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YOU CAN
DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED
TO LOSE WEIGHT
JOHN AMARETTO
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles or reviews.
Sharing of this eBook is completely allowed and encouraged, as long as the book is not changed.
Nothing may be added to, or removed from, this book.
Before starting a fitness or exercise regimen, talk to your doctor. Have your doctor approve your
fitness plans.
John Amaretto
Legalese
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
4. Introduction
5. What We Want vs. What We Do
7. A Routine You'll Enjoy
8. What We Eat
9. Lifestyle
10.Getting Started
11.Mindset
12.Discouraging Thoughts
14.Stay Motivated
15.How To Start
16.Exercise Routine
17.Get Going!
John Amaretto
Table Of Contents
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Hi, I’m John Amaretto and I’m a personal trainer. I have some tough-love for you.
The fact is that Americans, on the whole, are soft. We’re weak. We’re shallow. And we don’t like it
when people point that out to us.
But don’t get me wrong. I’m no different than you are. I don’t like being offended. I would rather
spend my mornings chilling with my wife, my dogs, and a nice mug of chai than at the gym
sweating off the fat from the food I ate yesterday. I just have priorities. My first earthly priority is my
wife, then my dogs, then my fitness. Everything else comes after that. Even the chai comes after
my fitness.
If you want to succeed, in anything, you need to make that success a priority in your life. This
eBook shows you how to make fitness your top priority and how to put it into action.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
John Amaretto
Introduction
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
As men and women living in the 21st century, we all know that we should get in shape. And we
want to be in better physical shape. But it’s difficult.
What we should do and what we actually do are usually quite opposite. The fact is that we do what
we value most. We act on our top priorities. Most of the time, our own comfort and happiness are
the top priorities in our lives. Not eating well. Not exercise. Comfort.
So what can we do to fix this? Let’s talk about the benefits of fitness.
1. Increased Sex Drive – Yes, you read that correctly. Exercise has the ability to increase your sex
drive by creating more hormones like testosterone. Regular exercise also increases blood flow,
which helps prevent men’s erectile dysfunction.
2. Better Sleep - People who exercise regularly find that they fall asleep faster and sleep longer.
3. Reduces Depression - Exercise helps you manage your stress and anxiety levels. The
antidepressant effect of regular physical exercise is much like the effects of
serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
4. Increases Self Esteem – No matter what to think about your body, simply having a regular
fitness regimen improves self-esteem.
5. Decreases Risk of Diabetes – Even though getting in shape has been shown to increase insulin
sensitivity, it helps prevent type-2 Diabetes.
6. Live a Long Life – Studies have found that people who exercise regularly tend to live longer,
and more fulfilling lives.
7. Improve Your Balance - Exercise improves your balance and stability because you are
strengthening your core muscles.
8. Weight Control – Even though research shows that exercising increases some people’s
appetites, they are not gaining weight. Regular exercise burns calories and helps you control
your weight.
9. Improves Energy Utilization – Fitness routines improve your ability to convert fat into energy
and that causes weight loss.
10.Stay Healthy – Exercise, combined with the proverbial “Apple A Day”, strengthens your immune
system and keeps you healthier.
John Amaretto
What We Want vs. What We Do
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
11.Lose Visceral fat – Visceral fat — the fat around our abdomen and internal organs —can be
burned away with regular cardio exercise.
12.More Energy - Forget the coffee. You don’t need that energy drink. Just go for a brisk walk or
spend a bit of time exercising. The way exercise gets your blood pumping is more effective than
coffee, and it’s healthier too.
13.Have More Confidence – Recent studies have shown that you don’t have to be in shape, just
working on getting in shape and you will feel better about yourself. I’ve seen this happen
myself.
14.Exercising is Fun - It’s true. You can dance, walk, go for a hike out in nature, ride a bicycle, or a
horse… There are many different ways to exercise that if you actually want to; you’re going to
find one that you like. Just get started.
Do any of these resonate with you? Do they excite you? Do they sound like something you’d like to
have in your life?
