Exercise

When you envision your path to weight loss and fitness, you may see a long stretch of daily workouts, countless salads and you happily getting up each day to make all these healthy decisions.

What you may not see are the obstacles that, like a cat, creep up without any warning, pouncing on you with their sharp, stinging claws.

That pulled muscle two weeks into your exercise program, or that cold your coworker so helpfully passed on to you. That unexpected business trip or that friend 'dropping by' for a week's long visit. The week you have to work late every night and end up gnawing on fast food just to get through the day.

We expect perfect, linear weight loss, but the weight loss process isn't perfect and neither are we. We may get frustrated, with ourselves or our circumstances, when we get thrown off our game, wasting time and energy fuming over the unfairness of it all.

However, realizing that there are times when things may go wrong can help keep things in perspective. You may not be perfect and your weight loss may stall because of it, but you can find a way to get back on track if you give yourself the chance.

What do you think? Do you ever get frustrated when life gets in the way of your goals? How do you deal with it? Leave a comment and tell us what you think about being perfect.

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'd like to talk to offer something that may make yours a little better: Exercise.

I know, you wanted me to say 'chocolate' or 'wine,' (both of which do have health benefits and have been known to accompany many a Valentine's Day soiree), and you can still have those, if you so desire.

But, don't discount your workout today, either. Exercise really can make your sex life better, a plus if you're celebrating Valentine's Day with a special someone.

Exercise not only gives you more endurance and stamina, it can actually make sex better, including:

• Better performance
• More pleasure
• More frequent sex
• More satisfaction

Ooh la la! Not only that, but exercise reduces stress and fatigue, two things that often get in the way of our sex lives. Maybe a Valentine's Day workout can help bring a little more romance into your life.

Wine and chocolate wouldn't hurt either.

And now for our dirty word for the day: Plateau. Just saying the word out loud is indicative of its meaning - Something long and flat and going nowhere (and, if you're a southerner, those extra syllables just keep going and going and going...)

Plateaus are common in the world of exercise and weight loss and, though frustrating, they do serve a purpose. While we'd like to see constant movement - The scale going down, the weights going up, our workouts getting easier - Our bodies, like most things in life, need time to stop and tread water for a bit.

You can try avoiding plateaus but, the truth is, they will happen.

As you exercise and lose weight, your body gets more efficient at exercise and, as a result, expends less energy. That's actually a good thing, giving you a stronger foundation and one that allows you to take things to the next level (just one of the solutions to plateaus).

Also, as you lose weight, you have less body to move around so, naturally, you'll expend fewer calories. That's also a good thing, a sign that you're making progress.

Thinking of plateaus, what's your experience? Do you ever hit plateaus and, if so, what do you do about them? Or perhaps you need some guidance on what to do about them. Either way, vote in this week's poll and tell us about your exercise and weight loss plateaus.

What's the difference between people who exercise and people who don't? My husband's answer? "You're all insane."

That certainly may be true but, beyond inherent craziness, that's not an easy question to answer, since we're all different. Genetics, background, body type, family history, lifestyle habits...all of these (and whatever crazy you bring to the table) come together to make us who we are and what we choose to do.

There are a lot of things we can't control, but there is one avenue to explore, if you struggle to exercise: Your mind. The truth is, exercisers don't necessarily have more time than other people. In fact, I know plenty of exercisers who find a way to workout no matter what's going on in their lives and one reason they can do that is that they've learned how to make exercise a priority.

If you fall into the non-exercising category, there are a few things you can learn from how exercisers perceive working out, something I talk about in my article, How to Think Like an Exerciser.

Changing how you think isn't something you can do overnight but, if you're struggling to keep going, you may find some ideas to try. Whether you're struggling with exercise or you've figured it all out, be sure to leave a comment to tell us about your experiences. How does the way you think affect your workouts (or lack thereof)? Do you look for ways to exercise or for reasons to skip it?

