The Time Is Now: 7 Ways to Get Off the Diet Rollercoaster and Get On With Your Life

By Kathy Laucius

If you’ve ever started a new diet twice in one month or found yourself in the drive-thru lane on the way home from the gym, this book is for you. The Time Is Now: 7 Ways to Get Off the Diet Roller Coaster and Get On with Your Life delivers what its title promises. The seven main chapters offer proven strategies for achieving lasting weight loss and fitness from someone who has learned the hard way. In The Time Is Now, nationally recognized personal trainer Kathy Laucius offers tools and motivation for getting off the diet roller coaster and establishing a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. The book offers in-depth guidance on proper nutrition and exercise, including practical advice on planning healthy meals, setting realistic goals, overcoming common challenges, and making workouts more effective. It also includes recommendations on the best fitness-related apps and websites, plus a lengthy appendix with tips on hiring a personal trainer, food lists, and sample strength-training and cardio workouts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781631927751

Book preview

Author

INTRODUCTION

MY STORY

Do you know the definition of insanity?

Webster’s Dictionary defines insanity as a state of mental illness, extreme foolishness, or irrationality.

Albert Einstein said it is the act of doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results.

Well, readers, I have a confession to make. I used to be insane.

If you had told me nine years ago, at the age of 38, that one day I would love physical fitness and healthy eating, train for and compete in five figure competitions (including nationals), give numerous interviews to major media outlets, and run my own personal training business on top of all that—well, after I wiped the Taco Bell off my face, smoked my last cigarette for the day, and had a beer to go with it, I would have told you that you were insane.

You see, friends, I was overweight in a former life. And not just overweight but unhealthy and exhausted. From the age of 13 to 38, I had been on six commercial diets, and had lost and gained close to 300 pounds. My body was worn out from 25 years on the diet roller coaster.

I hated to exercise and hated to eat healthy even more. But, as most people do, I struggled to find my way. I struggled to understand why the simple act of willpower seemed to work for others but eluded me. Why couldn’t I lose the weight and keep it off?

Do you know what my favorite day of the week used to be? No, not Friday. It was Monday. Monday, you say? Yeah, you were definitely insane, Kathy! It was Monday because that was the day I was going to start over. Make amends for all the crap I had eaten over the weekend and forgive myself for being lazy. This next week would be different, I would tell myself. No excuses. No hiccups. Every day was going to be perfect with regard to following a strict diet and exercise regimen, and I would see the results immediately. At least that was the plan.

My reality was that by Wednesday I would have had it with food deprivation and getting up early to work out. So, I would do what I did every week: throw in the towel with some splurges and by the weekend, forget it. I was right back where I started.

And then one day I realized the problem: I was insane. I kept doing the same things over and over again, yet I expected different results. This was my aha moment. I needed to change my mentality. All those years spent on the latest diet should have instead been spent on living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

You’re familiar with the saying Slow progress is better than no progress, right? Along those lines, I had to train my mind and realize that my body was not going to change with one good meal or one intense workout in the gym. I had to learn that the choices I make every day go toward the big picture, not just those I make on Monday. I had to commit to a lifestyle, not a short-term diet.

At 38, with two small children at home, I made up my mind to get it right. I hired a personal trainer to help educate me in the gym and teach me proper exercises and form. I started walking and eventually added running to the equation. A year later, I did the unthinkable—I ran a half marathon. Before kids, I couldn’t run to the mailbox let alone 13.1 miles! I was shocked what my body was capable of once I cleared my mind of the clutter.

But then I had a new problem. I thought I could out-train a bad diet. In other words, I was working out hard, but still didn’t take my nutrition very seriously. Eventually I hit a plateau and realized that I would not see