What do I do to lose these excess pounds fast?

As a fitness trainer, I get this question very frequently. But I always tell them. There are no shortcuts to weight loss. Remember, you didn’t pile all those pounds in a day or two. It took years to get you all apple shaped, now it would take at least months for you to get back into shape if you set to doing it.

How do I proceed to losing the excess pounds?

Taking the first step is always the difficult one. The first step in your weight loss journey is to set a realistic plan for losing the weight. I say realistic plan, because if you intend to lose more than 20 pounds in a week, it is not possible, and it is also very unhealthy to try something like that. But if you set a goal of losing 1-2 pounds a week, it is realistic. The short- term goal achieved would give you some satisfaction as well as motivate you through your journey.

Analyze your diet habits. Keep a diet diary and note down every morsel that goes in to your mouth. You will see a pattern of emotional eating or over eating in this diary.

Change your diet habits into healthier one. Include more fibers, more protein and less carbohydrate, take good fats and reduce the intake of bad fats. Most important, learn portion control. Once you control your portions, you would be able to limit your calorie intake and create more calorie deficit.

Now comes the most important means to weight loss; Exercise. Most people shun away from the thought of exercise, making excuses of lack of time, lack of energy etc. But once you get into the habit of exercising, you would start loving the feeling of well being after exercise. And this would lead you to look forward to your exercise time as well. This is goal you have to achieve. Weight loss would come with it.

As a beginner to exercise, start with easy exercises. Then as your stamina improves, build up the intensity as well as time.

There are some simple but effective exercises any individual at any stamina and weight can do. Some are.

1. Walking. Take a stroll across the neighborhood park. Start at an easy pace. If you cannot manage 30 minutes of walking at a stretch, break it up in to three 10 minute intervals through the day. On an average, you burn 100 calories in 30 minutes even if you are taking a stroll.
2. Jogging. If you have a little more stamina, you can convert your walking into mild jogging. Break it up in your walking time. If you walk for 30 minutes, spend at least 10 minutes, together or five minutes each as intervals jogging.
3. Swimming. Come summers and everyone is looking for a membership at the pool in the club. But how many people realize swimming as a cardio exercise. Instead of lazing around at the pool, spend some time swimming. It is a good workout for all your muscles, improves your stamina and keeps you cool at the same time. Swimming is a preferred cardio also because, as you are exercising in the water, the fatigue or exhaustion due to the intense exercise is not present.
4. Water aerobics. If you do not know how to swim, no worries. You still may be able to do your workout in the comfort of the pool. Water aerobics classes are organized at most of the pools. Water aerobics include aerobic exercises done while in the water.
5. Resistance training. Resistance training with weights or using your body weight would help. It is a misconception among most people that resistance training would bulk you up and hence many females wanting to lose weight hesitate to undertake resistance training as part of their schedule. Resistance training would not bulk you up, but tone your muscles. The toned muscles would expend more calories and in turn would help you lose weight.

Do whatever you can, but do some physical activity. This would aid in losing weight.

In addition to doing exercises and keeping dietary control, the important point to keep in mind is being motivated.

]]> http://www.eatrightkentucky.org/is-there-an-easy-way-to-weight-loss-is-exercising-essential.htm/feed 0 http://www.eatrightkentucky.org/tips-for-beginners-in-exercise-how-to-avoid-burn-out.htm http://www.eatrightkentucky.org/tips-for-beginners-in-exercise-how-to-avoid-burn-out.htm#comments Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:47:33 +0000 admin http://www.doctorforhelp.com/?p=44 I went to the mall to buy a dress for the “Saturday get together” that I was attending and got tired of looking at all the beautiful dresses, but in the petite section. I felt desperate that I am never going to fit into one of those. This desperation lead to a determination. I was determined that I would lose all my extra fat in three months and started hitting the gym. I exercised vigorously for three days and then broke down. The fourth day, I couldn’t move. The pains were so much that I had to keep off gym for a week. In the mean time, I started reading on what went wrong with me. And I found the reasons of my failure. Are you in the same footsteps?

If you have determined to lose a few pounds and are enthusiastic about exercising, but not sure how to begin and what to do, please read on.

Any exercise would be painful if proper care is not taken.

1. Warming up before the exercise. Most of us make this common mistake. People get on the treadmill and start off at a high speed to maximize the utilization of the allotted time. But this is a big mistake. You might be burning more calories in the particular time, but burning out the muscles. Your body needs to prepare for the exercise regimen ahead. It needs some minutes to prepare. A little stretch of the muscles, some walking up and down and if on the treadmill or elliptical, a few minutes at a slower speed before getting on to a high speed, is the warming up. How does this help? The muscles targeted for the work out are already ready for the increased effort. Blood flow to the area increases. The effort on the adjacent joints is reduced. This aids in reduced soreness after the exercise as well.

1. Don’t do intense exercise frequently. Realize that you have put on the pounds over the years, not days and it would take continuous efforts at weight loss to get them off and keep them at bay. You cannot lose 10 pounds in 3 days, if you are taking the proper route. Many people have the impression that if they do more exercise, it would help them lose weight quickly. Though the equation of weight loss is mathematics, increased intensity and frequency would only burn you out. Also lack of motivation happens in these cases and the efforts are dropped.

1. Start slowly and increase the intensity gradually. When you start exercising, make gradual changes of intensity. Start with walking, than running. Once you can walk comfortably at a particular pace, increase the speed. Brisk walking eventually leads to jogging and running, but the transition is gradual. This has an additional benefit. When you enjoy walking, you start loving the exercise regimen as well as the feeling of wellness. This would motivate you and you stay on track.

1. Fatigue. Overdoing any exercise would lead to fatigue in addition to the soreness. Start with smaller intervals of exercise and increase the time gradually. Also give the body time to rest. If you have exercised at the gym continuously for five days, take the sixth day off from cardio. Time of rest is as important as exercise, as the muscles are repaired at this time. This would prevent the onset of fatigue.

1. Hydration before, during and after exercise. Drinking water when you are exercising is very important. The recovery of the muscles is fast when you drink water after exercise. Many people complain of cramping of the muscles post exercise, which might be caused because of the lack of hydration.

If you follow all the above tips, there would be no burn out secondary to exercise. Any regimen would provide results only if followed regularly over time.

If you have any questions please feel free to comment here or shoot a mail to me and i will answer it ASAP.

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