Ultimate Weight Loss Plan

Weight loss is only one way to measure the overall effectiveness of your weight loss program!

One of the least accurate measures of fat loss, and it is fat loss and not weight loss that should be of primary concern as we set out to “lose weight” is the scale. The most accurate measure is the tape measure!

Beginning a weight loss program entails having an accurate picture of your starting point, not only to gauge the overall effectiveness of the program but to give you incentive along the way. Nothing will keep you going quite like looking at a before and after shot and seeing a real difference, even if you haven’t achieved your final goal yet.

Interestingly, statistics have demonstrated time and again that people who fixate on daily weight fluctuations (per the scale) have a much higher drop-off and drop-out rate than people who measure with a tape every ten days to two weeks. If you want to stay with your weight loss program, focus on losing inches, not pounds. The weight loss indicated by the tape will be inches related to fat loss, rather than absolute weight loss…which may be difficult to quantify.

Part of the reason weight loss is difficult to measure with a scale is that as you become physically active, you may gain muscle or, at the very least, your muscles may undergo what is called hypertrophy, meaning they get bigger or, in some cases, they simply become denser, more compact, and thus heavier. If the muscles get bigger or denser, meaning healthier, they will weigh more, thus offsetting the absolute weight loss, yet indicating a real fat loss.

There are other measures for establishing overall body fat beyond the scope of this article. However, if you are set on getting an accurate measure of body fat percentage, your local hospital, one with an advanced sports medicine center may be able to accommodate you. The most common, least accurate measure is the skin fold test, hardly worth the trouble, but you can get a skin fold test at most health and fitness centers.

The way to begin is by measuring yourself at the:

1) Neck
2) Shoulders and chest
3) Chest under the arms
4) Upper waist at diaphragm
5) Mid-waist at the navel
6) Hips across the buttocks and pubic bone
7) Upper thigh
Mid thigh
9) Lower thigh (just above the knee)
10) Calves
11) Ankles

Then repeat the measurements every ten days to two weeks, no sooner than every week. Make sure you measure yourself at the same time each day, on the same day of the week, if possible.

Then take a photo array of yourself:

1) Front
2) Sides
3) Back

Make sure pictures are full length and waist up, with good lighting. If possible, take video as well.

The measurements, pictures, and video will be a better overall representation of the effectiveness of your weight loss program than the scale and will keep you motivated long term.

Finally, once you have all your measurements and your photos, put them in a journal and record your daily exercise regimen and everything you put in your mouth each and every day. Then, add the measurements and images (if you wish to) to a spreadsheet, so you can lay the results out in front of you…a highly effective way to gauge overall progress.

The success or failure of your weight loss program depends upon a number of factors, including the template you begin with; and, that includes measurements and photos. Make sure to lay the proper groundwork, get the foundation right, and don’t worry about the scale…measure and take pictures (and video), and you will be successful in losing weight and keeping it off!

An aside: This post expands upon the previous post and video. I had a number of emails from people who wanted clarification, so I hope this is helpful.

John Zajaros, “Coach Z”
216-712-6526
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateweightlossplan.com

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The Ultimate Weight Loss Plan: Journaling and Assessment
The Scale versus the Tape!

If you began with us right away on the first day of our Ultimate Weight Loss 30 Day Challenge, you are walking or engaged in some other form of aerobic activity (e.g., running, biking, rowing), you also know about diminished returns in aerobic exercise and making the most of the first 30 minutes, 10 in warm up and 20 at your target heart rate, in your aerobic exercise routine; and, you have cleaned out your refrigerator and your pantry.

Now that we are through the first 3 days, we need to take the next step in a successful weight loss program, and that’s the physical assessment.

The physical assessment needs to be both visual and and written. Significantly, many people who begin to lose weight hop on the scale daily. Weighing yourself every day is the kiss of death for a successful weight loss program!

I know what you do, I did the same thing for years! You weigh yourself naked the first thing in the morning, you may even wait until after weighing in before drinking or eating anything. And, to top it off you may even make a short “pit stop” to the “potty” before the ultimate moment! Some people even exhale! Yup!

Does that about paint the picture? Of course it does! I’ve been there, we’ve all been there. The thing is? It’s about the absolute worst thing you can do.

Follow the steps in the video below. Get a journal and write down everything, your measurements, your observations, your pants and belt size, etc. I use a spreadsheet so I can lay everything out in front of me and watch the progress. Whatever works for you is fine, but like the commercial says, just do it!

John

John Zajaros, Coach Z
216-712-6526
866-835-2913 (toll free)
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateweightlossplan.com

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When it Comes To Effective Weight Loss – More is Not Better in Every Instance!