We (or maybe it's just me) talk a lot about setting realistic fitness and weight loss goals, but you may not realize how important that is. The reason? Every time you fail to meet those expectations, you not only feel bad about yourself, your dopamine levels actually drop, taking you in a downward spiral of frustration and depression. (If you want to learn more, check out David Rock's Your Brain at Work (compare prices), an excellent discussion of how your brain responds to different situations).

Here's an example: You wake up in the morning with a plan to exercise after work. You visualize it, maybe even feel a little excited about your coming success. Your expectation? That you'll still have that energy, that same good feeling as your workout time rolls around.

But what really happens after work? You're tired, cranky, hungry. Instead of visualizing a great workout, you're imagining the effort it will take - Finding a parking place, changing clothes, fighting for space and machines...and that's before you even start exercising. Suddenly, it doesn't look so appealing and what started out smelling like roses now smells suspiciously like failure. But, is it really failure or could it be your expectations were too high?

Having realistic weight loss expectations starts with knowing what your expectations actually are. Sometimes, we often don't even realize we have expectations until we don't meet them. If you find you're disappointed in yourself more often than not, take a look at your expectations and objectively decide if they're realistic.

If you step on the scale and feel disappointed, what number were you expecting to see? Were you hoping to lose 5 pounds over night? Is that realistic?

If you vow to eat healthy all day, only to run into the same old temptations and giving into them, what were you expecting of yourself? Did you have all the resources, all the support you needed to deal with those temptations or were those expectations unrealistic?

The good news is, just as unmet expectations cause dopamine levels to drop, every time you meet expectations, those levels go up, making you feel good about yourself and motivating you even more. What do you think? Do unmet expectations keep you stuck in a cycle of frustration and failure? If so, changing your expectations may be just what you need to feel successful.

The reverse fly is perfect for working the upper back and rear delts, and propping one foot on a step behind you forces your core and stability muscles to work even harder, getting the entire body involved in the exercise. You can add even more of a challenge by lifting that back leg up instead of resting it on a step.

Do it right: Stand 2 or so feet in front of a step or platform and prop one foot on it, bending forward (back straight, abs in) with weights hanging down. Squeeze the shoulder blades to lift the arms up to the shoulder level, elbows slightly bent. Lower and repeat for 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps, switching legs for each set.

Keeping a food diary and tracking how many calories you eat is one of the most effective ways manage your weight. Not only that, but food diaries reveal things about how, why and what we eat that we either aren't aware of or have ignored for so long, they are no longer in our consciousness.

That said, it's entirely possible find success without ever counting a single calorie, but nothing can slap you in the face (in a good way) like a dose of reality. Without it, many of us make up our own, conveniently forgetting about that handful of chocolates we had after lunch or that little, calorie-laden bag of chips from the vending machine or that extra bowl of cereal we had before bed.

There are approximately 489 ways to track every calorie you ingest. There are online sites like Calorie Count and FitWatch, or smartphone apps like Lose It! or MyNetDiary or even old fashion pen and paper, for those of us old enough to remember when writing was a daily occurrence.

Thinking about this, what's your take on tracking your food and calories? Is this something you do on a regular basis? Or perhaps you know you should, but you don't? Vote in this week's poll and then leave a comment, telling us about your experiences with tracking calories. Do you or don't you?

Sports bras are dangerous creatures, willing to squeeze, compress, chafe, wrestle and even bite unsuspecting female chests into submission. As any exercising woman knows, just getting them on and off is a workout in its own right, and feeling the pain of in ill-fitting sports bra can turn an already challenging workout into a disaster.

Finding the right sports bra is often as perilous and soul-sucking as finding the right pair of jeans or the right bathing suit. Contemplating the racks and racks of bras with straps and hooks and lung-twisting elastic can be enough to bring even the most stoic woman to her knees. However, there are ways to make the process a little easier. I consulted with Haidee Johnstone of Leading Lady, a company that specializes in lingerie for mothers-to-be, new moms and full-figured women, for tips on how to find the right sports bra, including clues for how to know when the bra you're trying on isn't such a good idea. You can find these tips in my latest article, brilliantly titled Finding the Right Sports Bra.

