The Big Picture

I am often approached about specifics pertaining to diet and exercise. Such as, "Can I get in shape if I eat ice cream?" or "I eat cheese, is that why I am not losing weight?" or "I eat fruit, and the Atkins Diet says that's why I can't lose weight!" In regards to exercise, I get questions like "I do crunches, how come I can't see my abs?" or "I hear that running is the best way to lose weight."

The answer to all of these questions and comments is "it depends!" No one thing solves all of your fitness dilemmas. It is the complete package of everything that you do. So, yes, you can "have your cake and eat it too" and get in great shape if you do what is necessary for your body. It's always about balance.

A great way to make sure you are doing what is right for you is to first think about all the components of fitness: Cardio, Flexibility, Strength Training and how do these components line up with your Diet?

Let's look at an example:

An overweight gentleman comes to see me and he tells me his goal is to lose 50lbs. So, we map out a gameplan:

Cardio: 5 times/week for 30 minutes, this will help him burn approximately 500 calories each session and leave a 2500 calorie deficit at the end of the week to help him get close to a 1lb/week weight loss just from cardio (remember 3500 calories = 1lb of fat)

Strength Training: 3 times/week focusing on some free weight exercises that incorporate some of the basics (like bench press and squat). By builiding a little more muscle, it will help to raise his metabolism and help to increase the rate at which his body naturally burns calories without him doing anything.

Flexibility: Stretch for 20 minutes after each strength training session. The stretching helps to increase range of motion and increase the potential for new muscle to be developed in addition to dramatically reducing the risk for injury. Couple this with a little meditation and you can significantly reduce stress. Some studies show that high stress levels may lead to your bodies inability to break down fat due to high cortisol levels.

Diet: If this guy did all the above three but didn't follow through with his diet, then he wouldn't get anywhere. So, we map out a certain calorie target to shoot for based on his metabolic needs. If his BMR (basal metabolic rate) is approximately 2200 calories, then we might set his target at 2200 calories. His normal daily activity may require him to consume approximately 2700 calories, but by only consuming 2200 he will have a 500 calorie shortage. If he follows through with this plan over 1 week, he will have a 3500 calorie deficit from his diet alone, which is 1lb lost. If he keeps his diet at 2200 calories and does all the cardio exercise and strength training, then he should see close to 2lbs of weight lost each week!


It's through putting ALL the pieces together that you achieve your fitness goals. By doing only a part of it, you will only get a part result. For example, if my client only did cardio and didn't do anything else. he might only see 1/2lb to maybe 1lb of weight lost each week. For some people, that wouldn't be enough result for all the effort and they would quit. But, by following through with everything, my client is able to become stronger, more flexible, have less stress, have great cardiovascular health and meet his weight loss goal of 50lbs by August!

Don't try to pick and choose, do it all! Decide to get in complete shape! That way, you get all the success!

"So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." Revelation 3:16 (NASB)