I've worked with hundreds of people
who were interested in losing weight.
Over the years I've noticed
four areas that I believe are
particular hindrances to weight
loss. If your goal is to be successful
at losing weight and keeping it
off, avoid the no-nos.
Not exercising
on a daily basis. Daily exercise
sends your metabolism through
the roof! I have seen VERY FEW people who
are not very regular exercisers, lose weight
AND keep it off. Losing weight
and maintaining that loss can
be very difficult. However, both can be
made considerably easier with regular exercise,
preferably in the morning.
To increase
your caloric expenditure via more
activity / exercise. However,
you cannot decrease your daily caloric
intake much lower than 1200 to 1500
or so without potentially creating health
and metabolism problems. In
fact, many people's metabolism (basal metabolic
rate) is so slow from years of inactivity
and dieting, that they are only burning
fewer than 1500 calories per day.
Without exercise,
they would have to decrease
their daily caloric intake to unhealthy
levels to lose weight. And, a caloric
intake that's too low only creates more
metabolism problems and a vicious cycle
of more weight gain. So, the
only remaining factor in the deficit equation
is caloric expenditure through increased
activity / exercise. The good
news is that you can substantially increase
your caloric expenditure. For example,
if you're currently walking for 30
minutes two days per week, over a period of
several weeks you can increase your
walking to 60 minutes per day,
six to seven days per week and
begin weight training for 30 minutes
three days per week.
Your metabolism
(basal metabolic rate) decreases
causing you to burn *fewer* calories 24
hours-a-day and causing the maintenance of
your weight loss to be very difficult. Your
muscles get flabby and mushy. Your
are weaker and become fatigued more
easily.
Not deciding
to make a drastic change. I've
seen this over and over again with
hundreds of people. Unless someone decides
that they are ready to get really serious
about losing weight and ready to make
drastic changes, their chances of losing weight
and keeping it off are not good. Research
continues to indicate that Americans
are becoming more sedentary.. and
fatter every year. This move toward inactivity
and an increase in body fat is
even more pronounced in children, who don't
get out and play anymore. Instead, they
sit in front of a TV or computer (perhaps
like their parents) for many of their
waking hours.
We know that
there is a very direct, inverse
relationship between a person's level
of activity and the percentage of their
weight that is fat. less activity equals
more fat, and more activity equals less
fat. is living proof that less
activity
Exercise
radically changes how your body handles
fat! when you're sedentary, all the
physiological signals tell your body to
hang on to the fat and dump the metabolism
boosting muscle. When you're exercising
on a daily basis, all the physiological
signals tell your body to dump
the fat and increase the metabolism boosting
muscle. Which signals do you want?
Not taking
the time to plan and prepare
your eating. Healthy eating for weight
loss won't just happen, you have to spend
time on it. Not being prepared
is a major factor that leads
to overeating and unhealthy eating. Take
time to plan your shopping and eating for
the week. Take time to prepare your lunch
to take to work, and your meal for the
evening, etc. Plan for healthy snacks to
have at home, in your car, at work, etc.