I've also updated my Best Sports Bras for Women and created a couple of new top picks for Sports Bras for Full Figures and Sports Bras for Smaller Chests to offer some suggestions for popular sports bras.

I'm sure my lists fall woefully short, so please feel free to post a review of your favorite sports bra to flesh things out a little.

Those vague directions (that turned my first effort into very effective paperweights) are very much like exercise guidelines. Take a handful of cardio, add in a bunch of strength training, throw in a dash of flexibility and stir until it looks right. So, how do you know when it's "right?" We have the guidelines I mentioned, of course, and I've put together any number of programs (weight loss, weight gain prevention, and getting healthy) to help make the process easier but, in the end, figuring out how to exercise comes down to the same thing I needed to learn how to make biscuits: Practice.

And, in my case, a recipe would've been nice.

Knowing that it takes time to perfect a good fitness routine, one that's balanced, that fits your lifestyle, goals, likes and dislikes, may help you relax into the process and realize that the recipe you start out with may have to change over time as you find out more about yourself and your body.

No one can really tell you how much exercise you need, but being consistent and always trying something new when things aren't working is how you can figure it out for yourself.

What about you? Have you struggled to figure out how much exercise you need? Or have you already figured it out? If so, how did you do it? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.

Last week, I blogged about the idea of incorporating core work into traditional strength training exercises, namely with pushups and pikes on the ball. Because I'm on a core kick lately, I wanted to highlight another favorite combination, which also includes pushups. I find pushups to be excellent (my clients would insert the word "excruciating" here) work for the core and you can add even more excruciating excellence by adding in a side plank.

This exercise works everything, with a particular focus on the obliques as you rotate to the side and send the arm up in the air. You can modify by doing the pushup on your knees and then keeping one knee down in your side plank. You can also add intensity by holding a light weight in each hand as you lift the arm up.

Do it right: Get into pushup position on the toes or knees. Do one pushup and as you come up, shift your weight on the left side of the body and rotate to the side while bringing the right arm up towards the ceiling in a side plank. You can keep your feet staggered or you can stack them (which is harder). Lower the arm back to the floor for another pushup and then rotate to the other side. Repeat the series, alternating each side, for 1-3 sets of 10 or more reps.

I was listening to a local radio station recently and the host mentioned a survey suggesting that most of us will abandon our New Year's Resolutions by January 9. If you don't have a calendar handy, that was 21 days ago.

I don't know where that survey came from or whether it's true, but I did notice a sharp drop in motivation after the first week of January. In fact, I didn't even have to fight for a parking space at the gym in January, which makes me wonder if some of us have already given up.

As we near February (or, as some call it, "Oh-my-gosh-winter-will-never-end-will-it?"), I'm wondering: How are you doing on your resolutions? Or, if you didn't make formal resolutions, how are you doing with your exercise and diet in general? Are things moving along for you or are your resolutions already toast?

Vote in this week's poll and then leave a comment telling us how you're doing. What do you need to keep going as we slog through the rest of this winter?

"My body is here, but my mind is actually still asleep in bed," one client said to me on a particularly cold, dark morning. She proceeded to prove it by staring in incomprehension at exercises we'd done hundreds of times, forgetting what she was doing halfway through a set and sighing every time I gave her another exercise.

It's official. The winter blahs are here. I can't do anything about the weather (and, believe me, I've tried), but I do have some ideas for managing the winter blahs:

• Go outside - It takes a bulldozer to get me out of the house when it's cold, but I always feel better breathing fresh (even if it's arctic) air after being cooped up. Even if you only get out for a few minutes, you'll boost your mood and renew your gratitude for having a warm room to get back to.
• Spice things up - If you're stuck working out indoors, workouts can quickly get tedious. Now is a great time to try something different - A class, a video or a new activity like kettlebell training.
• Remember the Future - It feels like winter will last forever, but it will end. Imagine what you'll do when it's warm outside and start working on getting your body ready for it. Whether you want to train for a race, get in shape for summer activities or just look good in a bathing suit, having a goal can keep you on track.
• Exercise with others - If your energy is flagging, try working out with a friend or take a fitness class with other people. Being around others not only gives you more energy, it reminds you that there's a world out there and you're not the only one in it.

