Food = Zone and Exercise = Tone

Have you ever got on the scale and thought damn I need to get back to the gym? Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered what you need to do to change your diet? I’ve been thinking about this. When do you know which lever to pull? Is this a diet problem or an exercise problem? Which should you adjust?

Those of you that have been following me over the years, know my commitment to health and fitness. Hell, I even wrote a book about it. (You can find it in my store!) Those of you that are new to Living Every Minute, and me, are in for some powerful information on how to look at weight and fitness with a new and enlightening perspective!

I literally came up with this while at the gym this morning thinking about you and how to serve you. My work out partner and I were having a conversation about our new workout routine and weight came into the discussion. We have both been traveling a lot and when we travel we seem to crazily gain a few pounds. Whether it’s a lack of working out or a little too much food indulgence, whatever the reason… Then we both started talking about our “comfortable weight zones”. You know, when the scale shows a certain weight, you’re ok with it, but when it shows something different, you immediately panic.

All of us have an ideal 5-pound weight zone. Inside that zone, we feel and look good but outside of that zone, we feel bad. The problem is, many times we don’t consciously decide what that zone is.

Then it hit me… A huge breakthrough mentally for me…

Food = Zone: When it comes to food, that’s almost always reflective of your weight, good or bad. We like to blame it on a variety of things, but let’s face it, what we eat is the culprit. Avoiding the scale doesn’t make it go away, and ignoring won’t make it any better. BUT, I have figured out a way to keep you in your happy weight zone. Figure out what your five-pound weight zone is. (Mine is 208-213). When I get down to 208, I know I need to stop losing weight. And it also means I have a little wiggle room to treat myself or splurge on something outside of my daily healthy eating habits

Exercise = Tone: So now you have an idea about your weight and what you will tolerate. Say I’m in my perfect weight zone, and I look in the mirror but I still seem unhappy with a certain part of my body. Let’s say for example my middle could use a little attention. BUT, my weight is in my zone. This tells me, I need to step up my exercise and/or my cardio; some combination of the two to help with areas I want to improve physically. Changing your diet when you’re in your zone is the wrong lever, you need to improve your tone with exercise.

Does that make sense? It’s genius really. Use diet to get to your ZONE and once there, use working out to get your TONE. That doesn’t mean eat like crap when you’re in your zone or stop working out when you feel tone but it does help you to know what levers to pull and when to improve your health and body.

So here is your plan.

1. Define your 5-pound zone. Where do you feel good?
2. Get your eating plan right and get into that zone.
3. Once you’re in your zone, look in the mirror, what needs to be improved.
4. Plan your exercise routine to improve your tone.

It’s simple but powerful.

Keep Living Every Minute, 

Dr. Tim