We’ve arrived at the quarter century successfully. Starting the new year on a high note is on many people’s minds. Managing finances, learning a new skill, or working toward the bucket list of visiting highly sought-after wonders of the world are a few examples of the monumental achievements people might be motivated to work toward throughout the next twelve months of 2025. However, one of the most popular topics is usually to refine the way their body looks and feels. Along with the goal of body refinement comes one of the most popular metrics people are fixated on: the digital representation of their weight on the electric scale. Losing weight is usually at the top of the list of things to improve in the new year.
By now, we should be receiving email blasts and social media advertisements of New Year special discounts from most of our local gyms. If we travel past small group fitness class venues such as Orange Theory or Crossfit locations, we’ll probably see a sign propped up facing the road with a message to passers-by that membership for the first month of the year is fifty percent off. Professionals managing fitness facilities understand that people motivated by their New Year’s goals are eager to sign up and immediately take action to improve their bodies via exercise. What better place to go than fitness centers offering discounts and literally waving you down while you stroll by?
Local gyms, small group fitness classes, and personal training centers play a huge role in offering professionally catered exercise sessions to people interested in losing weight and improving their overall health. Napa is fortunate to have an abundance of fitness centers providing support to individuals looking to improve their health and fitness. However, there are a few obstacles shunting people’s abilities to achieve weight loss goals even with the help of the robust resources of fitness professionals in our community.
Fitness classes and gym sessions usually produce an average of an hour of rigorous exercise when someone visits the gym. Additionally, participants usually frequent these classes an average of two to three times per week. Furthermore, a high concentration of brand-new gym-goers make up most of the attendants participating in January discount special packaged fitness classes. Unfortunately, attendance drop-off can occur within three weeks of starting a new fitness program due to lack of interest, not having fun, or finding something more important to do than refining overall health. Exercising twice a week is challenging for people who live busy lives as employees, business owners, or parents. And, these three hours a week of exercise don’t account for the other events in our everyday life that pose obstacles to our weight loss efforts the other one hundred and sixty-five hours in the week.
Unless we have a professional dietitian by our side on our payroll for sixteen hours out of the day, we need to learn to depend on our own conscious decisions regarding the food that enters our bodies. If our goal is to shed a few pounds of subcutaneous fat mass, the person we look at in the mirror every morning is responsible for the food we consume. If we think a steady diet of visiting Panda Express and ordering their egg rolls and deep-fried chicken will be offset by three days a week of sweating at Pilates class or getting twenty-thousand steps in a day, we’re on another planet. The truth is that an exercise routine can’t override a lackadaisical diet. Perhaps more time should be spent on skillful dietary decisions as a priority as a foundation in our efforts to support weight loss goals.
A strategy that helps our personal training clients build a foundation of optimal eating decisions isn’t necessarily following an etched-out diet. Making better decisions throughout their day when consuming a certain food develops a sense of autonomy and self-government within individuals to empower their ability to intuitively decipher what will or won’t cause weight gain. A powerful example that makes an immediate impact is to focus on what time of day carbohydrates are consumed.
Having starches and bread later in the day is usually where we see a hindrance in our client’s nutritional mindset. Pasta, rice, and bread at dinner are a surefire way to hold onto excess fat. When humans are physically active, carbohydrates are used as a source of fuel to keep the body moving through rigorous exercise. However, when in a sedentary state of sitting or being inactive for a long period after consuming carbohydrates, the sugars in carbohydrate-dense foods are converted and stored as fat in the upper chest, abdominal, and hip regions. As a solution to counteract the effects of excess fat storage from food, an effective tactic is to limit carbohydrate consumption around periods in the day that are more physically active periods of the day.
Routine exercise is undoubtedly one of the most important factors in refining human health and losing fat mass. However, let’s not forget about the decisions we make that reside directly in front of us every day when we eat. Don’t forget about exercise when conquering your New Year’s resolutions. More importantly, build a strong foundation in dietary decision-making to supercharge your efforts in losing weight and making 2025 a healthy and strong year.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com, or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