You'll find more ideas in my article about beating the winter blahs, but I want to hear from you. How do you get through the toughest part of winter? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

When we start losing weight, we often imagine exciting things lying ahead. There will be weight loss, of course, but we also imagine our shiny new bodies. Perfectly shaped thighs and calves, ab muscles carved in stone, a rear firm enough to invite quarter-bouncing.

But, what really happens when you lose weight? You end up with a smaller version of the same body you always had. To some of us, this is a disappointment, particularly for those of us with the kinds of fantasies I mentioned above. We don't just want a smaller body...we want a better body.

If you look at just about any health, fitness or weight loss magazine, you'll see something that perpetuates the belief that we can isolate and, therefore, shape different parts of our bodies with a few simple exercises. I just saw one the other day announcing exercises for "Sexy Abs, Butt & Thighs!" Who wouldn't want that? Even when we know a few exercises aren't going to transform us from ho-hum to 'Sexy!' it's tempting to try.

The truth is, you may not lose weight where you want (at least, not right away). And, it's entirely possibly you'll lose weight from some place you'd like to keep the way it is. Where we lose weight is not within our control - All the ab exercises in the world may strengthen your abdominals, but you won't lose fat there unless your body cooperates.

Spot training doesn't work and realizing that can be very liberating, allowing you to focus on the results you're getting rather than on what's not happening.

What do you think? Have you been frustrated when trying to lose weight in certain places? How do you deal with it? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.

We're really into core training, if the latest fitness trends are any indication, and one of my favorite ways to work the core is to incorporate it into traditional strength exercises. Not only does this add intensity to some exercises, it also freshens up exercises that can get a little stale.

Ball pushups with pikes are a good example of this, working the chest, arms and shoulders as well as the abs and back. Pikes are an advanced exercise, so you should be very comfortable using an exercise ball before trying it. The movement should be slow and controlled to avoid flipping over on your head (which, unfortunately, can happen). One way to modify this move is to bend the knees and roll the ball in, rather than keeping the legs straight.

Do it right: Get into a pushup position with the ball under the shins/ankles (easier) or the tops of the feet (harder). Bend the elbows and lower into a pushup. Push back up and contract the abs to pull the ball in as you lift the hips up towards the ceiling in a pike position. For a modification, bend the knees and roll the ball in towards the chest instead of keeping the legs straight. Continue alternating a pushup with a pike for 8-16 reps.

If you were giving someone else advice about losing weight, what's the first thing you would tell them? A lot of us would say something about changing his or her diet or starting an exercise program and those things would be true. But, don't most of us already know that?

We have more information about losing weight than ever before, yet we're still struggling. Why? Perhaps the missing ingredient here isn't just making the right choices, but the internal conversations that drive our choices.

I'm convinced that the right mental strategies have to be in place before we can make true, lasting change. We do need goals and self-discipline and motivation, but we also need a true to desire to change what we're doing before any of those other things come into play.

When you think about your weight loss experiences, whether you're losing weight, maintaining weight loss or gaining weight, what is the most important mental strategy you need to be successful? I know there's more than one at work at any given time, but if you had to pick the most important one, which one would it be? Vote in this week's poll and, if your answer isn't there, leave a comment and tell us what you think.

How tense are you right now? If your shoulders are somewhere up near the ceiling, your teeth are clenched and you feel a dull, grinding headache coming on, you have your answer.

The best way to relieve tension is to down a stiff drink and play silly computer games for hours on end. Wait a minute, that isn't what I meant to say. What I meant to say was this: There are simple, healthy ways to reduce tension that don't involve drinking or computer games (not that those things aren't useful from time to time).