The fact of the matter is when it comes to weight loss, in some cases more is great and in other cases more isn’t better, and in still other instances more will hurt your weight loss efforts. Today we are going to deal with one aspect of more is not necessarily better, particularly when it comes to aerobic fitness and permanent weight loss!

Aerobics is undeniably one of the most effective methods for losing weight in a fast and effective manner. Aerobics used to be thought of as jumping around in a studio to snappy music or running for hours on end! You either joined a program and jumped around for 30 to 60 minutes a night, a few nights a week, usually in high-impact ecstasy, or you laced up the New Balance or Nike running shoes and headed out the front door and into the great unknown, usually to huff and puff your way around the block and limp back home…at least at first!

The reality of aerobic fitness, particularly as it relates to weight loss is very different from the truly American mindset that usually goes like this:

“If 30 minutes is great, 60 minutes is fantastic, and 90 minutes will be amazing!”

NOT!

The mindset of “more is better” permeates much of Western thought and our bodies simply reject it. In fact, if we use this weight loss strategy, our bodies will rebel, usually by way of muscle strain, stress fractures, and overtraining syndrome….complete with fatigue, malaise, and the runs (and I don’t mean up a hill!).

Interestingly, it has been demonstrated time and time again that less is actually a more efficient strategy when it comes to aerobic fitness and weight loss. The reasons are myriad but the one we are interested in here has to do with our body’s way of handling any sort of aerobic exercise.

Let’s say you are about to begin your weight loss program and you do not want to adjust your diet, you like to eat and that’s all their is to it…so you figure you’ll jump on the treadmill or the recumbent bike for a few more minutes or you’ll walk or run for an extra 30 minutes.

WRONG!

Here is how your body works:

1) The first 10 minutes or so gets your body warmed up and your heart rate into the target range (we will get into that in a subsequent article).
2) The next 20 minutes are of maximum benefit, in terms of aerobic benefit and for fat burning purposes.
3) The next 20 minutes and every 20 minutes thereafter there is what is called “diminished returns.”
4) Warm down, light stretching and so on.

That’s it! Simple as that. Pick your poison, so to speak!

Here’s why:

1) The first 10 minutes is simply a warm up and the whole purpose is to get your body warmed up and your heart rate into the target zone. The warm up will get blood and oxygen to the muscles so you can exercise efficiently and effectively without injuring yourself.

2) The next 20 minutes is the period when your body achieves maximum benefit; and, this is true regardless of the exercise you are doing. It varies a tiny bit depending on your fitness level but the first 30 minutes, including the warm up, is when most of the weight loss and aerobic benefit is achieved.

3) Every 20 minutes after the first 30 minutes, again including the 10 minute warm up, will yield less of an effect. This is called the point of diminished returns. In reality, every 20 minutes you continue exercising aerobically results in less gain until you would actually begin to go into debt, meaning your body would begin to pay for your efforts by literally tearing itself down to continue to fuel your effort. This is similar to what happens with marathoners once they hit “the wall” at approximately 20 miles in a race. Of course, the reasons are more complex but diminished returns is part of it…that and the body simply runs out of fuel.

4) Always make sure you stretch and warm down. Don’t simply stop, pack up, and leave the gym or run into the house…take the time to stretch and allow your muscles to cool down. This is for a number of reasons, including the more your stretch, the better you will feel the next day, less soreness too!

Ultimately, walking is the best overall aerobic exercise for a number of reasons. Walking is low impact, it can be done almost anywhere and by anyone, and it is the least expensive form of fitness. All you need to begin walking for weight loss and aerobic fitness are the clothes on your back and a decent pair of shoes.

When it comes to the latter, I cannot stress shoes enough! Shoes are crucial. We will deal with equipment in an upcoming post but if you have started your 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge, make sure you are wearing the proper shoes or you can derail the entire program. I suggest New Balance (there are several and 1906 are best) or Skechers Shape-ups. If you are planning on jogging at some point or exercising in the gym, the New Balance are a better buy, simply because they are more of an all-around shoe.

So remember, more is not better, less is! Think about the diminishes returns when walking, running, rowing, biking or whatever. Does that mean you won’t benefit from a 60 minute walk?

NO!

But remember, the first 30 minutes are optimal and, with each subsequent 20 minute interval, there is less benefit. 20 minutes, including warm up, 3-4 times a week will be more than enough to start. If you are really gung-ho, go 5 or 6 days a week. But take a day off, allow your body to rebuild, and be consistent.

Good luck with your weight loss goals and tomorrow we will discuss the personal assessment and journaling, also key to your weight loss and aerobic fitness success. Remember, we are working on a lifestyle change and it takes all the components working together over a period of days, weeks, months, and even years to create a new you. But if you stay with it, the results will be amazing!

