours a day with the benefit of personal trainers designing and coaching the workouts. They also have doctors and nutritionists monitoring the contestants constantly through their weight loss experience. Remember, that many of the contestants are extremely obese and have a lot more body fat to lose than the average person. So with this in mind, set your goal to lose approximately one to two pounds per week which amounts to about four to eight pounds in a month. You want to make sure that you are losing fat and not muscle. Extreme weight loss can result in the loss of lean muscle tissue which ultimately slows your metabolism causing the gain of more body fat later on. The slower you lose the weight, the more likely you will keep it off.

2) Many people resolve to lose weight through diets. Many diets can have restrictive components and actually eliminate entire food groups. We need all of our food groups for our bodies to function properly. Many of the low carb diets cause our bodies to lose water so a lot of the results seen are actually due to dehydration. The general chemical formula for carbohydrates is CH2O, C for the element Carbon and H2O for water. If you restrict carbohydrates from your food, you are restricting water which is essential for all body functions. Also, glucose molecules are obtained from the carbohydrates that are consumed and glucose is essential for cellular energy. Many vitamins are found in the carbohydrate portion of our diet. The healthiest way to "diet" is to cut back on the size of your portions. If you follow Canada's Food Guide or the USDA Food Pyramid, they both have excellent guidelines as far as portion sizes and how much of each food group you should be eating. These guidelines offer the healthiest way to eat so you do not need to search for that one diet that will make you "skinny".

3) Don't forget that a very important component of weight loss and staying healthy is activity. You do not need to spend hours in the gym. If you simply start moving more by walking to the store rather than taking your car or by parking further away from the store so that you can get a few more steps in. Funny that I mentioned steps. One of the biggest motivators to keep moving is by using a pedometer or step counter. They are relatively inexpensive and are perfect for monitoring your activity. The goal is to aim for at least 10,000 steps a day which is approximately 5 miles. The other thing to remember about activity is that you need to do cardiovascular activity, strength training and flexibility. The cardiovascular activity can be walking, running, cycling, swimming, kickboxing, aerobics, anything that raises your heart rate in an aerobic zone for about 30 minutes for 3 to 5 times per week. Strength training can involve weight lifting, resistance bands, stability ball training, pilates, or any activity that involves resistance on your major muscle groups. Flexibility can involve yoga or just simple stretches. Canada's Activity Guide and the USDA Food Pyramid offer good guideline for physical activity.

Now is a good time to start to make that lifestyle change. Just remember to start out slowly. Many people embark on a fitness program with a bit too much vigour and end up with injuries. If you are a beginner, do not try advanced workouts. Start out slowly and work your way up to an intermediate level. Those advanced workouts will be within your reach soon enough. Always remember to check with your doctor before starting any new activity if you have been inactive for a prolonged period of time. If you join a gym or fitness class, they will ask you to fill out a ParQ form before you start. If you do decide to join a gym or take a class, remember they have your money whether you go or not so my advice is to use the membership that you paid for.

Let's make 2008 a healthy one!