I have the tendency to expect the worst then become pleasantly surprised when the worst is not as bad as I imagined. 

Such was the case when I had my fitness reality-check conversation with Dwayne the owner of Vertex Fitness. I needed to hear exactly what I needed to do to get the excess “baggage” I was carrying around off me for good.  

What I thought was going to be a long, drawn out lecture on the good, bag and the ugly of working out and weight loss was actually a very short and sweet discussion. Bottom line: Dwayne assured me that I’d reach my goal of losing weight, bring definition to key areas of my body and become physically stronger with two 30-minute strength training sessions at Vertex Fitness. Yes, only 30 minutes is correct. In that half hour of time you work both your upper and lower half of your body through a variety (about 10) of weight machines under the supervision of a personal trainer. Dwayne advises following up the weight training session with 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, bike or elliptical machine. So much for having spend hours at the gym to get results.  I was a bit skeptical, but Dwayne’s the expert so I’m listening to him.

The second major part of the equation along with exercising is watching what I’m putting in my mouth. The key to losing weight is burning more calories each day than you take in. It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Radically changing your diet can be daunting in the beginning so Dwayne recommends making small changes at first: eat a third less of what you usually eat; try and cut a few hundred calories from your daily diet; and add in good-for-you foods like fruits and vegetables. “You don’t want to change too much, too fast so that you don’t stick with it,” says Dwayne. I really liked this advice because I’m not a big fan of deprivation.

I walked away from my conversation with Dwayne feeling optimistic that this was something I could do. He’s a pretty upbeat person so it’s hard not to get caught up in his passion for strength training and living a healthier lifestyle. You don’t know until you try and I know I’ll be trying my hardest to get this body to where I want it to be.

Parting Thought

You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.