John

John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., “Coach Z”
216-712-6526
Skype; johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateweightlossplan.com

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I have been helping people lose weight for years and there is one universal truth, no two people are alike when it comes to weight loss.

What works for one person may not work as well for the next individual trying to lose weight. However, when people talk about weight loss, they usually get very simplistic and say things like “eat less and exercise more!” Many reply, “If only it were that simple!”

Well, it is…and it isn’t!

The fact is, weight loss can be incredibly easy or incredibly difficult, depending on a number of factors, and we will cover most of them in depth over the next 30 days.

By now, if you started on day one, you have started to walk, you may have even thought about buying a dog…if you don’t have one already! No
kidding, a dog is an excellect accountability partner, and you need one. I will get into accountability tomorrow but for today I want to talk about the eating part of weight loss. And no, I am not talking about a diet! I am talking about a shift in thinking, a new way of conducting your life…so you don’t have to diet, just change how you do things.

For today, all I want you to do is to go through your cupboards and get rid of all of the junk food, all of it! Get rid of the chips, the pretzels, the cookies, the ice cream, the sugar-ladened cereals, the pop (soda-even the diet soda), Kool-aid, the high fructose and sucrose juices, particularly the ones with 0-10% juice, the booze (all of it), and everything else in it you can find that is even remotely close to being in the junk food category.

Yes, I know that may mean you are throwing away money. Would you rather have it around your waist? Because that’s where it is going if you don’t get rid of it.

Once you have gotten rid of the junk, resolve to never allow it back in your house again. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an occasional treat, in fact I recommend it. but if you bring anything like that into the house, make sure vit is on a limited basis and is usually done as some kind of reward for a goal accomplished or a level of fitness achieved. If you use treats in that way, they are fine and may even help to keep you on track, you won’t be quite so apt to run out and binge if every once in a while you reward yourself for reaching a milestone of some sort.

Once you’ve gotten rid of the junk, go shopping!

This time make a list of the fruits and vegetables that are on sale and that are your favorites. Go to your favorite grocery for fruits and vegetables, there is always one known for their quality and selection…go there and go wild!

Stock up on the fruit and vegetables you enjoy and begin to train yourself to snack on a piece of fruit or a ready cut and cleaned veggie you have
already for you in the fridge. Anything you do to make things easier, particularly during the first days and weeks of a weight loss program, will help you stay on track. Oranges, grapes, and melon are great for the sweet tooth. Some kinds of melons actually take more calories to digest than are in them, this is also true of certain vegetables. But for now, simply get the ones you enjoy and we will play with the choices during the upcoming 30 days of your weight loss challenge.

That’s it for Day 2!

Clean out the cupboards, and the refrigerator, and restock with the kinds of fruits and vegetables you enjoy. As you begin to walk and change your eating, you will be amazed at how soon, and how fast, the weight loss commences.

John Zajaros, “Coach Z”
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateweightlossplan.com

PS, By now you should have subscribed to my newsletter, the next edition will be out in the next 10 days or so. You will also receive an amazing resource immediately upon confirming your subscription, a resource for getting the ultimate results from diet and training by one of the foremost experts in the field.

The Ultimate Weight Loss Plan: Begin With Walking

Day 1 of The Ultimate Weight Loss Plan Challenge! Stay with me for 30 days and you will transform yourself into a totally new you. You will lose weight and inches!

As mentioned in the last post, a funny thing happened on my way to neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief…weight loss!

There are millions of websites, blogs, and fitness gurus claim to have the answer to weight loss, the secret no one else has. The reality is actually quite different, the keys to weight loss are not a secret, they are literally steps away.

I have trained athletes on and off for 30 years. Many of the athletes I’ve worked with have gone on to achieve great things and accomplish most, if not all of their personal, athletic, and professional fitness goals. I have also helped more people, men and women simply interested in getting back into shape and shedding a few pounds, than I can count with their fitness programs. Many of my clients have achieved remarkable results following a few simply and straight-forward strategies.

Of all the weight loss strategies available today, I am often asked which one is the simplest and easiest to follow, day in and day out. The answer is always the same…walking!

Over the years I have come to call it my “bipedal weight loss” strategy but it still comes down to one thing, walking equals weight loss.

“Bill’s” Weight Loss Lesson: Walking the Dog!

