Breaking through Plateaus

Obstacle – Abdominal exercises don’t seem to be flattening your belly.

Root Cause – You’re expecting a cat to bark. It doesn’t work. So what good are ab exercises? They support and protect your spine, reducing your risk of injury for everything from running a 10k to cleaning out your garage. And they help you to become more aware, graceful and efficient with your movements, improving balance and coordination as well as providing structural support for your core.

Easy Fix – What flattens your belly is burning more calories, consuming fewer calories and making sure those you do eat are the highest quality possible. In this post from my blog, my abs are equally well conditioned. In the second picture, I’m leaner. Notice the difference?

You’ll find more guidance than you’ll ever need on how to drop excess body fat in the fat loss, exercise tips and nutrition posts found in the index on the upper right hand of the blog.

Obstacle – Late Night Eating

Root Cause – It’s likely that you have a good-sized lunch and get busy and distracted in the afternoon, so you go several hours between lunch and dinner. So dinner becomes your biggest and most calorie-rich meal. Few habits derail fat loss efforts as effectively as this one.

Easy Fix – Cut back on your lunch volume and have a late snack of healthy, filling food such as an apple and a cheese stick or veggies with nuts and hummus. Another easy option is to simply split lunch into two meals, one around noon and the other between 3 and 5 p.m. If you feel like a light snack before bedtime, milk or yogurt is a good option. So is celery with peanut butter.

Obstacle – Not enough time to work out

Root Cause – The folks in this broad category include people who have an insanely busy schedule, those who are spinning their wheels (but not getting anywhere) with their program, and those who just plain aren’t truly committed to a discipline of regular exercise.

Easy Fix – If you’re not ready to dedicate yourself to the rigors and time demands of training, be honest with yourself and embrace that reality with no judgment. You’re just not ready. You’ll change your mind about that sooner when you stop making excuses and blaming elements that are out of your control. If you’re spending hours in the gym but not getting very far, there could be a number of reasons. Check out the exercise tips section of my blog to diagnose and effectively treat your problem.

Finally, the current and two former leaders of the free world found time to exercise regularly because they knew that it would not only dramatically improve the quality of their private lives, but also make them more effective contributors in their chosen fields.

Are you really busier than them?

Learn more about Dan Taylor at http://trivalleytrainer.com/.