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"The Common Pitfalls Of Exercise Programs For Weight Loss"

By Jason Zaretzky

The 7 Things People Miss When It Comes to Weight Loss Programs

Over the years I've seen a countless number of people struggle with losing weight. I've seen it all. People do everything and anything to lose those extra few pounds of fat, but I've also seen a bunch of exercise programs work extremely well. After comparing what works and what does not, I've been able to accumulate the 7 most common mistakes people make when trying to lose body fat.

So if you're serious about losing weight and dropping some body fat avoid these mistakes like the plague:

1. Accountability of your own Actions. Having someone to help hold you accountable towards your progress is one thing, but what I see happen more is the lack of one's own actions to hold themselves accountable.

What I mean here is that you need to always be conscious of the actions you are taking, and always ask yourself if those actions are helping you on your quest to lose body fat. In other words, did you eat breakfast today and then every 2 - 4 hours after that? If so great, but was every meal what it was supposed to be? Did you workout today?

If so, even better, but was that workout efficient and geared towards making you lose body fat? What about cardio? Did you do that, if so was it efficient and geared towards fat loss, or was it the traditional mode of 20 - 30 minutes of steady state aerobics? See where I'm going with this.

I see far too may people begin an exercise and nutrition program with the goal of weight loss in mind start out great. However, after a few weeks of eating extremely well, you sit down for lunch and say to your self, "I've been good. So today I think I'll splurge a bit and instead of my grilled chicken salad, I think I'll have a sandwich?."

Then for the next four weeks your fat loss oriented lunch which was a grilled chicken salad is now that sandwich. And you wonder why your clothes haven't felt any better or why you still look the same in the mirror. Let's go back to that day you decided to have that sandwich. When you contemplate what to have for lunch that day all you have to do is ask yourself, "what's gonna help me lose body fat, the chicken salad or the sandwich?"

For exercise and cardio, are you performing that generic "bodybuilding" routine in last months muscle & fiction magazine, or were you smart and seek professional assistance by hiring a credible fitness professional to design a program to guarantee your fat loss results?

Most people tend to take the easy route and buy that magazine. But if these workout programs provided results, we wouldn't have obesity problems would we. And let's not forget get that there is no magic program, you still have to get down and dirty, sweat a little bit and actually do the program. Remember Actions Speak louder than words!!!

2. Failing to plan: If You Fail To Plan, You Plan to FAIL! Just as you plan a vacation, you should do the same with your fat loss program. Flying by the seat of your pants in the gym will only hinder results. Instead, invest in a workout journal so you can keep track of all of your workouts and track your progress, or better yet have a credible fitness professional design a program for you to follow (take the guess work out of the equation).

3. Inability to stabilize blood sugar: Maintaining blood sugar levels is where success lies. When you stabilize your blood sugar you keep insulin levels in check which result in proper metabolism function, a decrease in drops in energy levels, and accelerated fat loss.

Most people who consume refined carbohydrates and high amounts of simple sugars (i.e. cakes, cookies, breads, bagels, etc.) in excess will not stabilize blood sugar levels resulting in decreased metabolism, energy spikes followed by dramatic crashes, and fat gain.

4. "Soakin" up the sud's? or should I say, "you booze you lose". Consuming alcohol is many peoples biggest downfall when talking about adhering to a weight loss program. Alcohol is a toxin and when consumed it will ruin your metabolism.

Alcohol is basically a simple sugar, when referring to stabilizing blood sugar; I think you get the point. A question I hear all the time is, "if I'm gonna drink tonight what's the best thing to drink without getting fat?. My answer is usually something like this, "Well if you must drink tonight? umm? DRINK WATER!!"

I don't care if hard alcohol doesn't have the calories, because the fruit juice you mix the alcohol with does, and it's primarily sugar (by the way 1 ounce of hard alcohol has approximately 7 calories). And what about the rum and "diet coke?"

Well the soda may not have calories (that doesn't mean it's good for you), and the rum still has a minimum of 7 calories per ounce, never minding the fact that the alcohol will convert to sugar and spike you blood sugar levels (see above). Get the point Alcohol Bad?

5. Not enough fibrous veggies: Another obvious one. I know far too many people who eat lots of leafy greens that are healthier and leaner, than those whose won't touch anything green. Green leafy veggies and most other veggies for that matter will keep you full and satisfied and provide you with nutrients you can't get else where.

6. The "one a day" body part routine: I can go on another 6 hour rant here but I'll keep it quick! Performing workout routines that bodybuilders perform made sense at first. However, after realizing the drug (steroid) usage and the fact that these bodybuilders have the time to spend hours in the gym due to the fact that it's basically their job (they get paid to look like that), maybe it doesn't make so much sense.

Let's face it, as a whole we don't have 8 plus hours a week to workout, and if you did, your body couldn't recover from that kind of volume anyway (unless you were on drugs).

Instead, we need to change our mind set anyway. Let's compare an elite athlete in any sport to a bodybuilder. The elite athlete will usually be lean and in shape the majority of the year and they usually perform whole body movement based workouts 3-4 days per week with some interval based training mixed in there.

Ok, now the bodybuilder who follows a body part split routine will always be somewhere under 5% body fat for a very short amount (their in-season, usually 4 - 6 weeks). The rest of the year that bodybuilder will be fat and out of shape (their bulking season) the rest of the year. Which would you prefer? Lean and mean year round, or super lean 4- 6 weeks out of the year?

7. Failure to monitor progress: the last pitfall is ones failure to monitor progress. If you don't track progress than you can't plan ahead. In other words if you don't know how much body fat you currently have, or if you don't know what you weigh or any circumference measurements, then how will you know if you have got results or not?

Remember keep that workout journal and check in at least every other week. See how much body fat, how many inches you lost, or simply how you clothes are fitting. Doing this on at least a biweekly basis will help you stay motivated, as well as ensure you program is working.

About the Author:

Jason Zaretzky is Owner and Program Director of Optimal Performance Training. He specializes in athletic performance enhancement, corrective exercise, and physique alteration. Jason is committed to optimizing your results. He has helped a countless number of individuals and athletes look, feel, and perform at optimal levels, through his system of scientific results oriented programming. Jason Zaretzky is Rockland County's go to fat loss expert and owner of Optimal Performance Training Center located in Rockland County NY. For a FREE 1-week trial to his Rockland County Bootcamps, to experience the best fat loss training in Rockland County please visit RocklandCountyBootCamps.com