Let's talk about that guy, the one you don't want to be.

Okay so we all know that guy who comes into the gym, drives all around the parking lot until a spot in front opens up then finally parks and goes into the gym to do nothing more than walk leisurely on the treadmill. That is the prime example of that guy. Don't be that guy. That guy is paying however much a month to come to the gym and then walk on the treadmill. That's one seriously expensive treadmill. It's costing him not only his gym dues but also gas. Not to mention, it's costing him time he could have been spending actually doing something to change his body and better his health.
Let's first talk about the treadmill. I know I've talked about it before but let's seriously break this down. The things a treadmill can be used for effectively: basic warm-up, interval training, cup holder, clothes hanger. That's it. Really. I come into the gym and I use the treadmill for 10 minutes to get my juices flowing and organize my workout. Once I get that done I hop off, forget about it, do my real total body warm-up and get into my exercises. The only time I use it for my clients is when we are doing interval training. We hop on, do 30 seconds easy, 30 seconds hard, repeat repeat repeat. Even with this though, I find an elliptical is a little kinder to your joints. You cannot hop on a treadmill and walk on it for 30 minutes twice or three times a week and expect that to count as your workout. That's not a workout. It's wasted time (the only time this might not apply is if you are a brand new exerciser, but even then you HAVE to push yourself). In order to change your body you have to challenge your body. If you are hell bent on using that treadmill get on it and bump up the incline, walk that hill for a few minutes, then take it easy, repeat repeat repeat. But I would much rather see you walk over to the free weights and do some lifting. Fact: An hour of weight training is a much more effective calorie burner than an hour on the treadmill.
So I just told you weight training is the way to go, what do you do with those free weights? For starters you won't pick up those weights and start doing biceps curls. That is an exercise that is a waste of time. You will get plenty of biceps work doing other exercises. Fact: Your biceps will not grow out of proportion with the other muscles in your arms. So it is absolutely pointless to isolate them and work them to fatigue. Yeah they might fill with blood like any other muscle and fill out while your doing those curls but as a long term exercise it really is time wasted. Good free weight exercises include things like a Dumbbell Push Press, Split squats, Bulgarian (Rear Foot Elevated) Split Squats, deadlifts, deadrows. Even without dumbbells a great pushing exercise is the Push Up. Lou Schuler wrote a great book with Alwyn Cosgrove called The New Rules of Lifting. I highly recommend that book for any level of exerciser whether you are new to exercise or an advanced lifter. That book has great exercises and great info. Plus Schuler has an awesome sense of humor so the book stays entertaining when most books might go dry and get boring.
So, lots of information to let sink into your brains. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know, find my e-mail on this page.

Going on a diet, quick weight loss doesn't mean results.

Clients love to argue with me about diets. First of all, if you are my client you have obviously reached out to me for advice and motivation concerning weight loss and fitness so don't argue with me about the advice I give you. Second of all, I would never give you advice to sabotage your well being. That goes against everything I stand for as a Fitness Coach. Almost every client I have ever had has told me a story about how they went on this diet and lost all this weight a year ago and have since then gained it all back and then some. Well, let's back up a second. If you went on the diet to lose weight but have actually gained weight, I would call that diet a failure. So whatever diet that was throw it in the trash. This is where people love to argue with me. They say but I did lose weight in the beginning.
Stop.
Getting healthy and fit is all about long term life changes. Diets that make you fluctuate in weight (by fluctuate I mean lose a couple of pounds, gain them back, lose it, gain one pound, plateau, start all over) is not a healthy diet. You have to find that balance of exercise and proportionate eating that works for your body. It isn't a one size fits all kind of thing. What works for your friend or neighbor or that guy on TV that lost 100 pounds on the blah-blah-blah diet may not work for you and that's fine.
Getting healthy isn't ever going to be quick and easy. If it was everyone would be an ideal weight and eating the right foods everyday. I do promise you this though, the effort that you put into it will definitely be worth the outcome. Finding the right balance now will save you hundreds or maybe thousands on preventable hospital bills later on in life.
A couple of diets I do recommend has been put out by Fitness Quest and Rachel Cosgrove. Definitely check those out they may give you a good place to start.