Oprah's Trainer Bob Greene Offers 6 No-Fail Tips on How to Stay Motivated With Your Fitness and Weight Loss Goals
By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
By Kathleen Doheny
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Fitness guru Bob Greene knows staying motivated and staying in shape can be a challenge, even if you've got solid fitness and weight loss goals -- and a wildly popular television show.
As Oprah's trainer, he helped her slim down and stay motivated. It paid off -- she was a svelte 160 pounds when she appeared on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine, in January 2005. But life and a thyroid problem intervened, and she got back up to the dreaded 200-pound mark.
So come January, Greene and Oprah are back to work, determined to stay motivated and drop the weight once and for all. Greene is scheduled to be the first guest Jan. 5 on "Oprah's Best Life Week" series designed to help kick-start viewers' fitness, weight loss, and other goals. The next week, Greene will be on the Oprah.com live webcasts.
Also, Greene's new cookbook is out this holiday season -- a tool to help followers of his Best Life Diet stay on track while trying to eat right.
Greene walks the walk. He fits in regular workouts despite training high-profile clients, writing for Oprah's magazine and web site, and having a busy family life. As the cover photo on his new cookbook shows, he's in shape.
Lack of motivation? Not a problem. He's woven dozens of no-fail tips into his life. Here, he shares some of the best -- and perhaps surprising -- ways to stay motivated with weight loss and fitness goals.
1. Ease Into Weight Loss
When most people decide to lose weight, they typically go cold turkey on the Chunky Monkey and chips and dive right into a Spartan menu highlighting vegetables and cottage cheese, determined to do an overnight overhaul of their diet.
Wrong approach, Greene says. Gradual is better. "Don't radically change your entire diet overnight," Greene says. Phase in healthier foods a little at a time.
"Don't give up all your comfort foods at once, and don't look at snacks as foods that get you into trouble," Greene says. Eating right can and should include snacks, he says. "Snacks are effective weight loss tools. They bridge hunger and help you not to overdo it at a meal."
2. Skip the ScaleIt's a knee-jerk reaction. You've been on a diet for oh, 24 hours, and you're eager to see your progress. Of course, you'll weigh in.
Think again, Greene says. "Stay off the scale for the first month to six weeks," Greene suggests. This will be a challenge, he knows, for most people, who can't wait to see the pounds drop off quickly.
But the scale actually gives you a somewhat inaccurate idea of what is going on -- you may have lost water weight only, for instance, or you may get discouraged if the downward slide is not as great as you hoped for.
If you are dying for feedback on how your weight loss goals are shaping up, focus on how your clothes fit, Greene suggests.
3. Shift the Diet Focus
"Instead of focusing on cutting calories [only], which drops your metabolism, focus more on activity levels," Greene says. "It's the bigger of the two." Activity burns calories. Exercise such as weight training also builds lean muscle, boosting your metabolism long-term. So it offers a short-term and long-term advantage to meeting your fitness goals and your weight loss goals, Greene says.
Although many people plan to diet first, then incorporate exercise, Greene says if you have to do them one at a time, try making exercise a habit first, then focus on cutting calories.
4. Make Your Workout a Meditation
It's easily done, Greene says, just by listening to great music when you walk or jog, for instance. If you are on a treadmill, watch a show you enjoy.
Find an exercise that takes your mind off the exercise, such as being in a beautiful outdoor setting. "When Oprah and I meet in Hawaii and we are hiking, it's hard work going up the mountain but it's joyful," he says.
5. Build Exercise Into Your Life Creatively
One of Greene's business partners built a desk on his treadmill, taking phone calls and working while he works out. "He's writing, he is making his marketing calls, and he is on the treadmill," Greene says.
Greene adapted the idea himself. "I was training for a cross country ride, and had the phone by my indoor bike," he says.
Those examples are extreme, Greene says, but it can get you thinking about weaving exercise in when you have even a few spare minutes throughout the day. The more you do that, the more you can expect to meet your fitness goals.
6. Focus on the Outcome
Focus on how you know you will feel when you're done with your workout. "Everybody loves exercise when it's done," Greene says with a laugh.
"Focus on the effects," he says. He doesn't just mean tighter muscles or flatter abs. "I've never had anybody say they don't feel better, sleep better, after exercising," he says.
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