The beginning of 2020 is right around the corner, which means gyms will be filled to bursting with individuals seeking that perfect body. But like so many new year’s resolutions, fitness goals quickly fall to the wayside for a number of reasons, especially a lack of motivation when results aren’t seen in a week or two.
According to William Tennent alum Tony Bria, who opened the Warminster-based Bria Method fitness facility in June, getting in shape is not an overnight fix. It takes time and patience to shed bad habits and adopt new, healthy ones.
And the results are so worth it.
For anyone with “get in shape” scribbled on their 2020 resolution list, Bria shared with The Times some tips and tricks to help them stay motivated for not only a few weeks or months, but a lifetime.
Bria explained how many clients enter Bria Method with an “all-or-nothing” approach. Basically, if someone doesn’t complete a high-intensity workout at least five days a week, they think they’ve failed.
“They all go from nothing to going to the gym four or five days in a row, and then they’re so sore or they hurt something because they went so hard right away,” he said.
Those who are getting back to the gym after some time away should start with smaller workouts, and allow their body to receive ample rest in between.
“When people work out, they’re breaking their bodies down. They have to give it time to recover before they go back,” Bria said, adding how he recommends people alternate between high-intensity workouts and low-intensity practices like yoga and barre. “Even starting with 20 minutes a week is a better approach than not doing it. You don’t have to take the all-or-nothing approach.”
A common belief is that fitness can be obtained solely by exercising. Bria begs to differ.
“Weight loss is 100 percent what goes in your body. You can’t outwork a bad diet. You have to start with your daily habits, what happens at home,” Bria said.
He regularly helps people improve one meal at a time, beginning with breakfast, which is often skipped.
“Then you’re crashing later in the day. You find yourself very hungry and you’re eating a lot of calories at lunch. It’s usually because you’re leaving yourself so unsatisfied that your mind is bigger than your stomach. You overeat,” he said.
During the holidays, Bria continues to enjoy favorite traditional foods. It’s all about balance.
“What I try and tell people is, being that you know you’re going to overeat at dinner, undereat at breakfast and lunch because at the end of the day, it’s total calories in,” he said. “So if you undereat earlier in the day, you’re going to help make up some of that at dinner time. And try not to double up on carbs – if you’re going to eat potatoes, don’t eat the bread.”
Bria stressed that he’s not a “quick fix” guy, and honestly stated how achieving true fitness and health can be a multi-year journey for some.
“People can’t change all of their bad habits at once. Quick fixes are usually setbacks. You do really well and you might lose a quick eight to 10 pounds. But then what happens is, if you don’t do it properly, you kill your metabolism or you burn yourself out, and that 10 pounds gone turns into a 15-pound gain three months later,” he said. “Fad diets are fake. All that does is minimize your calorie intake somewhere and then crushes your metabolism. They’re not sustainable. It’s a false sense of reality.”
Additional beginner tips provided by Bria include drinking more water, which promotes a feeling of being full, eating healthy five times a day and working out three times a week.
“You have to start somewhere. You have to just get your body moving. It’s about one step at a time, training new habits so that eventually, you do create that lifestyle,” he said. “How bad do you want it? If you want it bad enough, not grabbing that cake and all those little things become easier if you want it. If you don’t want it, you make the excuse.” ••
Visit BriaMethod.com for more information.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
