More on weight training

When you start your weight training program, it is important that you not get carried away. There is an old cliche, "No pain, no gain." That cliche may be true when it refers to bodybuilders, but you are not a bodybuilder. You are someone who wants to achieve a healthy weight, and then maintain that weight for the rest of your life, without having to constantly obsess about what you eat!

In order to achieve that, weight training, rather than body building, is an essential part.

As I have advised my readers in the past, when you first decide the time has come to lose weight, you must first...do nothing. For two weeks, continue your old routine, whatever that might be. Well, you must do one thing. You must keep a journal, recording everything you eat and drink, and when and why. (Because you felt hungry, because you felt bored, because you needed a pick me up, because someone really annoyed you, and so on.)

Don't even start your exercise routine until after you've completed your two week journal. (Unless, of course, you are already in the habit of doing an exercise routine and have been doing it steadily for at least a month.)

After you've spent two weeks getting to know yourself, you'll know what times of the day you have the most energy, and what times you don't. Many people are morning people...they can get up at 4 am with a smile on their face. Others prefer not to get up until noon, or at least, that's when their energy starts to kick in.

So it's important that you know when your most energetic times of the day are, and that's the time you'll do your thrice-weekly exercise routine.

When you do begin your exercise routine, do it only three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You don't want to overtax your muscles, or your mental stamina, and burn out before you truly get started.

So that leaves Saturday and Sunday free.

It's on the weekends that it's okay to treat yourself to a candy bar, or even a blizzard, if you so desire. While I emphasize that it's not necessary for people to give up the foods they love, it is necessary to restrict them, and make them treats rather than everyday occurrences. Have a candy bar every two or three days, or better still, every weekend.

The weekend should also be the two days when, if at all possible, you get out and do things. Play golf or tennis, go skiing, go for a longer walk than you do during the week, and so on. If you don't have time to participate in sports during the week (apart from your exercise routine which you must do) try to do it on the weekend.