Today, we have an exclusive interview with Dave Smith, founder of Make Your Body Work. Since 2001, Dave Smith has helped Canadian Lose Weight and he is credited with helping his clients shed a massive combined weight of 20,000+ pounds. In 2013, Dave was named Canada’s Top Fitness Professional due to his efforts in helping Canadians get healthy. We caught up with Dave to find out about his fitness tips, goals and advice for others trying to lose weight.

HealthMax: What’s the most important aspect to exercise?

Dave Smith: It’s tough for me to pick just one, but I’d have to say that following a plan is likely the most important training tip for anyone, whether they are an athlete or just trying to get in better shape.

It is so important to identify a specific outcome that you’re hoping to achieve from exercise and then backing up from there. What types of exercise will help you reach that goal? How often will you have to train? What commitment are you willing to put in?

Asking these sorts of questions and then building a plan from there is crucial because it sets realistic expectations AND can help you remember WHY you are training. It’s much easier to kick butt in a workout when you know exactly why you’re doing that workout, as opposed to just showing up to do some random exercises for the sake of exercise.

This is true for me too. I admit that I don’t really like swimming, but when I show up at the pool with a planned workout, one that will help me with a certain element of my swim, it’s much easier to feel excited to do it. Without a plan I tend to just put in time in the water, but never really improve.

HealthMax: What was it like being named and recognized as Canada’s Top Fitness Professional by CanFitPro?

Dave Smith: Being chosen for that award was actually quite a process. First, someone had to nominate me, and to this day I still don’t know who it was! When CanFitPro contacted me to let me know that I was on their “short list” of potential award winners, I didn’t even know how I got there!

After that, there was an extensive application process where I got to highlight the unique work I had been doing in the fitness industry. At that point in my career, I was really focusing on calisthenic workouts and corrective exercise. Too many people shy away from exercise because they hate the gym, so my focus was to teach people how to stay fit without weights. Bodyweight training is still something I love (and use a lot) today.

I finally received the award at the CanFit International Fitness Conference, where most of the personal trainers and fitness instructors from across Canada attended. It was such an honour receiving such an award in front of thousands of my peers and colleagues – Definitely a highlight of my career so far.

HealthMax: You describe yourself as a “health nut,” Do you have any guilty pleasures when it comes to food like chocolate or chips?

Dave Smith: Haha – I get asked this all the time!

I don’t have a sweet tooth, but I love fatty foods. Pizza, burgers, and peanut butter are my top three. I actually had to go cold turkey on peanut butter for a while because I was getting of control. I actually talked about this on my podcast so that I’d stay accountable…I didn’t trust myself to stay away from the PB!

HealthMax: You’ve previously mentioned habit-building as a way to lose weight. Please describe the concept and how it works.

Dave Smith: I don’t think habit-building is “a” way to lose weight, I think it’s the “only” way to lose weight.

Most people I’ve met who are trying to lose weight have been working at it for years. And in most cases, they tell a story of continual ups and downs, weight-loss and weight-gain, starting and stopping. This approach is so exhausting and can be really defeating.

Losing weight generally has 5 main components: Diet, exercise, hydration, stress reduction, and rest/recovery. That’s a lot of ground to cover all at once, so I help clients pick out small, specific goals from each area to build new habits around.

For example, some people might say, “I’m going to stop eating junk food” as their approach to losing weight. I’d say that this too much to take on, especially for those who have long-standing habits of eating junk food. It might work for a week or two, but sustaining this long-term just won’t happen.

Instead, I’d encourage people to start with a positive habit. Add something in instead of taking something out.

Someone could say, “I will eat at least one vegetable at each meal of the day.” That’s so specific, so measurable, and so manageable. At first it will seem like work, but this little habit will strengthen quickly and will provide a feeling of mastery. “I did it!” is much more motivating than “I failed again!”

Mastery is so important. Once you see that you can build a new habit, even if it’s a tiny one, chances are you’ll be hooked. You will actually want to start another habit that supports your original one. The snowball effect is a powerful one.

HealthMax: What’s the best advice for someone looking to transition into a healthy and active lifestyle?

Dave Smith: Don’t do it alone. Whether you find a friend, family member, co-worker, or hire a professional to work with you, it’s crucial that you have support and accountability.

It’s like I said with my PB addiction. I had told myself several times, “Dave, stop eating so much peanut butter,” but then I’d just keep eating it anyway because there was no accountability (and I REALLY love PB!). But as soon as I made my intentions public, I was no longer on my own. People asked me about my goal and I knew I wanted to live up to my promise.

Willpower will only get you so far before old habits creep in. Change is very hard, so it has to be done in the community for any real success to happen.

We’d like to thank Dave for taking time out of his day to speak with us! If you’d like to find out more about his services or health tips, please subscribe to his podcast and visit http://makeyourbodywork.com/.

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