If you decide these are things you want in your life, you have 2 options.
• Do nothing. And receive nothing.
• Put in a bit of sweat equity and get what you really want.
In modern U.S. culture (I’m not sure about elsewhere around the world) the trend is to want
something and want it now. Instant gratification is king. And marketers love that. But what happens
when instant gratification simply isn’t possible? Do we cheat? Do we give up? Do we settle for
second best? Yes. Sadly, we do any or all of the above.
When something is tough and takes time, we see what separates the men from the boys and the
women from the girls. It’s easy to see when someone is physically fit and has an awesome
physique. Some of us respect it and others degrade it. We may say “They were just born fit” or “It’s
easy for them”. But the fact is that even models and actors have to work hard at staying fit and
trim. They may have good genetics on their side but they have personal trainers and they have to
put in hard hours at the gym. That’s why they’re successful. They didn’t trade being comfortable
now, for being successful later.
John Amaretto
What We Want vs. What We Do
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Getting in shape and being active isn’t easy. It takes hard work and determination.
Physics tells us that “A body in motion tends to stay in motion. And a body at rest tends to stay at
rest.” Simply put, the reason we’re not active is because we never start moving.
Let’s all thank those physicists for explaining the main problem getting fit.
When we’re sitting on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and our favorite sitcom, there’s very little
motivation to get moving. We just want to laugh away the stress of our day. So we’re resting and
that causes us to remain there, consuming calories without burning any of them.
Packing on calories without action is one part of why we get fat. It’s not that popcorn is bad for you.
In fact, there is little sugar and lots of fiber in it. There are really only 2 problems with it. First, we
cover it in butter. Second, it helps keep us on the couch instead of walking the dog. The second
issue of keeping us sedentary is far worse for us than the bit of butter we put on it. If we were even
moderately active, that little bit of butter wouldn’t matter at all.
John Amaretto
A Routine You'll Enjoy
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
We need to consider what we eat. It matters.
Do you eat bread? Fast food? Cereal? Do you drink soda?
If you answered “Yes” to any of those foods, you’re probably consuming High Fructose Corn Syrup
(HFCS). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to lecture you on High Fructose Corn Syrup. You’ve
probably heard enough of that already. What I am going to do is explain the basics of how your
body handles Fructose and why it’s a problem.
The problem isn’t High Fructose Corn Syrup. The problem is Fructose and the amount of it that’s in
HFCS. Fructose is bad for your fitness goals because of how the body breaks it down. Fructose is
empty calories that don’t give you energy. Fructose is only able to be broken down in the liver. And
the liver isn’t able convert it to energy. It goes straight from being sugar, to being fat. Your body
doesn’t even have a chance of converting it to energy.
Consider the fact that Sucrose, also known as plain sugar, is approximately 50% dextrose and 50%
fructose. So even regular table sugar is pretty bad for you. Dextrose, on the other hand, does
become energy and has a chance to be burned off before it becomes fat. It isn’t as sweet as
Fructose but for a fitness perspective, it is the preferable sugar.
We need simple sugars in our lives. They are delicious and they’re necessary for cooking and
baking.
So what can you do instead?
What I do is buy pure dextrose from a local beer brewing supply store. But since it is only 2/3 as
sweet as table sugar, I use whatever amount is needed, then add Stevia to the mix to complete the
necessary sweetness.
Stevia is a natural sweetener with no sugars or calories per standard serving.
Personally I recommend doing a taste-test of whatever you’re making because every brand of
Stevia is slightly different in how much it takes to sweeten something to your desired level.
Read more about HFCS and Fructose.
John Amaretto
What We Eat
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
If your lifestyle would be considered sedentary, like mine was before I changed my priorities, you
need to understand that most of us are just like you. We are all fully aware of the fact that we
should exercise. But we don’t. We start and quit our fitness routines like we pick up and put down a
cup of coffee. It’s that easy for us.
Part of the problem is that we never get the traction we need. Just because we’ve quit on an
exercise program before, doesn't mean we can’t start again. We can. We all can.