Years ago, I watched a friend of mine go from morbidly obese to thin, literally before my eyes, simply by walking his dog each and every night. I liked “Bill” a lot and he was so heavy I just knew he wasn’t going to make it past 40, much less all the way to retirement. His kids and mine played together and it was tough, as a friend, to broach the subject of his weight with him. I struggled with it every time I saw him. Then, one day late in the spring, I noticed Bill was walking his dog around the neighborhood. Bill and Sandy, his dog, would pass my house every evening. In no time at all, he began to lose weight, a lot of weight! The results were amazing. Not only was Bill losing weight, Sandy was too. I was so excited for him, he was melting before my eyes.

Why Did Bill Decide to Lose Weight?

It seemed to me that Bill had simply reached a point at which he had had enough. I talked with him about it and he confessed that he just got to the point where he knew if he didn’t do something he would be dead in less than 10 years. The information he provided me validated what I assumed, the pain of his life had become worse than the pain he would have to endure to reclaim his life!

Interestingly, Bill said once he made the decision, the rest fell into place and then it became a habit, after that it was easy.

He and Sandy started looking forward to their walks and in the course of a few months his waist had vanished, he was into a 34 waist and his blood pressure was an amazing 122/78.

The Irony of Bill’s Story

The ironic thing about all of it was I had provided the same sort of advice to strangers for years but when it came to approaching my friend, it was so difficult, I failed to take action. In essence, I had let him down. Bill and I talked about it later and he agreed that it had to come from inside him, that if I had simply brought up the subject of his weight and how to lose it, he would have been offended. Regardless of how he got there, it was wonderful to see him take charge of his life and it was exciting to watch him transform before my eyes.

My Personal Weight Loss Plan and the Motivation Behind It: Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica

Significantly, when it came time to get a handle on my own weight problem, and my neck pain, back pain, and sciatica, I knew the first step necessary in dealing with both excess weight and the back pain was weight loss. I had also been advising people for years about the benefits of aerobic exercise, before witnessing the amazing weight loss and physical transformation of Bill, and afterwards.

Aerobic Exercise and Walking for Weight Loss

In my opinion, walking is the best all-around aerobic exercise you can possibly to for weight loss and for neck pain, back pain, and sciatica! The thing about walking as a weight loss and chronic neck, back, and sciatic nerve pain treatemt and relief strategy is that anyone can do it. Not only can anyone do it, but it can be done almost anywhere and with a minimum of equipment or gear. Yes, the proper shoes and socks are necessary, and we will deal with the proper gear in an upcoming article and video, but there is no fancy workout aparatus or equipment equipment to buy. Additionally, there is no membership to purchase and you can build each day upon the one before, in a constant and consistent manner, what Tony Robbins refers to as CANI!

CANI! Constant and neverending improvement!

Weight Loss, Pain Relief, and Accountability Partners

So, I started walking, little dog and all! Bill’s dog was a big dog! Almost every dog I have ever owned has been a big dog. But in this case my walking partner, my accountability partner (and we will cover the need to an accountability partner, as well), is a little Puggle named TuffGuy. He is every inch a tough guy, little dog syndrome and all. But he is a constant companion on my walks and makes them a bit more fun. And, TuffGuy keeps me going on the nights when I would just as soon stay home…accountability partners are a must!

Walking, Weight Loss, and Results…Fast!

Anyway, I walked and the results cam quickly, as I knew they would. In no time I was down two pants sizes and purcahsing new belts. I measured myself, rather than weighing, because weight loss is not an accurate gauge of success, the tape is! Today I purchased 2 pair of Levis in a size 36. I haven’t been a 36 inch waist in almost 20 years. Even when exercising, my waist never seemed to break 38″. Now, I am losing inches, measuring to track my results every couple of weeks, and feeling better than I have in years.

Walking, Weight Loss, and Pain Relief

The neck pain, back pain, and sciatica is a thing of the past! I have lost weight to be sure, inches of course, and I have experienced real and lasting neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief. I couldn’t ask for more!

Other Weight Loss Strategies

Have I used other strategies along the way?

Yes!

Once I reached a certain point, I integrated other weight loss and pain relief strategies into my overall weight loss and neck pain, back pain, and sciatica relief program…but walking is what literally and figuratvely put me on the rodd to success. If it worked for me, it can work for you.

How to Begin Your Weight Loss Walking Program

Begin by walking a few minutes each day, build slowly and consistently over a period of days, weeks, and months. In no time, you will look and feel like a new person.

Want proof?

Go back to the videos I made at the first of the year on YouTube and compare them to the most recent ones.

Enough said?

Begin your bipedal weight loss strategy today, whatever time it is, and you will be a new person in short order!

We will cover the next step in your ultimate weight loss plan tomorrow!

John

John Zajaros, “Coach Z”
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
johnz@ultimateweightlossplan.com

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