Admitting the problem is the first step to a solution. I’ve been exercising on and off for 6 years and given the amount of time and effort I’ve put into it, I’m very far away from the body I deserve. I’ve come up with several conclusions:

i) You can not improve what you don’t measure
For years, I kept going to our local gym where they provided you with all the equipment, but didn’t really measure your progress or keep an eye on you. I kept exercising, without considering if I was improving or not. I was guilt free, thinking that I’m taking action to improve, but I was missing an important piece: diet. I was eating relentlessly, taking more calories than needed, eating desserts and drinking alcohol.

My new gym measures my weight and body fat every 6 weeks. After the first measurement, my body fat was the same, and I had lost some muscle mass. It was a disaster and I was very disappointed. I realized that going to the gym is only 30-40% of losing weight. Your diet, on the other hand, is what is most important.

ii) Working hard is deceiving
I’ve worked hard, but I haven’t worked smart. Working hard is deceiving, it prevents you from achieving your true potential. Little progress you make due to working hard conceals all the mistakes you are making. Don’t fall into this trap!

iii) Exercising is counter-intuitive
To burn fat, you don’t need to run as fast you can. Instead, you should run slowly for a longer period of time, maintaining a certain heart rate. To build muscle mass, you shouldn’t go to gym everyday. Instead, your muscles grow as you rest, so you should exercise every other day. And if you’d like to have 6-packs, doing thousands of crunches won’t help you much if you have a lot of body fat. Those aren’t done in the gym, it’s all about your diet and body fat percentage.