STEP ONE
The first step to developing a successful weight loss and fitness program is to complete a personal screening.  A personal screening consists of two parts.  First, note any injuries that may limit your ability to doing certain exercises.  Second, consult your physician.  Your physician can alert you to any internal problems that you may be unaware of and can assist you in developing a weight loss and exercise program that will improve your health and limit potential injuries or re-injuries.

After consulting with your physician and knowing your limitation, you can now embark on a path to completing the following steps that will eventually lead to your success in achieving your goals and objectives to improving your health.  As you initiate your weight loss and exercise program, remember the most difficult hurdle is committing yourself mentally to improving your health. 

To lower this mental hurdle, remember to add fun and be positive.  The old saying “90 percent mental and 10 percent physical” holds true with a weight loss and exercise program.   The hardest part is committing yourself to scheduling the time to doing the exercises and eating properly.  The easy part is doing the exercises.  Once you begin to exercise the endorphins begin to flow and eventually you “zone-out” and focus on completing the exercise program for that time period.

STEP TWO
Like most major decisions in life, it’s always easier to make these decisions or embark on major changes in one’s life if you can discuss your concerns with, or seek support from, family and friends.  To create a successful fitness program, create a support, exercise network consisting of family, friends, and co-workers willing to provide you with positive feedback and support that will help you to succeed.  In creating your network, focus on the positive and have fun.  During your Fit-Break, create a workout program that introduces fun.  If you’re the first individual in the office to procure a Workstation Workout Kit, workout out in disguise, such as wearing a hat or fake glasses and possibly mustache (these items are sold separately).  Introduce your co-workers to the idea of working out with you.

People creating a support, fitness network have a higher probability of achieving their weight loss and toning goals than going it alone.  When you experience times when you do not want to exercise, your support group can help you re-focus and stick to your contract and your goals.  You also provide them with the reinforcement to succeed, as well.

One suggestion would be to schedule lunchtime workouts in the conference room or lunchroom where you can listen to music while you exercise to tone-up and lose weight.  Set up your chairs in a circle with you and your co-workers helping each other with proper form and pushing yourselves to your physical limit to help maximize your workout.

STEP THREE
To complete this step, review your daily planner or outlook program to assist you in mapping out your daily routine on a weekly basis.  By writing out a daily routine, you can recognize periods in the day that can be dedicated towards your Fit-Break.  As part of this step, morning, lunch, afternoon and evening Fit-Break s should be identified for resistance training and possibly cardiovascular training.  For morning breaks at your workstation, we recommend exercising the using either the loop Fit-Break routine or the band Fit-Break routing (or a combination of the two). 

For beginners or people with 30-minutes for lunch, we recommend eating a veggie wrap or salad followed by a walk for a period of 15-minutes.  If possible integrate stair climbing or hills into your walking program.  Upon returning from your walk, you can complete either the loop or band Fit-Break routine consisting of leg and arm exercises.  The band routine provides chair crunches to target abdominal muscles. 

For workout junkies and people with an hour lunch, we suggest taking ten minutes for eating then walking and/or stair climbing for thirty minutes.  Upon returning from your walk and/or stair climbing, complete either loop or band Fit-Break exercise routine.

For the morning and afternoon breaks, we recommend the stretching program and if you have time, an abbreviated loop or band Fit-Break exercise routine.  To assist you in achieving your weight loss goals, we also recommend walking as much as possible such as parking as far away as possible to capture additional time for walking.  If you work in a multi-storied building, take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Typically, the easiest part of the exercise program is experienced at the office, if you can avoid the candy bowl, snack machines, and regular sodas.  During the evening, we recommend having almonds and carrot sticks on-hand for evening snacks or hunger pains.  After preparing and eating dinner, focus on important, positive elements in your life, such as family.  In the event you’re sitting around watching TV, take this opportunity to exercise during a TV show or during the commercials.

There are several simple exercises that can be performed in front of the TV.  Work the abdominal muscles by doing stomach crunches, twisting from side to side, and/or side-to-side extensions.  Another effective exercise is performing sofa squats.  Stand up then sit down during the commercials.  Another idea is to walk in-place then progressing to jogging or performing aerobics in front of the TV.

STEP FOUR
Monitor your progress on a weekly basis and take notes of any cheating associated to eating candy, drinking regular sodas, or consuming other items not part of your proper diet.  Cravings will occur and in some cases binges will happen.  Refocus your mental thought process and examine the causes such as stress at work, stress at home or a personal loss.  In the future, work to avoid the eating binges by replacing the urge to eat with reading, reading to your children, calling a family member or friend, singing, listening to music while taking a bath, take a walk or snacking on carrot sticks and drinking lots of water.  After drinking lots of water, frequent trips to the bathroom will replace the urge to eat.  Remember, have fun.

Eating properly can be very difficult, but recognizing the need to eat properly improves your health.  If you do not eat a lot of vegetables, go to store and try various types of vegetables and find the vegetables you enjoy to eat.  Focus on low fat, high protein sources such as fish, chicken and turkey.  For starters, try fruits and yogurt in the morning followed by veggie wraps or salads for lunch.  If you munch all day, take carrot sticks to work.  At night try fish with vegetables, or oven-baked chicken, grilled chicken or turkey with your favorite vegetables.  Try to avoid fried foods and the urge to eat candy and/or cookies before or after a meal.  Remember, we all deserve a treat every now and then, but not every day.

Consider your body as one-of-a-kind machine, which it is, that needs to be properly maintained.  Failing to maintain this one-of-a-kind machine will result in costly maintenance bills, such as doctor bills, increased costs for medications, and increased costs for food and clothes.