Here is a summary of all Igor's advice so far on the Challenge!
Tip
1: Don't focus on eliminating. Instead, think about replacing.
When
you eliminate something it leaves a "black hole", and sets up a sense
of deprivation. Replacing doesn't have this effect. My approach is for
people to only
replace one thing and only until they
don't feel that it's different anymore... they have to wait long enough
for that one thing to be second nature and 'just the way it is' before
replacing 'one more thing'.
Tip 2:
Igor says, " Do you want motivation in a pill? Take a high quality multi-vitamin and fish
oil. Why does your body get cravings? Because the body intuitively knows
that it's missing certain nutrients. So by supplementing with a high
quality multi-vitamin and fish oil, you give the body what it needs. I
want to emphasize "high-quality", because most products on the market
are very poor. One of the worst is centrum. Pick from one of these 4
companies: Metagenics, AOR, Genestra or Thorne. Metagenics is the best I
know, but it's not readily accessible. If you want to know what
determines supplement quality, read this article:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/07/16/nutritional-supplement/
Tip 3: Tell everyone you know about what you're doing. It's
one thing to share it online with anonymous strangers, but it's another
thing to tell people that you see every day. To learn some other
strategies to help you succeed, check out this article:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/04/30/how-stay-motivated/
Tip 4: Measure, measure, measure. If you're not assessing,
you're guessing. But measure the right things. If your diet is changing
for the better and you're doing some form of resistance training, the
scale and measuring tapes are just not enough. For instance, if you're
measuring circumference, your hip and upper thigh measurements might
actually go up, but you're losing body fat. If you can get access to
someone qualified in using skinfold calipers, get that assessment every
2-4 weeks. Here's an article on the problems with different methods of
assessing body fat:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/10/17/body-mass-index-body-fat/
Tip 5: Change your thinking. A naturally fit person looks
forward to exercise for its own sake. Not for the end goal. So find some
exercise you like. Although I believe that resistance training is
essential. If you don't like resistance training, do it with a friend,
and just do it 1-2 times per week, but put a lot of effort into it. To
learn more about how naturally fit people think, check out this article:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/05/22/how-naturally-fit-people-think/
Tip 6: Cardio is good, but don't do too much of it, and don't
do it exclusively. A lot of people run into problems when they start
doing cardio more than 3 times per week for 30 minutes, or if that's all
they do. The problem: they start to put on body fat. Surprise! To
understand why doing excessive and exclusive cardio can make you put on
body fat, read this article:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/02/13/aerobic-exercise-can-make-you-fat/
Tip 7: If you want to lose belly fat, crunches are not the
way to go. In fact, crunches may actually increase your risk of back
injury. Here are the best abdominal exercises:
http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2013/01/03/abdominal-exercises/
Tip 8: Sometimes you don't always have access to a gym. There
are lots of options for things you can do without any equipment
whatsoever. Read up on isometrics and dynamic tension here: http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/07/09/bodyweight-exercise-no-equipment-little-time/
Tip 9: Do you have a hard job, and no time or energy to
exercise? First and foremost, kill the energy zappers. Then start to
think about exercise. Energy zappers include poor breathing, poor
posture and poor nutrition. Learn how to improve these here: http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2013/01/03/no-time-or-energy-to-exercise-plug-the-energy-leaks/
Tip 10: Proper breathing is very underrated. We all know that
proper breathing is essential to both relaxation and endurance, but did
you know that improper breathing can cause shoulder problems and lower
back pain? To correct your breathing, focus on breathing into your
belly, and do that for 5 minutes a day. Read more about that here: http://www.torontofitnessonline.com/2012/03/26/breathing-improperly/
