Personal Training Advice: How to Combat the Snap Back Effect
Personal Training advice
According to popular statistics, only 8% of New Year’s Resolutions are successfully kept. This means that 92% of us that are brave enough to set out for self-improvement will fail.
Those aren’t very good odds. And this is a big problem I see in the personal training industry
Thankfully there is science that explains this curious “Snap-Back Effect” and offers us tools to make the effect work in our favor.
Snap-Back Effect: A term coined by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the author of Psycho-Cybernetics to describe the rampant self-sabotage of personal improvement goals. Maltz noted that you can stretch a rubber band only to a certain length and hold it only for a certain time until you get weak or get distracted and the rubber band will then snap back to its true shape.
This is essentially what happens when you attempt to achieve a new level of self-improvement. Sooner or later you sabotage yourself and get back to your normal level of achievement.
What sort of person do you believe yourself to be? This mental image of yourself is your self-image.
All of your actions, feelings, habits, and even your abilities, will always be consistent with your self-image. Always. You will “act like” the sort of person that you believe yourself to be. This means that you literally will not be able to act against your self-image for any length of time, despite making a New Year’s Resolution about it, and despite deploying grit, conscious effort and willpower.
Sooner or later you will snap-back to the sort of person that you believe yourself to be.
If you have a “fat” self-image, if you believe that you are the sort of person who “can’t resist sweets,” if you “are unable to enjoy exercise,” then you will not be able to reduce your body fat and keep it off no matter how many times you attempt to turn over a new leaf. Maltz proved that we can’t escape our self-image. You may be able to do so in the short term, but sooner than later you’ll be “snapped-back,” like a rubber band.
The answer is Self-Image Management
According to Maltz, your self-image is a “premise,” or a foundation upon which your entire personality, behavior, and even your circumstances are built. As such, your experiences will verify and strengthen your self-image, and either a destructive or beneficial cycle, is set up.
In other words, you will seek out evidence that supports your opinion about yourself, even going so far as to create the circumstances for proof to be had.
For example, as a dieter who sees herself as a “failure”-type dieter, or one who is “thick in the waist,” will invariably find that the number on her scale continues to go up. She then has “proof.”
Whatever seems just out of your reach, whatever frustrations you have in your life, are likely reinforcing something ingrained in your self-image like a groove in a record.
Maltz goes on to say, “Obviously it’s not enough to say, “it’s all in your head.” In fact, that’s insulting. It is more productive to explain that “it” is based on certain ingrained and possibly hidden patterns of thought that, if altered, will free you to tap more of your potential and experience vastly difference results.
This brings me to the most important truth about the self-image: it can be changed.”
This is something I work on with my personal training clients every. single. day. You have to believe your a bad ass and can do anything you set your mind to (because you can!)
Take time this New Year’s to revise the sort of person that you consider yourself to be. The possibilities are endless!
P.S. If you want more personal training advice, click the link
Top 5 Weight Loss Hydration Tips for Bergen Community Residents
Top 5 Weight Loss Hydration Tips for Bergen Community Residents
When it comes to losing weight, hydration is an area that gets very little attention. However, many of the beverages people drink are what actually prevent them from achieving their fat loss goals. That’s why in this article I’m going to be looking at the effect of hydration on weight loss and providing you with five of the best weight loss hydration tips.
Tip 1 – Drink At Least 8 Glasses Of Water Per Day
If you become dehydrated, your metabolism slows down and this reduces the total amount of calories you burn each day. Therefore, if you want to avoid dehydration and maintain an optimal metabolic rate, you need to be drinking at least eight glasses of water on a daily basis.
Eight glasses may seem like a lot if you’re not used to drinking this amount of water but it’s very manageable. If you drink a glass of water in the morning when you wake up, a glass of water in the evening and a glass of water with each meal, you’re already over half way there. Then if you drink a few cups of coffee or tea during the day in addition to these five glasses of water, you’ll easily pass the eight glass mark.
Tip 2 – Avoid Soda
Sodas are loaded with sugar and an extra-large cup often contains more calories than a meal. Despite this, many people who are trying to lose weight knock back large amounts of soda each day and then wonder why their healthy meals and exercise routine aren’t having the desired effect.
So if you’re struggling to lose weight but drinking soda on a daily basis, swap it for water, coffee or tea. Doing this will cut hundreds or even thousands of calories from your daily intake and have a significant effect on your overall weight loss.
Tip 3 – Avoid ‘Diet’ & ‘Sugar Free’ Drinks
Another mistake a lot of people make when trying to lose weight is swapping regular soda for ‘diet’ or ‘sugar free’ alternatives. While these drinks do contain little or no calories, they’re still not a good choice if you want to drop the pounds because they’re loaded with artificial ingredients and chemicals which slow down your body’s fat burning processes. Therefore, to make sure you’re burning the maximum amount of fat possible, ditch the ‘diet and ‘sugar free’ drinks and drink water, coffee or tea instead.
Tip 4 – Limit Your Consumption Of Fruit Juice
Fruit juice contains natural sugars and so is a healthier choice than the two types of drinks listed above. However, it’s still relatively rich in calories with most fruit juices containing over 100 calories per cup. So if you’re serious about losing weight, you need to be limiting your consumption of fruit juice to no more than a couple of glasses each week.
Tip 5 – Enjoy Caffeinated Beverages In Moderation
Hot caffeinated beverages such as coffee, black tea and green tea are a fantastic alternative to water which contain zero calories along with plenty of health boosting nutrients. However, caffeine is a diuretic and drinking too much will cause you to become dehydrated which then slows down your metabolism. Therefore, make sure you’re drinking no more than four hot caffeinated beverages each day to maintain your metabolism.
Summary
By following the tips above, you’ll not only reduce your intake of liquid calories but you’ll also put your body in an optimal fat burning state. When combined with a solid diet and exercise routine, this will allow you to blast through body fat and you to achieve your weight loss goals with ease.