I honestly wish I could tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped my exercise routines. One
time I went to visit my parents for a week, then didn’t get back to the gym for 6 months. That’s the
truth.
Exercise is always ready to welcome us back with open arms. We just have to embrace it in return.
If you have the energy to get up off the couch and go to the gym, I applaud you.
John Amaretto
Lifestyle
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
If you’ve quit before, don't be too hard on yourself. Don't let yourself get into the "all or nothing"
fallacy. Exercise isn’t complicated. And killing yourself on the first day isn’t beneficial.
I used to be on an exercise yo-yo. I’d tell myself, “Today you’re going to do 50 crunches, 50
jumping jacks, and run 5 miles.” Heck, I couldn’t do 20 crunches. I was finished before I ever got
started.
You need to remind yourself that doing something is better than doing nothing. At the beginning, do
5 crunches. That’s it. If you can’t do 5, do 2. Getting started is the most important part. Sustaining it
is the second most important aspect of exercise. If you wear yourself out the first day, you’ll be too
weak to try it again the second day. And getting to the second day is the key to creating a new
habit.
Habits aren’t always bad. Is it bad that we habitually brush our teeth every morning? No. Is it bad
that we grab a cup of coffee on our way to work? No. The word “habit” has been demonized
because of all the “bad habits” we have. But here we’re talking about creating good and positive
habits.
The key to creating a positive habit or routine is doing something repeatedly. And that’s exactly
what’s going to get us the fitness results we want.
John Amaretto
Getting Started
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Laziness is not the problem. The problem is simply starting. Once you have a bit of momentum,
and you can see that you’re improving, you’ll be more encouraged to keep exercising. That will
overcome your laziness. Though, really, laziness is probably just a lie that you’ve been told, or
you’ve told yourself, for so long that you believe it.
When you're starting from zero, you have no encouraging history behind you. If, on the first day,
you do 2 crunches, do 2 on the second day. Then do 2 again on the third day. Pretty soon you’ll
think to yourself, “I can do 3.” Then do it. When you think you can do 4, do 4.
One of the most encouraging times in my workout history was when I was doing Dumbbell
Presses. I started at 35 pounds on each side. And within a few weeks, I moved up to 40. Then 45.
Then 50. I just wanted to keep going. The growth and progress was better than any
encouragement someone else could have given me because I was living it. I saw the progress. I
knew it was real. I was finally pushing 55 pounds in each hand, straight up into the air. Heck yeah!
You can do this too. To counteract that belief, prove yourself wrong. Get up. Get off your butt and
start walking. Walk around the house. Walk to the front door. Walk out the door and down the
street. Then walk back. Congratulations! That’s exercise! You did it and you survived. Now do it
again tomorrow. That’s the beginning of a good habit that will have a positive influence on your life.
John Amaretto
Mindset
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re alone on this one. We all have discouraging thoughts.
We tell ourselves that we’re lazy, that we’re going to quit, so why even bother starting. When you
hear yourself think these hurtful thoughts, go for a walk. Prove to that inner voice that you’re
stronger than it thinks you are.
I’d love to tell you that I don’t think like that. But if I did, it’d be a lie. The fact is that I battle
depression and negativity just about every day of my life. But I’ve found a way out of it. I prove
myself wrong. I hate it when someone tells me that I’m no good. And I’ll immediately set out to
prove them wrong. But when that voice comes from inside my own mind, I already believe it. I think
it’s a fact. But then the fighter in me gets pissed-off and I set out to prove it wrong.
When I thought my maximum cardio workout was 15 minutes, I chugged an energy drink and did
60 minutes. The next day, I did it again.
I did this for 2 weeks. Then one day I forgot my energy drink at home and went to do my cardio
without it. Guess how much time I spent on cardio? Yep! I did 60 minutes of cardio without any
caffeine at all. After that, a new pattern was set and I believed I could do it because I had proven
that I could do it.
But it took mental effort.
