7 Tips for Lasting Weight Loss

Staff - menshealth.com - 02/08/2012
Weight Loss Tips

Two decades ago, comedian Billy Crystal joked that it’s better to look good than to feel good. Celeb trainer Dolvett Quince—who joined The Biggest Loser’s training team last season—believes the two go hand in hand.

The 38-year-old Quince—starring in two just-released Biggest Loser DVDs, At Home Challenge and Calorie Knockout—takes pride in guiding people through “complete mind-body-soul transformations.”

One of the keys, he says, is to “really fall in love with this thing called fitness. It’s really the kindest thing we can do is to take care of ourselves like it really matters, to live that feeling and that lifestyle.” Here are some quick, simple tips for your own personal transformation.

More from MensHealth.com: Can’t-Miss Muscle

Make the Commitment

“You have to invest in yourself, and a great trainer is part of that investment. Pay them their money up front. If you’ve paid for it, you’ll use it. If you don’t pay for it up front, you may not go for a week. Or worse.” Sign up for a FREE 30-Day trial to Men’s Health Personal Trainer, which is packed with videos, exercise plans, and tools to track your success.

Be Accountable

“Put a calendar on your refrigerator. Attached to the calendar are a red marker and a green marker. For any day you’ve had a good day—you’ve exercised for 30 minutes or more, you’ve eaten the right foods, you’ve made good choices all day long, taken good care of yourself—that’s a green line. The red line? It’s just the complete opposite: you’re drinking, you’re smoking, you’re eating whatever, you’re not exercising. Every time you get into your refrigerator, that calendar’s looking at you. Trust me, you want to be seeing more green lines than red ones.”

Set Short-Term Goals

“Small steps to a bigger picture. By Friday, I will lose this amount of weight. Or by Friday, I will increase my strength by this much. When you give people specific, manageable goals—challenges, but manageable ones—they will succeed and that success builds momentum. Next thing you know, you turn around and they’re in better shape than they’ve ever been in.” Research shows that people who set more ambitious goals were also more satisfied with their achievements.

Go on the Attack

“First thing when you wake up in the morning, attack your physique. Roll out of bed and hit the floor. Seven crunches. Thirty push-ups. Thirty squats. That’s a quick explosion of muscle development. And then go brush your teeth.” (Attack your workouts like Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning attacks defenses. Check out his secrets to staying healthy all season.)

Work Out While You Work

“Make a point to be active in the course of your day. Instead of going for a smoke, go for a walk. Instead of driving to lunch, walk to lunch, and then walk back.” Or check out these steps to building your own stand-up desk.

Do It Right

“Form is everything. Too many people use momentum instead of specific-strength development, so our form is off. Are you working your shoulder or your bicep? Know what you’re doing, and if you don’t, ask someone who does.” Visit the Men’s Health Workout Center for step-by-step tutorials of more than 100 exercises to make sure your form is correct.

Start Where You Are

“You’re stuck in a hotel room or in your office cubicle or being a stay-at-home parent or you just don’t want to go to a gym, you’ve got no excuse except the ones you make. Everybody has a chair. Grab it and do some dips. Let the edge of the chair be the ending point for your squats. Put your feet on the chair and do push-ups, hands on the ground. You can do all those things, because everybody’s got a chair. If that’s the only tool you’ve got, use it.”