Diabetes is a very real thing that a lot of people in the Katy area are dealing with.  If left untreated, Diabates can lead to more health problems, potentially amputation, and eventually premature death.  Diabetes is preventable with proper diet and exercise in most cases.  However, if you feel that you might have diabetes, please visit with your physician.  Half of the people who have diabetes don’t even know it.  Avoiding finding out the answer if you have it or not, is not the solution.  You must treat your diabetes if you want to keep healthy.  Don’t wait until it’s too late.  Get checked today.  Below is a short video about how diabetes works in the body.

In a recent small study, they found that short bouts of intense exercises shows that it may be enough to prevent diabetes.  The study a group of 16 young men with a median age of 21 that performed 4 – 6, 30 second sprints on a stationary bike.  Over a period of 2 weeks (a relatively short time for a study) they saw an improvement in glucose, insulin, and non-esterified fatty acids.  There has to be more research on this with a wider group of participants, but it’s a start.  If you would like to read more, here is the full article.

Personal trainers meet new people every January who are determined to lose weight.  And as a personal trainer in the Katy area, I have discovered that a lot of people don’t see results simple because they aren’t sure how.  Sure, they know to lose weight they should exercise and eat healthier, but beyond that, they really aren’t sure exactly what to do.  If you are one of the people who are unsure of what to do, here is a simple guide to make sure you achieve your weight loss results.

1. What is your goal? – The first step is the easiest step.  You have to figure out what you want to accomplish.  There is more to it than that though.  As a personal trainer, I often ask people what their goals are, and I usually get the common response, “lose weight”.  “I want to lose weight” is not a goal.  You need to be very specific for your goals.  “I want to lose 20 pounds by April 15th,” is a good goal.  Write down your specific goal and keep it in a place you will be able to observe it so you can stay focused and lose weight.
2. What is my plan? – You have to have a solid plan if you want to lose weight.  What is your plan?  “Exercise and eat better.”  As a 12 year veteran of personal training, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this response.  That’s great, but it’s not a plan.  A plan would sounds like this, “I plan on working out 5 days a week.  I will spend two days a week doing total body strength training workouts and 3 days doing a 30 minute interval based cardiovascular workout.  My calorie intake will be approximately 1,500 calories and will be 40/30/30 split, etc……”  I know it sounds like a lot of stuff to be held accountable to, but let me ask you one question.  Of the two answers, who do you think is more likely to get results?
3. What am I going to eat? – Since we just talked about this, let’s expand on this a little more.  If you want to lose weight, you have to know what you are going to eat.  “Healthy” is not a plan.  You have to have a general idea about how many calories you are going to consume, a general idea of what you are going to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, and the mixture of carbohydrates/protein/fat intake you are going to consume.  That is a plan to lose weight.  Of course you won’t know every little detail every day, but you should have a plan in place for those times when you can control what you are eating.  Nutrition is the biggest part of weight loss.  If you don’t have this step in place, expect about a 70% decrease in the amount of results you want to achieve.
4. How much cardiovascular activity are you going to do? – Cardiovascular activity is important, but I would say that 90% of the people I meet do this step completely wrong.  And these are usually the same people that usually don’t make it past March because they get so frustrated with their lack of results that they give up.  Some will get on a treadmill and walk.  They start losing a little bit of weight, only to see the results suddenly stop.  They get bored and tired of exercising for nothing and eventually give up.  Honestly, I would give up too if I didn’t get results.  The other people are the ones whose face is so red from killing themselves on the treadmill that they look like they are going to explode.  They are going as fast as they can, and usually hanging on for dear life, simply because if they fall off, they will probably get hurt.  Unfortunately, neither of these groups of people get long lasting results.  Your goal should be focusing on interval based training that allows you to both work hard, improve recovery heart rate, and see a gradual increase in your cardiovascular capability over time.  Not only does it produce faster results (to see the research studies on this, subscribe to my newsletter), you will be able to work out for less time to see those results.
5. What does your strength training program look like? – “I don’t want to do strength training
   

   Strength Training is essential to have a tone body.

   because I don’t want to get big.”  This is one of the biggest weight loss mistakes there is.  It’s a myth that strength training will keep you from losing weight.  In fact, if done properly, strength training will make you lose weight faster than if you avoid it.  If you tried it in the past and it did not work out for you, I bet it’s because you did not do the steps listed above at the same time.  A proper strength training program will not only help you increase bone density, muscle tone, and give you more defined shoulders and triceps, but will also help you lose weight faster.  If you avoid this crucial step, not only will you cheat yourself of achieving faster results, studies have shown you will be less likely to stick with your weight loss goals for the long term.

Katy residents, this year, make sure you get results.  For 12 years I’ve watch a lot of people succeed, and even more fail.  You can be successful, but you need to make sure you follow the steps above.  If you don’t have all of the steps in place to get results, contact me with the form below.  Don’t take chances on not achieving your results.  Contact me for a free consultation to discuss your goals and I will help you devise a plan to make sure your New Year’s Resolutions are a success.

If you are thinking about joining a gym, but are intimidated with the typical gym environment, I may have the perfect solution for you.  Contact me about the small, private facility I train at that will help you get results, without worrying about other people watching you.

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Throughout the whole world, we have more amputations due to diabetes than landmines.  Considering there were 40,000 amputations in India alone last year, you get an idea of how big of a deal this is.  85% of diabetic amputations are preventable.  Preventable!  It is so sad when I hear about someone losing a leg or a foot due to not taking care of their health. 

I remember when I was in physical therapy school in the Houston medical center, doing rounds at ben taub and seeing a patient who had just had the lower part of his leg removed.  It was a sad thing to see. 

Let me just say that if you are at risk for diabetes, take care of your health.  If you have diabetes, please do not take it lightly.  The risk of losing a limb (which you can’t get back) will have a huge impact on your lifestyle.  Read More