My personal trainer's unorthodox but effective tips!

A couple years ago, my mom gave me an awesome gift.  It was the gift of fitness-more specifically a personal trainer.

My second child was almost a year old, and I was feeling miserable.  My body was a wreck, I was tired all the time, and she wanted me to feel better about myself.

So, she paid the membership and personal trainer fees for our local 24 hour fitness membership.

I had a wonderful trainer who himself had an inspiring story of weight loss, but he taught me a few things that were effective in my weight loss.

image from www.lovelyish.com

1.  Always train with the highest weight you can manage while still completing the exercise properly.  Sustain reps for at least a minute, or count up to 20.  Doing this is better than doing many reps at light weights.

I can't explain why this is better, but it worked wonders for me.  I have worked out before doing the latter with little change, and my trainer's method was far more effective.  You don't bulk up as one might expect, but lean out.

2.  Eat more protein than carbs. 

3. Do a 10 minute warmup - walking, cycling, or elliptical, then weight train, do ab exercises, do squats, and all other floor work for 40 minutes or so.  End with cardio like cycling, elliptical, or running for another 20 minutes.  If you do cardio first, you tire out and can't weight train effectively.  Weight training is more important for weight loss than cardio, according to him.

All this worked for me!  I lost 15 lbs and kept it off for a couple years.  It is now starting to rear its ugly head, so back to the gym I go! :)