by Barbara Adkins

Created on: April 16, 2009

How many of us have put our fat pants on, only to find we can't get them fastened? What happened! They fit a few days ago. Maybe the drier ran hotter than usual. We search for every reason in the world to explain this paradox, before disgracefully heading to our dreaded scale. Of course we have to take everything off first. Clothing, necklace, earrings, rings, you name it, it's gone! Then we step onto the scale and watch as the numbers rise and rise and rise. Finally it stops. You are two pounds heavier than a week ago.

For the sake of this article I am going to relay my own experience in hopes of enlightening others in regards to maintaining exercise goals.

The day my fat pants wouldnt fit, the broken scale said I was thirty five pounds overweight. Even though I ran constantly from one thing to the next and had lots of exercise, it was not a consistent work out. I read up on various work outs before selecting a Pilates video. I put the video on each day, working my body as hard as I could to keep up with the work out performance that played in front of me. The woman said, "I know it burns, keep going." So I did. Until I threw my back out.

I discovered how much core strength I did NOT have that day. Pilates exercises are very effective, but require a good foundation of core strength . Since Pilates isolates muscle groups, it is important to have that core strength. If you cannot maintain form while doing the exercise, you are not effectively working the targeted muscle or group.

Pick a program that is realistic. If you cannot do the work out comfortably, you are probably not going to maintain it.

A few weeks later, I began doing stretches for my back, (per my chiropractor) . The stretches were simple, but every morning I could feel a slight work out soreness in my muscles. A few weeks into my stretches, I went to put on my fat pants, and was surprised that I could fasten them. I went to my scale and discovered I had lost a pound and a half from the simple stretches.

My first instinct was to increase my stretches and work harder. Isn't harder and faster better? NO! It takes time to build strength. You are also developing flexibility, which is so important in working out. If you are not flexible, you stand a greater risk of injury. You are also developing balance and endurance. Balance allows you to hold proper form. Endurance will give you the stamina needed to hold the form. The body is very resilient if you will give it the time it needs to come back into place.

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