If you're feeling on edge, pick at least one of these options to reduce tension right now:

• Mini Break for Work or Study - This free podcast, offered by Mary and Richard Maddux of Meditation Oasis, is 9 minutes of relaxation that will leave you refreshed and rejuvenated.
• Stretch - Choose at least 5 exercises shown in Best Stretches for Office Workers. Spend at least 30 seconds on each stretch.
• Blast It Away - If you have your music handy, find an energetic song and listen to it at high volume (not too loud, of course). If you can walk or dance around without attracting strange looks, bonus points.
• Take a Mini Vacation - Close your eyes and picture your favorite place on earth - A beach, a mountain, a burbling stream, a casino...whatever. Imagine yourself there, seeing the colors, hearing the sounds, smelling the odors. Be as detailed as possible, letting yourself float away in a daydream for as long as you can.
• Relax - Close your eyes and notice any tension in your face, shoulders and neck. Focus your attention on your eyes, cheeks and jaw and deliberately relax them each time you exhale. Next, focus on your neck, scalp and shoulders, once again releasing the tension there with each breath. Do this for as long as you can.

What about you. Do you have any surefire ways to reduce tension immediately? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

We know that weight loss, done right, is a slow process. Yet, that doesn't stop that nagging feeling that we should be getting more out of all our hard work.

We sacrifice the foods we enjoy, grit our teeth through temptation, sweat and grunt and burn during our workouts. At the end of the day, we're triumphant and exhausted for all our hard work and it feels like we should see something for those efforts, at the very least, a few pounds gone on the scale.

But the scale can't measure everything you're accomplishing and it may be weeks or months before you see significant changes.

And, it's that very feeling - The feeling that we sacrificed something, that we missed out on something - That causes the problem. If you feel that way, you may end up wondering: Do I have to keep this up every day? And for what?

For weight loss to work permanently, there has to be a sense of rightness in what you're doing. A sense of power when you realize you really don't need that afternoon donut to make life worth living. A sense of satisfaction when you move your body in a new way. If it feels like a chore, like a sacrifice, if you have to white-knuckle it through every choice, how long can you keep it up?

Enjoying exercise and healthy eating really is possible and it starts by learning about yourself. What are your goals and what do they mean to you? What's your motivation and what are the obstacles that stand in your way? Do you really understand the role of exercise in weight loss? Is emotional eating keeping you from enjoying healthy foods?

These are just some questions to ask yourself and, as always, I'd love to hear from you. Are you white-knuckling it? How could you relax more into the process? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.

The medicine ball is often a neglected piece of equipment, but can be a powerful one for injecting something a little more dynamic into your workouts.

The Medicine Ball Squat and Swing is a good example of this: It involves the entire body and, swinging the weight not only engages the core, it also gets your heart rate up. This move is perfect for warming up the body and it's also a great way to practice the motion involved in kettlebell swings if you're not quite ready for the kettlebell.

Do it right: Hold a medicine ball (I'm using 4 lbs here, which is pretty light) and squat out to the side, swinging the ball between the knees. Step the foot back in as you swing the weight overhead. Repeat to the other side, continuing for 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps. I also like to do this as a timed exercise, going for 30-60 seconds at a time.

How much time do you spend punishing yourself for making bad exercise and diet choices? If you're like most of us, a lot. There are so many ways things can go wrong in a day and one bad choice often leads to another (that sounds like a country song, doesn't it?).

Here's an example: You have a sleepless night and skip your workout to sleep in, which causes you to get up late, which causes you to rush out the door with no time to make a healthy lunch. You go out for lunch and, by then, you're so tired, your body demands a greasy cheeseburger for energy and comfort. The greasy lunch compounds your exhaustion, leading you to scarf a couple of afternoon donuts to boost your energy and give you something to live for as you make it through the rest of the day. You go home, you collapse and mentally kick yourself which, you realize, doesn't really burn many calories at all.

On the other side of that, how much time do you spend rewarding yourself for what you did right? We often don't feel worthy of rewards if we aren't perfect, but rewards can be a powerful motivator. There's so much fear, stress and frustration involved with the weight loss process, what if you could take some of that away by giving yourself a sense of accomplishment?

