Interview with Kim Lyons: celeb trainer for

Nalisha patel of HealthMastery recently interviewed Kim Lyons, the red team trainer from the hit TV show “The Biggest Loser”. Kim shares ideas on how to get motivated and top 10 tips for a healthier lifestyle.

NP: In your experience, what do you think is the best way to convince people that they need to change their lifestyle habits?

KL: I think the most important thing when starting out is to believe in what you are doing. So many people say they are trying to lose weight. I always say to them “Are you trying to lose weight or are you doing it?” The bottom line is if you don’t believe in what you are doing, then you will never follow through with it. People are out there looking for external motivation or reaching out to some crazy fad diet. The fad diet that sells is usually what people want to hear. Like the “cookie diet”. Who doesn’t want to believe that this works!

To get someone to start, I am just honest with them. I tell them that when they start, it is going to be hard for the first few weeks. It’s never going to be easy when you begin something new, be that learning how to exercise or how to tie your shoelaces. I take that pressure off people thinking they need to like it. They will need to roll themselves out of bed and focus on how good it feels when they are done. This will motivate then you to do it again day after day.

Even the top trainers of the world hate to exercise at times! Most aren’t willing to admit it. It’s the great feeling afterwards that we focus on to carry on doing it.

NP: What did you learn about motivation while on the show? What was the best way to motivate people?

KL: Motivation is very individual. One thing I learnt on the show was learning to adapt and reaching into people and seeing what motivates them. Every single person has a different motivation. A lot of times people don’t even realise what their real motivation is. They say “I just want to fit into my favorite pair of jeans” and they don’t think about the high blood pressure, pre diabetes or high cholesterol until it is no longer there. It’s a defense mechanism where people go “I don’t care about it!” because they can’t see it every day. But when they know it’s not there, they are so incredibly relieved and think “I guess I did worry about it after all”.

NP: So how do you pull out the individual motivating factors?

KL: A lot of questions. I keep asking why, why, why? I go through a long chain of bantering. It can start with “I don’t want to be fat” and then end up with “My kid is humiliated by me when I drop them off at school”. It comes out eventually that they want to be able to keep up with, enjoy time with and be in shape for their kids. It comes from experience. I have been a trainer for 10 years, but just in the last 3 years I have figured out how to latch onto peoples internal motivations.

NP: What are your top 10 strategies to kick- start a weight loss plan that people can implement straight away?

KL: Most people know what to do, yet find it hard to get going.

1) Focus on natural foods. Drinking water is absolutely essential. You need it for energy. Without it you will be dehydrated and not want to work out.

2) Eat frequently. It boosts your metabolism and also keeps you from overeating. A lot of people are like “I am not hungry every 3 hours”. I tell them it’s because they are eating too much in the previous couple of meals! If you eat the right portion sizes you will be hungry again.

3) Portion sizes. This is one of the biggest things, in America especially, that is going out of control. It’s not practical to carry measuring cups in your purse, so I usually tell people to eat carbs that are the size of your fist, protein the size of your palm and fat the size of you thumb from the knuckle up.

4) Educate yourself. Look at what you are eating and how many calories are in the items. Google what's in the foods you are eating. Most people if they knew what they were really eating, would be turned off it! Like margarine, it is one molecule away from plastic! I tell people to put a tub of margarine outside and see how many bugs will eat it. Not one bug will eat it! Do it with butter and there will be bugs all over it.

5) Avoid processed foods. If it doesn’t grow out of the ground or god didn’t make it, stay away from it. Processed food is a nightmare.

6) Stop making excuses. People are like “I am so busy, I don’t have time to eat”. I have in my purse an apple, a bag of almonds and an all natural energy bar. Don’t tell me you don’t have time. Identify those excuses and then work out a way around it.

7) Incorporate exercise into your routine rather than trying to find time for the gym. If you are watching TV, get on the floor and stretch or go for a walk during your lunch break.

8) Quit trying to make it difficult. You don’t need to do the latest trendy workout or diet!

9) Attitude. You can’t think “Arrg I have to exercise”. You need to be excited. Buy a new outfit and do something you enjoy.

10) Maintain it. Research shows if you do something for 21 days in a row, it will become a habit. It goes for good and bad things. Get up early and force yourself for 21 days and then exercise will become a habit.

Nalisha Patel. FREE report “49 tips for shaping up and slimming down." See www.healthmastery.co.nz