Personal Training Blog with Douglasville Personal Trainer David Hansey

Weight loss can be challenging. It can also be frustrating. There are lots of things you can do to help make it easier and make those results more consistent.

My first suggestion to everyone starting out or stalling out is to keep a weight loss diary. Not forever, I know that can be tedious. Try a week to start. Write down EVERYTHING!!! All that you eat and all that you drink. There are often a lot of hidden calories in things like coffee drinks and gum and candy and snacks and juices and condiments and salad dressings — you get the idea. So focus on writing everything down. Then at the end of the week, do the calculations and find out where you have issues. This can be a huge asset when your weight loss slows or stalls.

Ok, now here is a simple fact. Apply the same logic to your workout. Write it down. Add up the time. While you may have INTENDED to get to the gym 4 times this week — if you only made it once and did not work out with the intensity or amount of time — then you are not being honest with yourself when it comes to working out.

Sometimes you truly need professional help like a dietician or a personal trainer. And those are great assets, especially if you have never worked out before or are just getting started. But for a lot of people, dramatic changes can happen by just getting honest.

Well, I love to watch people get results and I am a realist. I understand that not everyone can afford to come to train a few times a week. And realistically, there are things that you can AND SHOULD do on your own. There is a commitment that you must make in order to get fit, lose weight and be healthy.

And YOU are the one who has to make that commitment. A personal trainer is a great aid. Personal training can show you a healthy, safe way to achieve your results in the shortest time possible. However, a personal trainer cannot be with you all day to encourage you to make the right food choices, to encourage you to drink water instead of coke, to encourage you to prioritize your workout and quit putting it off — see where I am going.

Personal training is a guide and is a great thing and a very needed thing for many people. But YOU are the one who makes the real difference. So if you cannot afford personal training or cannot afford as many sessions a week as you would like, do not use that as an excuse to not get fit. Make the most of the personal training sessions you do have and commit to finally getting fit.

Some people just find cardio hard. Either it is boring or not entertaining or easy to skip or you want it to be more social.

Well here is an easy way to make some family time, enjoy the fresh air and enjoy the beauty that is Douglas County. Douglasville and the surrounding area offers so many great places to go hiking — from Sweetwater to Cochran Mills to Clinton Farms to the amazing Silver Comet if you prefer walking on pavement to hiking.

And it is warm and beautiful and not hot and humid yet. So get outside. Try to vary your routine and hike at least once a week for a nice variety to your cardio.

I had a great hike this weekend (and a different one last weekend) just across the border in Alabama. There are literally HUNDREDS of places to hike within an hour of here — and there are DOZENS within 10 miles — so no excuses. Use nature for your workout and watch how if changes not only your fitness but also you mood.