It’s not your fault that you are not at your ideal weight. It’s not your fault that despite exercising six days a week, you haven’t seen any meaningful results. It’s not your fault at all. However, it’s only right to put the blame for many of the health issues women face on someone or something. As a personal trainer, I find the usual suspect is insanity, which causes many of us to continue on a path of exercise and dieting that is no longer beneficial or served no useful purpose in the first place. This leads people to start an endless cycle of wondering "why can’t I lose the weight? I’ve tried and tried." Again, it’s the usual suspect—insanity, doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. The keys to tackling insanity when it comes to diet and exercise are form, function, and maintenance.

Form is the most important aspect of any workout routine. It’s the one thing that ultimately determines your results. If the proper form is not used, injury to the joints and muscles may occur. Even if the injury doesn’t occur instantly, continually using improper form delays muscle development, which means you won’t see an increase in muscle tone and strength. Here’s an example. Nearly anyone can do a 20lb bicep curl. However, when done properly in a controlled movement with the elbows close to the side of the body and the wrists straight, 20lb will feel more like 50lb, an impossible curl for the average woman to perform. Anyone can do a push up, but try keeping the head completely aligned with the body and avoid any part of the body touching the floor. That push up is much harder. Suppose you were doing tricep pull-downs using a 30lb cable or rope. It sounds easy, but not if your elbows are off to the side and above the waist. Conducting the exercise in this fashion puts extra strain on the elbow and does nothing to tighten that part of the arm some people call a "turkey neck." So, if you’re not using the correct form or don’t know how to complete the exercises using the correct form, your efforts are useless. Ask a fitness professional, not some guy working out next to you, how to correctly perform the exercises you want to do. If you want results, this is one way to get past the insanity.

What good is completing an exercise or diet program if you don’t know what function it has or what benefits it will generate? I see countless people on treadmills going 100 mph in an attempt to lose weight. In actuality, this does more harm than good. Most treadmills and other similar cardio machines have special modes that allow users to select the workout that’s best for them. If you’re trying to lose weight, the best mode is the fat burn mode. You will be asked for your height, weight, and age. This is used to determine your target heart rate (THR) and the amount of resistance needed. To go beyond the THR means your body is only burning calories and not fat. It will seem like you’re going very slowly and this is how it is supposed to be. The body can’t effectively burn calories and fat at the same time. If you go beyond the THR, your body is only burning calories from the foods you just ate. At the right speed and resistance, the body is able to supply oxygen to the muscles to keep you going and burn fat at the same time. If your plan is to start a new diet program, understand the risks associated with those programs. For example, the "treatment effects" of the Alli diet are sudden and sometimes severe bowel movements. Is it worth the inconvenience to be on this program when all you have to remember is to make sure that each meal contains less than 15 grams of fat. Or, multiply 0.8 times your current weight and this is the maximum amount of fat you should consume in a day. Divide by 6, which is the number of meals you should eat each day, and there you have your max fat intake for each meal. Also, don’t start a diet if you can’t stick with it. Low carb diets, Atkins, and so on are popular programs, but it takes discipline. The best diet is one that gives you a good mix of all the major food groups, including breads. You can even eat cake. But, as with most things in life, moderation is important. Develop the "what’s in it for me" approach when exercising and dieting and recognize the pros and cons of any program. If you don’t, then you’re engaging in a routine or diet program and don’t know why.

If you buy a car and never change the oil, rotate the tires or do all the other things required to maintain the car, eventually it will fail. The same thing goes for your body. It is a waste of time to have an intense workout six days a week when your body can’t possibly recuperate. It’s a waste of time to start an exercise program and then when you meet your goals, quit. It’s best to continue eating the right foods and exercising in order to keep the body healthy and to stay active. As we get older, changes occur to our muscles and bones. The right nutrition and regular exercise helps delay the problems caused by aging, improves flexibility, agility, the immune system, and helps keep you active in the community. While some health problems may be a matter of genetics, maintaining good health is also a matter of responsibility. Eating one cheeseburger a month won’t hurt, but if that’s all you eat, you are doing a disservice to your body. That’s the ultimate form of insanity!

When dieting and exercising, avoid the insanity. Lean how to exercise, know the benefits, and stay focused enough to maintain good health even after you have achieved your goals. By doing these simple things, insanity will not be an active participant in the decisions you make regarding your health. We only get one body and many opportunities to take care of it. Don’t spend time doing the same things over and over again to no avail. When you are older, you will appreciate how stepping away from the usual suspect created a better you and a healthier you.