I've been working on a book for about 6 years now. Why 6 years, you ask?

Is it because the book is so fantastical that it required 6 years to write it?

No, it's taken me 6 years because I'm somewhat lazy and because my creativity comes in waves. But regardless, I'm getting down to the final few months and would appreciate some feedback.

Basically, it's a book about fitness that I started when I was a personal trainer. It sounds like a played-out topic (another reason it's taken me so long), but my angle on it is somewhat unique and I've always wanted to make my own treatise available to people in hopes that I could somehow help them.

What I need from everyone is some feedback on what YOU have discovered to be your biggest challenge or question when it comes to fitness and/or health in general.

Seriously.

Whatever insights you can give me will help me polish the final product and generate a perspective that's outside of my own head. That's always a good thing.

Much appreciated.

My main problem has been to not feel frustrated. I am hypothyroid and I can go to the gym and workout as hard as possible 7 days a week and eat the perfect diet everyday and see nothing change. The only time I really, truly saw results was when I worked out with an incredible trainer. Its hard to maintain that level of crazy on your own (though I try really hard to do it at least once a week to mimic the training sessions I used to have).

Well, for me my weight fluctuates such a lot!
Although I began with fitness and eating correctly at first I stopped the fitness and focused on food obsessing over fat content!

I think my biggest struggle is finding something that works for me!

Thank you for the feedback. Keep 'em coming, everyone. These 2 answers just proved to me that there are finer details that I can miss in my writing.

Keep going and good luck with it!

I think that people who work unusual hours develop unusual sleeping and

Eating habits... I worked ten years on third shift and worked from 10 PM to

7AM, and usually did not get much sleep during the day... I slept from 3PM

Until 9 PM and got used to being up all night... I usually snacked and drank pop

During the day and supper before I went to work... Now I'm retired but still

Stay busy , I'm trying to lose weight... Need to get good sleep and wake up

To healthy breakfast (the most important meal of the day) after fasting all night.

Some people skip breakfast (fuel for the day) to lose weight -- burn muscle

I excercize 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the evening

And try to stick to eating healthy snacks of apples, baby carrots, celery or plums

And try to drink water rather than pop, feel like I'm losing weight -- takes time

I'm getting a lot of emails for either Motivation or Temptation/Diet. Any thoughts?

I found the more active I was the better I felt! I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that but that was my motivation!

... and temptation? Well when I lost the first few lbs I felt like I was doing something really good - this suppressed my temptation!

See it's all one big chain of events but I think the person has to WANT to do it!

:) Hope this helps?

My biggest problem is I try really hard for about two weeks then either a) get sick or b) get completely disinhearted because I don't seem to improve - just get worse.

Also I almost always put on weight when I exercise, yeah I know it's muscle weight but it's still off putting.

Good luck with your book, I'm sure it'll be good because your advice always is :)

Well thank you very much :)

Actually, you're the first person to mention a problem that I often have in my own training: Getting sick or injured.

That's an area that I'm trying to address in the book, but it's probably the biggest cause of irritation in my own life.

This is actually good for your abs...

YouTube - Gym Rat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGcdA6nfOak)

Correct me if you don't agree...

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3762/stayontopicul2.jpg

My biggest problem is success. I am a writer. When I've sold a story, I lean back and relax instead of digging in again to write another one.

Same problem exists in other areas -- e.g. if I want to lose ten pounds, I lose five, feel the rush of success, and stop trying so hard.

Maybe it's a fear of failure -- like, how could I possibly continue to succeed if I try again??

e.g., if I want to lose ten pounds, I lose five,

Actually, the whole premise of the book is rooted in THIS quote right here. The reason for your frustration comes from the whole concept of "losing" as the motivation and barometer for your success.

The human brain doesn't respond well to losing anything. Losing is a negative term, even if the intention is to lose something that we deem as negative itself (fat).

We're working against our own human programming... fitness is the only area where we strive to lose.

And striving to lose is still simply "losing" in our minds.

THAT is why most people find frustration in fitness... and that's the paradigm that I've written the book from.

I sincerely hope it can help people who've struggled with finding permanent success.