Thinking about that, do you ever reward yourself for your good choices? If so, does that motivate you? Vote in this week's poll and then leave a comment, telling us about your experiences.

The only way to get through a long cold winter is to spend most of it somewhere tropical. Or, as more than one of my clients have suggested, drunk.

Since the equator is a long way away from many of us and drinking the winter away is just not a good idea (either for your physical or mental health), the next best thing is to embrace the cold weather. Now, I find winter's hug to be quite cold, but having the right gear can make it a little less arctic. Full disclosure: My regular readers know that my definition of 'arctic' includes temperatures somewhere below 85 degrees. Yes, that means that 90% of my year is spent in arctic conditions here in Chicagoland.

The key to exercising comfortably (or at least not-miserably) is to layer up and I have an updated list of tops, hats, gloves and more to help you do just that in my Winter Exercise Essentials.

What about you? How do you stay warm in the winter? Do you head outside or is a nice, cozy gym your preference? Leave a comment and tell us about your winter exercise essentials.

If someone suggested you might actually gain weight when starting an exercise program, what would you do? Scream? Cry? Quit? All of the above?

Unfortunately, temporary weight gain (yes, temporary) is common during the first few weeks of exercise, especially if you're doing strength training. The thing is, there are secret things happening inside your muscles and cells when you start exercising, things that are good, even though they can make you think you're not making progress.

I talk about some of these culprits in my article, I just started exercising...why am I gaining weight? One reason, of course, could be that you're eating too much. We do sometimes compensate for exercise by eating more calories or we follow the rule that exercising means we can eat anything we want and that could lead to weight gain.

However, if you're watching your calories and are pretty sure you're burning more than you're eating, that weight gain isn't fat. It's likely a combination of things - Putting on more muscle faster than you're losing fat and/or water retention, which may be part of the body's healing process as well as a way to get fuel (mostly glycogen, which is stored in the cells along with extra water) more efficiently to the body.

The important point is that there could be a little temporary weight gain as your body responds to your new workout program, but it doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. The key is to assess your situation to make sure you're not eating to much or that you're not losing inches, even if your weight is going up or staying the same, which is a sign of progress. Give your body time to respond to what you're doing and if you don't see a change within a few more weeks or, worse, your weight is going up without explanation, see your doctor to rule out any medical conditions.

Thinking about your own weight loss (or gain) experiences, did you ever gain weight unexpectedly? How did you deal with it? Were you able to keep going and eventually see some changes? Leave a comment and tell us about your experiences.

There are all kinds of squats out there, but the goblet squat is one of my favorites. This is an especially great move if you find it difficult to keep your torso upright when doing barbell squats - having a heavy weight on your shoulders can make squats awkward for some of us and holding the weight in front of you can help you keep a more upright position as you squat, allowing your hips to go back so you can engage the glutes without putting too much pressure on the knees.

There are different ways to do the goblet squat, depending on who you're listening to and what your goals are. Some experts suggest lowering into a deep squat with your elbows between the knees while others recommend squatting until your knees are at about 90-degree angles. Your own strength, flexibility and physiology will determine what works for you.

Do it right: Hold a dumbbell or a kettlebell by the horns (as shown) with feet about hip-width apart. Hold the weight close to your chest and squat, bring the elbows to the inside of the knees and lowering as far as you can. Keep the torso upright and the abs engaged as you press back up, repeating for 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps.

What about you? Do you have a favorite way to squat? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

As we get further from the holidays and deeper into winter, a couple of things often happen. First, that motivation to exercise, lose weight and cleanse ourselves of all the holiday eating and drinking starts to wane. We're in real life now, not the happy chaos of the holidays, and we have to deal with all the obstacles that start to crop up - Work, life, the weather, the kids - All things that leave us tired and stressed.

The next thing that happens is that winter starts to take hold. Short days, long nights and cold weather make it even harder to get out of bed and often provide the perfect storm of excuses for skipping workouts.