The fact is that you can do it too. If you have any fire or fight in your heart, you can do it. There’s
nothing special about me. I’m not an athlete. I’m a geek that just happens to enjoy working out. In
high school, I was in the Computer Club. I took 3 years of programming in high school. I was not
cool. I was not an athlete. I sat in front of a computer and drank Mountain Dew.
I had an enormous mountain (dew) to conquer to lose weight and gain muscle. Still, my favorite
thing to do when I’m stressed is to sit in front of my PC and either surf the web or create something
new.
But my PC keeps me out of the gym. It does its best to distract me and become my top priority.
That’s when I have to fight the urge to remain sedentary. And you do too. You know what your
default reactions are. You know when you’ve settled into a warm and familiar situation after a
stressful day.
That feeling is the enemy. You need to get up and go for a walk.
John Amaretto
Discouraging Thoughts
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
That’s what happens when you learn to confront that lying voice in your head and do what you
know is best for you. You can change your life, 1 step at a time.
If you are interested in learning more about how your mind works, and how to conquer it, I highly
recommend reading “The Flinch” by Julien Smith. It gives you a real-world way of learning how to
listen to your internal thoughts and how to push through them. The book is FREE. You simply need
a free app in your browser, phone, or tablet, so you can read Amazon Kindle books.
John Amaretto
Discouraging Thoughts
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
So how do you stay motivated? Honestly, I can’t tell you. I’ve probably never met you. You know
yourself better than I will ever know you. So here’s a list of questions you need to think about that’ll
help you figure out how to stay motivated.
• What do I enjoy doing?
• What motivates me to do that?
• What would my life be like if I lost 20, 50, 100 pounds?
• What would my life be like it I had real confidence?
According to Chester Elton, the coauthor of “What Motivates Me: Put Your Passions To Work”,
“During our lives, our motivations change.” What motivates you today may not work tomorrow and
you’ll need to find something new to motivate you. And that’s ok. The important thing is that you
remain motivated. Only you know what that will take. Only you can motivate yourself. Other people
can poke, prod, and pull but if you’re not motivated, you won’t stick with it.
You need motivation to succeed.
John Amaretto
Stay Motivated
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Start out small. It’s OK.
When I made the choice to exercise daily, I thought I could accomplish about 20 minutes. Yeah
right! Starting from nothing and doing crunches until I couldn’t do any more absolutely killed my
mojo. I had nothing left to give the next day. And I quit.
Don’t make the same mistake I did. Whatever you think you can do, cut it in half. Then cut that in
half again. You don’t want to make it painful to start with. You want your efforts to be sustainable. If
you can’t exercise every day, start by simply exercising once a week. Do that 3 weeks in a row.
Then see if you can do twice a week.
Whatever you can do, do it. Then add to it later.
John Amaretto
How To Start
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
As you’re just starting out, you probably need a routine that you can follow or adjust to your level of
fitness.
Cardio: Start with either walking or jogging, depending on your fitness level, for 20 minutes. You
should try to walk 20 minutes a day, or whatever you can do, 5 days a week. Of course, you can do
more if you’re up to it. Just remember not to over-do it.
You can judge your exercise level with the "talking test". You should be able to have a conversation
without your breathing being too labored. However, if you can sing, you're probably not walking fast
enough for the exercise to be beneficial.
Strength Training: You probably don’t have any barbells or dumbbells lying around so there are
things you can do without having to but any exercise equipment.
• Push-Ups
• Assisted Push-Ups
• Squats
• Walking Lunges
• Wall-Sits
Do what you can and when you feel like you are ready for more, gradually increase either the
difficulty, or the number of exercises that you do. Eventually you should get to the point that you’re
doing strength training twice or more every week.
John Amaretto
Exercise Routine
YOU CAN DO IT.
HOW TO GET MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT
Ok, you’ve got the very basics. You know that you need to prove your inner voice wrong. You know
that you need to get moving if you want to stay moving.
You know what you need to do. Now it’s time to get going.
Take it easy and remember, you’re out there to create a new habit, not to become the poster-child
of fitness in a single day.
John Amaretto
Get Going!