As for the other issue, i.e. stopping once you taste some success... that's an issue that seems to go more to the core of your personality. I'm not psychologist, but maybe the best course of action for it would be to simply enjoy it. If you can't use the energy to continue creating, then use it to enjoy what you already have created.

Thanks for the feedback, and congrats on being a published writer, too. I've never had a book published, so once it's done I'll come back to you for advice :)

Hi, a personal trainer? Just the person I need to talk to! LOL I am 27 I am 5'7 and weigh 161, I have a 5 yr old son and my prepregnancy weight was 127. Well I do understand I am older now and probably won't ever see a size 5 again? But it would be nice!
I started (AGAIN) 3 days ago running on the treadmill 2.5 miles, but really want to see results, everywhere! Can you tell me what I need to do to lose 25 lbs. I need specifics here. Do you think stationary biking does any good? Just need help!! Thanks!
Dollface_93

Knowing the difference between
Good carbs, bad cards, good fat, bad fat, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol??
Those are my biggest challenges... along with
Finding a nice pair of jeans with a small waste and a double butt so they'll fit me properly... LOL!!
But seriously, how to only lose inches in the rear end without building muscle or making the rest of your body too skinny is another challenge for me that I have yet to conquer.

Knowing the difference between
good carbs, bad cards, good fat, bad fat, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol?????
Those are my biggest challenges...along with
finding a nice pair of jeans with a small waste and a double butt so they'll fit me properly...LOL !!!
But seriously, how to only lose inches in the rear end without building muscle or making the rest of your body too skinny is another challenge for me that I have yet to conquer.

I'm all about making things as easy as possible... the simplest way to determine between "good" and "bad" nutrition is that natural foods are often superior to man-made foods.

Actually, Jack LaLanne has been saying this for 50 years or more... he won't touch anything man made, because he believes that processed starches are sugars are the biggest cause of dietary health problems.

I'll cover all of it in detail.

But I'm curious WHY you don't want to build muscle?

I'm assuming you're female, and I'm saying that because most guys simply won't notice a "double butt" :)

But also because women ALWAYS say to me "I don't want to put on muscle."

But guess what... FAT is burned INSIDE MUSCLE CELLS.

Without more muscle, you won't burn more fat.

Granted, I'm oversimplifying, but the point remains:

In order to succeed, you MUST have a concern for muscle cell development. Unless your taking hormone supplements, it is highly, highly unlikely that you will have enough natural testosterone to bulk up like a man will.

But what you WILL see happen is that your body will take a more natural, feminine shape, you'll be more "compact" and svelte, and your posture will likely improve.

It's not about "not training" your muscles... it's all about HOW you train them.

But you must train them.

I'm all about making things as easy as possible....the simplest way to determine between "good" and "bad" nutrition is that natural foods are often superior to man-made foods.

Actually, Jack LaLanne has been saying this for 50 years or more....he won't touch anything man made, because he believes that processed starches are sugars are the biggest cause of dietary health problems.

I'll cover all of it in detail.

But I'm curious WHY you don't want to build muscle?

I'm assuming you're female, and I'm saying that because most guys simply won't notice a "double butt" :)

But also because women ALWAYS say to me "I don't want to put on muscle."

But guess what.....FAT is burned INSIDE MUSCLE CELLS.

Without more muscle, you won't burn more fat.

Granted, I'm oversimplifying, but the point remains:

In order to succeed, you MUST have a concern for muscle cell development. Unless your taking hormone supplements, it is highly, highly unlikely that you will have enough natural testosterone to bulk up like a man will.

But what you WILL see happen is that your body will take a more natural, feminine shape, you'll be more "compact" and svelte, and your posture will likely improve.

It's not about "not training" your muscles....it's all about HOW you train them.

But you must train them.
I guess what I was thinking was that if I build muscle back there to burn the fat, the muscle would just replace the fat LOL if that makes sense...
I have good muscle tone.
In fact, I dislike the way it makes me weigh more than I look.
I really try to pay attention to size rather than weight, but as a woman, that's hard sometimes.
My butt is a big muscle LOL, it's round and it sticks out even when it had no fat on it LOL, so I don't want it to get any bigger.
When I was pregnant, I gained a lot of weight.
I've lost it all except for some on the butt that won't come off no matter what I do.
The rest of my body just ends up getting too thin while the fat on the back stays the same...
I've been thinking liposuction would be the only cure, but I'm not that kind of gal... :p

Well, from my book's perspective, I truly believe that your biggest problem is wrapped around the word "lose."

