Attitude: Your Weight Loss Secret

Copyright 2006 Howard McGarity

"It's a contest of purposeless suffering....to me of course, it's all about living." - Lance Armstrong comments on the grueling demands of competitive cycling, after his fourth Tour de France victory in 2002.

With the start of the Tour de Georgia last week and the approach of the Tour de France in July, I find myself checking in to see what Lance Armstrong is up to these days.  I sometimes do this when I’m in need of a little motivation.

Of course, you remember that all of Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins followed a cancer diagnosis in 1996.  This was not just any cancer, but a highly aggressive testicular carcinoma that rapidly metastasized to his lungs and brain.

Most people would have crumbled, but based on Armstrong's attitude toward life, his response was absolutely predictable.

After absorbing the terror of a certain death sentence, he assaulted the aggressor with the same guts and determination that he exhibits on grueling inclines in the French Alps.  It is in the mountains where he typically leaves his competitors in the dust.

Armstrong’s motto… "Knowledge is power and attitude is everything".  The rest is history.

As someone who helps people lose weight and improve fitness by changing their habits and behaviors, I'd like to take a closer look at the subject of attitude.

After all, it's attitude that determines whether you drag yourself off the couch and out the door for an invigorating walk, or spend the afternoon watching TV.

Whether it's to enhance your life, or save your life, to a very large degree, it is attitude that determines where you end up.

If you would like a good example of how attitude can overcome a real downer of an experience, consider Kelly Luckett of Decatur, Georgia.  She ran 26.2 miles last year, as the third ever female amputee to compete in the Boston Marathon. That's 26.2 miles folks...in six hours, twenty minutes and two seconds.

Ms. Luckett had the choice to either succumb to her disability or live life fully.  She chose to not only live, but to strive for excellence and the result was outstanding.

With the list of things I have to do today, I have a “pretty good reason” to stay hunched over my desk until dinnertime, but I guess I have just motivated myself to haul up the anchor and take my protesting body out for a run.

It's all about living!

Tips to “Boost” Your Attitude:

Most of us understand the reasons for our poor physical fitness and the answer to losing weight.  We have read volumes on diet and exercise, but it is our attitude that prevents us from doing what needs to be done.

One way to develop a powerfully positive attitude, even if you don’t feel that way, is to behave as if you do.  To that end, planning your actions and anticipating setbacks, in advance, is essential.

1.  Schedule workouts on your calendar.  Making an important appointment with yourself, in writing, carries more weight than just the vague intention to do something.  Schedule for first thing in the morning because research shows that people who exercise before the business day begins are most likely to stick with it.

2.  A little bit of something is better than nothing.  Regardless of how short you are on time or how blah you're feeling, commit to just five or ten minutes.  Every little bit helps and, almost always, once you get going, your energy picks up and you have a great workout.

3.  Be flexible.  A change of plans is not an excuse to do nothing.   If you usually exercise in the gym, and you’re out of town, go for a jog.  If you forgot your running shoes, go for a brisk walk. Honor your commitment to your exercise appointment.

4.  When possible, join your spouse or a workout partner.  It’s a lot less easy to cop out if someone else is depending on you.

5.  Check out Lance’s autobiography, “It’s Not About the Bike.   My Journey Back to Life”.  Last time I looked, you could get a used copy for fifty cents on http://www.Amazon.com .  If this book doesn’t motivate you, nothing will!

"Be Strong... Be Lean"

Howard McGarity

"Coach Mac"

Attitude: Your Weight Loss Secret

Copyright 2006 Howard McGarity

"It's a contest of purposeless suffering....to me of course, it's all about living." - Lance Armstrong comments on the grueling demands of competitive cycling, after his fourth Tour de France victory in 2002.

With the start of the Tour de Georgia last week and the approach of the Tour de France in July, I find myself checking in to see what Lance Armstrong is up to these days.  I sometimes do this when I’m in need of a little motivation.

Of course, you remember that all of Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France wins followed a cancer diagnosis in 1996.  This was not just any cancer, but a highly aggressive testicular carcinoma that rapidly metastasized to his lungs and brain.

Most people would have crumbled, but based on Armstrong's attitude toward life, his response was absolutely predictable.

After absorbing the terror of a certain death sentence, he assaulted the aggressor with the same guts and determination that he exhibits on grueling inclines in the French Alps.  It is in the mountains where he typically leaves his competitors in the dust.

Armstrong’s motto… "Knowledge is power and attitude is everything".  The rest is history.

As someone who helps people lose weight and improve fitness by changing their habits and behaviors, I'd like to take a closer look at the subject of attitude.

After all, it's attitude that determines whether you drag yourself off the couch and out the door for an invigorating walk, or spend the afternoon watching TV.

Whether it's to enhance your life, or save your life, to a very large degree, it is attitude that determines where you end up.

If you would like a good example of how attitude can overcome a real downer of an experience, consider Kelly Luckett of Decatur, Georgia.  She ran 26.2 miles last year, as the third ever female amputee to compete in the Boston Marathon. That's 26.2 miles folks...in six hours, twenty minutes and two seconds.

