I am an admitted recovering Diet Coke-aholic.  I am ashamed to admit it but I was drinking a minimum of 6 Diet Cokes a day.  If I had to take a guess, I would say a normal intake for me was 9-10 per day.  I had convinced myself that Diet Cokes were a “freebie”.  I mean, they have no calories and they are very low in sodium.  What’s bad about that, right?

The truth is that nobody really knows.  However, there are a number of studies that have shown a correlation between drinking diet sodas and weight gain.  Want to hear something that’s going to sound completely counterintuitive?  In these studies, those that drank the diet sodas were proven to be at more of a risk for “Metabolic Syndrome” than those that drink regular sodas.  The theory is that the sweetness of the diet sodas desensitizes your tastes and makes it difficult for you to guage your caloric intake. 

I’m sure you may be asking, “What is Metabolic Syndrome?”  Well, I’m going to try to answer that.  Metabolic Syndrome isn’t a disease or sickness but rather a group of symptoms which includes insulin resistance (precursor for Diabetes), high blood pressure (hypertension), and Cholesterol abnormalities.  There isn’t a consensus on diagnosis for Metabolic Syndrome but there are two generally accepted guidelines: one from the WHO (World Health Organization) and one from the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (now THAT is a mouthful).  In a nutshell, you are at risk if you:

–  Have a large waistline (over 40 inches for a males, 35 for females)
– High Triglycerides
– Eleveated fasting blood glucose level
– Blood pressure of 140/90 or above

So, there you have it.  As I said, nobody really knows why drinking diet sodas places you at a higher risk…only that studies have shown this to be true.  I finally came to this realization about a month ago.  I’ve had people telling me for years that diet sodas are bad but they couldn’t point to anything concrete and say, “Here’s why!”  Now they can and I’m convinced.  I dropped the diet soda and started drinking water and sparkling water flavored with fresh lime. 

Last night I had a diet soda for the first time in 4 weeks and I couldn’t believe how sweet it tasted…horrible!  In my opinion, once you kick the habit, you’ll probably never go back!

Not everyone has the extra cash to hire a personal trainer.    Even if you did, do you know what to look for in one?  Do you know the difference between a trainer with an NASM, NSPT,  or ISSA certification?  There are many other certifications out there and some gyms don’t even require a certification.

How about workouts geared toward your goals?  You can walk into any gym and find guys doing the same back/bi – chest/tri routine they did in high school 20 years ago and wondering why they aren’t making the gains they want.  Or, you can find extremely overweight gymgoers doing endless sets of curls and wondering why they just aren’t losing the weight.

The point is this: take the time and do some research before jumping in headfirst into the gym.  Not only will doing research help you find information that will help you reach your goals, but it can also help you avoid serious injury.

Here are a few industry experts who I would recommend reading –

• Alwyn Cosgrove
• Robert Dos Remedios
• Lou Schuler
• Chad Waterbury
• Eric Cressey

I really wish I’d had these names when I first started.  Each one of the above are published authors and are very well respected as experts in their industry.

There is so much contradicting information out there on this topic that it is no surprise why this is a question where answers are plentiful but consensus is lacking.  The government took a stab with its practically useless BMI calculation (Body Mass Index) in which almost all bodybuilders are considered obese.  If you do a google search for “ideal weight” you will get a plethora of results that will leave you even more confused than when you first started.  Many just ask for your sex and height.  Others add an extra dimension such as “frame type”.  The general rule of thumb is the more information you can enter, the more accurate the result.

So, being the guinea pig that I am, I tested out at least 10 different ideal weight calculators and found out that my ideal weight (male, large frame, six feet) is anywhere between 164 and 206 pounds!  Shewww!!  That’s a relief!  I am so glad I found this information!  (I hope you can read the sarcasm).

Ok, so now that we have established that the internet can’t really answer this question for us, that leaves us with two options:  choose the best calculator to get an approximation or rely on the mirror.   Really, the best solution is a combination of the two.  I have looked at numerous ideal weight calculators and the best one I’ve found is HERE.   Don’t let the really bad web page design throw you.  This page gives you a number of different calculations and brings a number of calculators into one place to compare them.

Getting started is one of the hardest things to do!  Finding the right meal plan, figuring out how your going to make the time to get active, scheduling it all around your daily routine…where do you start?   It can be confusing, scary, daunting, and, downright miserable for you and everyone around you.

Here are 5 suggestions to help you start your journey:

 
1.  Count Your Calories!

There are a number of calorie counting sites out there but the best I’ve found is fitday.com.   You absolutely MUST know where your calorie intake is from the start.  In the beginning, don’t do anything different.  Get your baseline calorie intake on a normal day.  Obviously the total calorie intake will vary from day to day but you only need to get a couple of days under your belt.  The most important part?  BE HONEST.  You’re the only one looking at this so there is no embarassment involved.  You will only be cheating yourself if you cheat in your calorie log.