For most women, getting fit and lean is a battle that’s often lost. With so many things to keep your whole day occupied, it’s no wonder that most end up depressed after weigh-ins, having discovered a gain of 5 pounds, seemingly overnight. So, how do we fight a “impossible” enemy? First, gaining 5 pounds is not an excuse to go on a major eating binge. Second, we have to weed out the facts from the fallacy. Third, we go for major commitment.

People often go on eating binges during stressful times and I wouldn’t hold it against them. Men probably wouldn’t understand, but 5 pounds is major stress, and it’s up to you whether you use this major stress as a reason to binge, or if you use it as a springboard to your fitness success.

With all the articles written on fitness and health, it would be so easy to get lost, not to mention confused. So, let’s try to keep it simple. Fitness requires cardio exercises. Any form of cardio exercise will use calories, that is, on top of all the calories that our body uses just to stay alive. Any cardio activity is beneficial, depending on the level of fitness we are trying to achieve. It would be too much to expect to finish a 5 mile run when all the cardio you’ve done in the past was walking 10 times around the mall. Also, getting lean and fit requires diet as wel as exercise. Trying to get lean without a diet plan will likely result in failure. Why? Because even if we exercise, if we still eat more calories than what our body requires, exercise and all, we’ll still end up adding pounds on the scale. Now, if we’d like to add some definition and toning, exercise and diet plus weight training is a must. Of course, weight training has other additional benefits because muscles use up more calories than fat.

Fitness is a lifestyle. We’ve heard it countless times. In the end it’s up to you to decide what kind of lifestyle would you like to have. And that’s where commitment should come in. Not the commitment that you’re not allowed to fail, but a commitment to get back on track whenever you fall off the wagon. A lifestyle of fitness is all about management, not about doing something one time. Women today face great pressure from all corners of society. They face career pressures, maternal pressures, spousal pressures and on and on. And to add to tall that, there is the pressure to look good. Is it okay to want to look good? Yes, of course. So long as you realize that realistically, it will have to be a lifestyle change, not just a temporary change, if you want to look good and be healthy for a long time.