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2 easy ways to get fit

One word: Effort. But naturally, there is smart effort and wasted effort.

The reason that fad diets and new “secret exercise regimens up until now only known to movie stars” exist is because they know they can make money off of our natural tendencies to not want to exert effort. All sorts of “miracle” methods exist that promise everything you want with minimal effort.

I’m sorry, but nothing happens without effort. However, when done the right way, the effort can be minimized.

What does it take to get fit?

One thing: burning more calories than you consume.

Why is it so tough? Because for most of us this requires a fundamental life change, and life changes are difficult. Exercising is addictive if you stick with it. Your body releases endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. These are all natural “happy” drugs. Once you get used to exercising it brings you happiness. You start looking forward to it. Here’s how you get to the good thing:

The new regimen

Make small life changes – one at a time. That way, they’re easy to accomplish and get used to. They become a part of your routine and stop being “effort”.

Start walking for 20 minutes a day, every day. Try to do it at the same time so it becomes a habit. That’s it. Come back in two weeks and read the next step.

Increase your walks to 25 minutes, come back in two weeks.

Choose two strength training exercises. Any two. Do each on alternating days with 1 day a week off. Do two sets for each exercise – a warm up set of 6 repetitions and a “tough” set. The tough set is where your muscles reach exhaustion in about 12 repetitions. See you in two weeks 🙂

Now you have choice. Increase your existing walk to 40 minutes, add a second (minimum 15 minutes) walk to your day or, add two more strength exercises. If your choice is strength training, do the same as with your other two exercises: one every other day with two sets so you end up with two strength exercises per day. Keep your one day off. You guessed it, don’t read any more for another two weeks.

Welcome back. You’ve now done regular exercise for two months and it’s become a part of life. It’s now a pleasure. From here on out, either stay with your current routine or expand on it however you want. One last thing:

The Diet

Fads. Fads exist to extract money from your wallet. These are the universal truths you care about and they’re free:

Drink water before and during your meals – it will fill you up so you don’t eat as much. Use small plates. Using a big plate creates a mental green flag for you to eat more. It says “it’s on the plate…therefore you’re allowed to eat it”. Even if your body doesn’t actually need so much food.

Don’t put food on the table other than what’s in your plate. Again, that’s an invitation that it’s ok to keep eating. I mean, it’s there in front of you right? So it must be ok. Yes, it’s ok. But no, it’s not needed.

Cut down on sugar as much as possible – after lunch, drop the heavy carbs – bread, rice, potatoes, pasta.

Eat protein with *every* meal. This helps with blood sugar regulation and stops sudden tiredness and urges to consume more food.

There’s also a delay between when you are full and when your stomach sends that message to your brain. When you finish eating, you should still be a bit hungry – that’s ok. Wait 15-20 minutes and see what happens. You may no longer feel hungry. If you do, that’s fine – eat a small bit more.

Enjoy your new awesomeness. And if you happen to feel like a golden god after every exercise, don’t worry – it’s normal 🙂