Before things slide, now is a good time to take stock of where you are and ask yourself an important question: What do you need to do to keep exercising? This can be a complicated question because there are so many factors to consider - Your schedule, your goals, what you enjoy, what you want for yourself, what else you have going on in your life and, of course, the proper alignment of our planets.

Thinking about this before you lose interest may be just what you need to keep going. Vote in this week's poll and tell us what you need to keep exercising...More motivation? Better workouts? Or is there something else standing in your way? Leave a comment and then scroll down to find some resources to keep yourself going.

Resources to Keep You Exercising

• Are you Enjoying Your Workouts?
• Learn How to Exercise
• Finding More Time to Exercise
• 10 Reasons to Hire a Personal Trainer
• How to Schedule Your Workouts
• Staying Motivated to Exercise
• Generate More Energy
• Assessing What's Wrong With Your Workouts

A client was discussing her weight loss goals recently and posed a difficult question: "So, I start off all gung-ho to lose weight. I get on my treadmill every day, I watch my diet, I even lose a few pounds and then...poof! It's like I wake up one day and my gung-ho is gone. What keeps happening to my gung-ho?"

That excellent question has caused many of us to bang our heads against that same brick wall (actually, the wall is more likely made of some kind of space-age, impenetrable steel) called: Motivation - Where did it go?

I've talked about motivation quite a bit: Getting motivated, staying motivated, figuring out why you're not motivated, offering pep talks and tips to keep your motivation going and even advice for those times you just aren't motivated to exercise.

I offer a lot of theories about motivation, but going back to the specifics of my client's gung ho question, one thing is clear. Whatever makes her gung ho in the first place doesn't have enough staying power to last past a few days or weeks. One possible reason is that exercising and eating healthy has to mean something - It has to have a value all on its own. Unfortunately, many of us are only doing it because we want to lose weight. Losing weight is important, but the urge to do so can be fleeting, getting lost in the nuts and bolts of daily life.

All this leads to one idea: To stay motivated, whether it's to lose weight or something else, your goals have to mean something to you. A lot of use look at exercise as a chore, an obligation, a means to an end (weight loss), maybe even a punishment. If that's how you look at exercise, it's not that hard to figure out why you're not motivated to do it.

If you value yourself, if you view exercise is a necessary part of your life, something that gives you energy, makes you feel good about yourself and makes life better, motivation isn't as much of a problem for you.

Thinking about your own approach to exercise, how motivated are you? Do you start out strong, only to lose energy a few weeks later? If so, do you think having more meaningful goals would help? Leave a comment and tell us all about your gung ho - or your gung no.

Weight loss is a complicated thing and, if you've ever been through it, you know that there are often questions that are hard to answer and obstacles that stand in your way. You also probably know that there are lessons you have to learn along the way, lessons that, once learned, keep you going when times get tough.

One of those lessons is this: You won't always know if you're doing it right. You can track calories-in vs. calories-out, exercise every day and watch your diet, but you won't have any immediate feedback indicating you're on the right track. We know that losing weight takes time, at least intellectually, but deep down, we're still looking for fast results. When they don't come, we often feel frustrated to the point of quitting.

Giving your body time to respond to what you're doing is part of the weight loss process. We focus so much on the scale as a gauge of how we're doing, but, sometimes, the scale is the worst way to measure your success. In fact, your weight may not change very much during the first month or so of exercise, but that doesn't mean you aren't getting results.

So what do you do if you're working hard, but that work isn't showing up on the scale? First, embracing the uncertainty of the process, rather than fighting it, can ease a lot of your frustration. If you're doing all the right things to lose weight, allow yourself to focus on other ways of tracking your progress: Getting stronger, building endurance, feeling more energy, feeling good about yourself, sleeping better, etc.

If you're not sure if you're doing all the right things to lose weight, educate yourself on the basics of weight loss, or consider working with a personal trainer to ease your worries. Either way, there will always be some uncertainty in the process.

What do you think? Do you ever get frustrated and wonder if you're doing things right? How do you allow your body and mind the time they need to respond to what you're doing? Leave a comment and tell us what you think about the uncertainty of weight loss.