Ms. Luckett had the choice to either succumb to her disability or live life fully.  She chose to not only live, but to strive for excellence and the result was outstanding.

With the list of things I have to do today, I have a “pretty good reason” to stay hunched over my desk until dinnertime, but I guess I have just motivated myself to haul up the anchor and take my protesting body out for a run.

It's all about living!

Tips to “Boost” Your Attitude:

Most of us understand the reasons for our poor physical fitness and the answer to losing weight.  We have read volumes on diet and exercise, but it is our attitude that prevents us from doing what needs to be done.

One way to develop a powerfully positive attitude, even if you don’t feel that way, is to behave as if you do.  To that end, planning your actions and anticipating setbacks, in advance, is essential.

1.  Schedule workouts on your calendar.  Making an important appointment with yourself, in writing, carries more weight than just the vague intention to do something.  Schedule for first thing in the morning because research shows that people who exercise before the business day begins are most likely to stick with it.

2.  A little bit of something is better than nothing.  Regardless of how short you are on time or how blah you're feeling, commit to just five or ten minutes.  Every little bit helps and, almost always, once you get going, your energy picks up and you have a great workout.

3.  Be flexible.  A change of plans is not an excuse to do nothing.   If you usually exercise in the gym, and you’re out of town, go for a jog.  If you forgot your running shoes, go for a brisk walk. Honor your commitment to your exercise appointment.

4.  When possible, join your spouse or a workout partner.  It’s a lot less easy to cop out if someone else is depending on you.

5.  Check out Lance’s autobiography, “It’s Not About the Bike.   My Journey Back to Life”.  Last time I looked, you could get a used copy for fifty cents on http://www.Amazon.com .  If this book doesn’t motivate you, nothing will!

"Be Strong... Be Lean"

Howard McGarity

"Coach Mac"

A Fitness Routine for Six Pak Abs

The goal of six pack abs mainly depends upon losing weight by completing exercises that focus on the muscles in the abdominal area. There are literally dozens of such exercises including many that are meant for other major muscle groups, but that can be modified to include a workout for your abdominal muscles. Here are just a few of the major abdominal emphasis exercises.

CRUNCHES

Crunches are done by lying on the floor either on a mat or not, with your arms crossed in front of your chest. Many people do crunches with the hands behind the head, but this can create lower back problems because of the pull on the head and neck. A slightly different position has the finger tips placed behind the ears, rather than crossed on the chest. It is important not to pull on the neck or on the ears for assistance in rising off the floor. Instead, suck the abdomen back toward the spine and inhale through the nose at the same time. Raise the shoulders toward the knees using only the muscles in the abdomen. The entire back should not be lifted from the floor, as this is likely to create back strain. No additional benefit to the abdomen is gained by raising the entire torso. The key part of the crunch is the initial flexing of the abdominal muscles as the shoulders are lifted off the floor. As the shoulders clear the floor, exhale through your mouth. Complete the exhalation with a gasp to expel the last of the air from the lungs as your shoulders stay clear of the floor. Lower the shoulders back to the point where the shoulder blade touches the ground while inhaling. It is important to maintain the proper breathing control and muscle flexing to get maximum benefit from crunches.

SIT UPS

Once again start in a position on the floor with your feet flat and your knees bent. The fingers should be placed behind the ears, or you can cross your arms on your chest. Slowly raise the entire back off the floor while inhaling deeply and exhale as you reverse the move. This exercise can be made more challenging in several ways. For instance, you can do sit ups from an incline with your head lower than your lower body. You can then add weights on the chest to lift while you are sitting up. Weights can become heavier on an incline bench. The next difficult step can be attained by holding the feet off the ground while doing sit ups or making a bicycle peddling motion while doing sit ups with your legs. These exercises may not be easy, but are very beneficial to the abdominal area.

LEG LIFTS

Leg lifts begin with the legs straight and the hands at your sides while lying on the floor. Lift both legs up at the same time without bending the knees until the legs are at a ninety degree angle or a close as possible. Not everyone is flexible enough to reach the ninety degree angle. Lower the legs as close as possible to the floor without actually touching and repeat several times. Increase the challenge of this exercise by adding weights to the legs while lifting them. Another challenging exercise for improving definition and musculature in the abdomen is to hang from a pull up bar while lifting both legs to a ninety-degree position. As with most other exercises, try to stay conscious of breathing while slowly doing the routines.

JACKKNIFE SIT UPS

This exercise begins by lying flat on the floor with the hands at your sides in order to provide better balance. At the same time you raise your knees, bring your torso up slowly till the face and knees meet. Return slowly to the original position while in full control of the movement. The jackknife name comes from the natural tendency of the legs to bend at the knee with the feet dropping to the hips presenting the shape of a jackknife. The difficulty level of this position can be increased by holding a weight between the feet while performing the sit ups.

V UPS

This exercise begins with you on your back on the floor with the arms extended over your head. Bring both legs and torso up at the same time without bending the knees or the arms. Keep the pace slow and steady and reach for your feet with your extended hands at the top of the arc. If possible, try to touch your feet, but this move can be tricky until your level of flexibility increases. As with other exercises, adding weight between the feet increases the difficulty level.