In our 20’s losing weight for some of us might have meant cutting out fast food three times a week. The older we get the harder it can be to lose weight.
I have never been blessed with a super-fast metabolism. I have always had to be careful and the older I get the more careful I have to be. As a personal trainer who is approaching 50, it is important to me that I walk my talk and not carry around extra weight.
To answer the question, yes, the right personal trainer can certainly help you lose weight.
As a Fit ‘N’ Well personal trainer in Edmonton, there are several things we do to help people in their 50’s achieve their weight loss goals.
- Most people will fall off the wagon and stop exercising at some point. When you have regular weekly or even daily appointments with a personal trainer if you stop exercising for a day or two the reality is you are more likely to stay consistent with your fitness program if you have scheduled exercise appointments.
- People lose more weight from better eating habits than they do strictly from exercise…The key is when people exercise regularly they are much more likely to eat healthily. Over the past twenty years of personal training, I can’t count how many people have told me they eat well when they exercise regularly then eat poorly when they aren’t exercising regularly.
- The personal training sessions aren’t just about the exercise. During the sessions, we discuss health habits such as sleeping patterns, nutrition and water intake, daily exercise, etc. The more a client talks about these things the more they think about them. The more they think about good habits, the more likely they will continue with them.
- A lot of people tell me they know what to do. They just don’t do it. I think they don’t do it because there are so many aspects to good health that it gets overwhelming and they don’t know where to begin so they don’t do anything. A personal Trainer can help!
- We recommend people start with one good habit. Master it, then move on to another. Improving one habit at a time is much easier than starting an intense exercise regime and going on a strict diet. Instead, start a great habit and keep at it. Even if that means 15 minutes of exercise a day. It all adds up. When you are ready whether that is in a week or three weeks, start another great habit and maintain your first two habits until they are second nature, then start another habit. You have the rest of your life to improve your health. Constant gradual changes are more likely to stick as lifestyle changes that you will adhere to the rest of your life than intense exercise sessions and strict diets.
- Accountability– Many of my clients that I only see once or twice a week email me their daily exercise and eating journals. Those clients are often the people who see the best results. Seeing a trainer once or twice a week isn’t necessarily going to guarantee your weight loss, but accountability is very effective. Many people admit that they lie to themselves or justify their eating choices. Most of my clients prefer not to send me a food diary admitting they had pizza and ice cream. That thought in itself often helps with curbing bad eating choices. And if they do choose badly it helps their personal trainer to understand their eating patterns and suggest strategies to choose healthier choices the next time they are in that situation.
- Lastly, figure out what you like. Do the kinds of exercise that you enjoy. Eat the types of healthy foods that you enjoy. I grew up on a farm. I realized when I was in my early 40’s that consuming a whole-food, plant-based diet was going to be the healthiest diet for me and the easiest way to keep off any extra weight. Over the years since I figured out how to structure that diet so I would look forward to each meal. I wasn’t successful the first time. It took a lot of trial and error. Now for the past 6 years, animal products haven’t even tempted me. Part of that is because of health and environmental reasons, but a bigger part is because I love the taste of my food so much I wouldn’t want to go back to eating the way I used to when I grew up on the farm. I like the way I feel on a plant-based diet, I like the way I look and I just have no interest in going back and it has nothing to do with will power. When you change your eating habits, you too may at some point no longer be interested in the unhealthy foods that you used to eat regularly when you were at an unhealthy weight.