I'll explain why that's a bad thing in the book, so I'm glad you brought it up.

And embrace your huge butt, silly. Sir Mix-A-Lot isn't the only one who digs 'em.

My biggest struggle is I want to move from Pittsburgh to Phoenix and I can't even get to the next county let alone even the state line. Every year I say I am going work hard all summer and save money to move before November. I work hard every summer and every summer I have to put all my money into vehicle repairs, except for last summer I finally got a vehicle that didn't need a lot of work. So what happens? The gas prices take all my money! And now the van is broke down for the winter just like all my vehicles every fall! So here I sit ready and not willing to go into hibernation yet another winter. So as far as fitness my biggest challenge is sitting it out through the winter and keeping the pounds off since I hibernate under all my blankets cause I can't handle the cold weather.

Hey, I'm from Akron, so I feel your latitudinal pain. I've got a functional gym at my house, so I don't have to leave to get a workout. That's probably the best advice I could give you :(

I've been working on a book for about 6 years now. Why 6 years, you ask?

Is it because the book is so fantastical that it required 6 years to write it?

No, it's taken me 6 years because I'm somewhat lazy and because my creativity comes in waves. But regardless, I'm getting down to the final few months and would appreciate some feedback.

Basically, it's a book about fitness that I started when I was a personal trainer. It sounds like a played-out topic (another reason it's taken me so long), but my angle on it is somewhat unique and I've always wanted to make my own treatise available to people in hopes that I could somehow help them.

What I need from everyone is some feedback on what YOU have discovered to be your biggest challenge or question when it comes to fitness and/or health in general.

Seriously.

Whatever insights you can give me will help me polish the final product and generate a perspective that's outside of my own head. That's always a good thing.

Much appreciated.
Hey! A writer huh? I am on my 4th novel so whatever I can help you with! My biggest problem with the wieght factor is that once you start you Can't stop or you will end up gaining more than you lost. However one way I lost it easily is by walking.

hey! a writer huh? i am on my 4th novel soo whatever i can help you with! my biggest problem with the wieght factor is that once you start you CAN"T stop or you will end up gaining more than you lost. however one way i lost it easily is by walking.

Awesome! Thanks for the offer, and I'll definitely pick your brain once I have a finished rough draft.

And actually, what you're talking about is a COMMON problem and one of the primary reasons I decided to write the book.

Basically, the root cause of this issue is because calorie-restrictive diets ignore and often damage one's Basal Metabolic Rate.

Basal Metabolic Rate is the measure of how active our energy usage is at a state of complete rest. Diets slow down the metabolic rate, because our bodies adapt to the reduction in calories...

... but when we can't take the restrictions of the diet anymore, we start going back to a more normal eating style, but our BMR is slower now because of the diet.

This is the MAIN reason why diets don't work.

Aside from that, focusing on restricting our calories usually makes eating a joyless experience.

Screw that! Eating is one of the greatest things in life!

What about information overload?

I've been finding that people don't even realize that it's a problem, but it really is. Any thoughts?

My biggest struggle is that I just can't seem to lose my belly fat. Lol!

At college my teachers and friends say I look really skinny but what they don't know is I have quite a big tummy but can't see because I'm not wearing tight fitted clothing. But other than my belly, the rest of my body looks fine.

I am kind of new to this whole fitness thing. Been 3 weeks now since I have started doing cardio for 20 minutes a day and some ab exercises. And I watch what I eat. So if you have any tips to give then please let me know. It would be much appreciated.

Good luck on the book by the way. :D

Thanks!

Since you're a beginner, the good news is that you're likely to see results simply from doing anything at all :)

Once your body adapts, I should be done with the book and it'll answer everything you just talked about. Your issues are actually (and happily for you) pretty simple.