Weight Loss Tips

All right, let’s get down to it. Who of us doesn’t already know how to lose weight really? Its not as if it was that much of a mystery. Are you tired of people saying, “You should lose weight. You would feel so much better about yourself.” Hogwash. Why should how we look affect how we feel about ourselves? In fact, I feel these well intentioned statements help set us up for diet failure.

We all would like to lose weight fast or burn fat easily, but let’s face it…dieting is very hard work. You will bleed more sweat and tears dieting then you will at your own job. Have you ever stopped to think…How fast did I put on this weight? Believe me; you didn’t just gain 10 pounds in a week so how can you expect yourself to lose that much in that little amount of time. In my own battle of the bulge over the years, I feel that what led to repeated failure for me was setting these unrealistic goals.

Also, I think you need to start of in the frame of mind that you are doing this for yourself, because you love yourself and you’re worth it. Not for some idea that once you lose all that weight and become thin that suddenly you are going to feel better about yourself. It’s not true. In fact, in my own case after losing 100 pounds and attaining that size 6 goal, I was more miserable then ever. I still had not fixed the problem of loving and accepting myself. Once you do this you have a better chance of having diet success.

The other mistake that dieters make is that we tell or believe that we have to deprive ourselves of the foods we love to attain success. We are already setting ourselves up for failure if we do this. Our lives are already filled with multiple stressors such as work, raising a family, paying bills, and just not having enough time to do the things we love. Why does food have such a hold on us? Because it is an instant gratification and one thing that we can look forward to that we will make time for. Yes, reading a good book, working on a craft project, or watching a great movie would be nice too, but who has the time. It only takes 10 minutes to eat a food we really enjoy and it SATISFIES us.

So contemplating telling yourself that you can no longer have that is wrong. What we need to control is the portions. Do you really need a whole piece of cake of just half of it? Don’t count calories, don’t lose the crabs, and don’t cut the fat. Fast food has become such a phenomenon because it’s quick and takes very little time as well as tasting good. What makes it taste so good? I will tell you….FAT. So completely cutting fat out of your diet takes out flavor and hence decreases the one pleasure many of us have in life of eating. Now the problem with fast food is that it uses TOO much fat. You should still be very aware of the amount of fat you use but foods you eat should still taste good. Research has shown that even low fat foods because they taste fatty, fool the body into storing them as fat. So in the end you are not winning. So continue to enjoy your food but work on the portion aspect of meals. If you want more chocolate cake then maybe cut back on the amount of potatoes or bread you eat that day, but by all means, have the chocolate cake. Count each new day as a start no matter how many times you have failed. Keep trying till you get it right.

Back to setting unrealistic goals. Exercise is important. It helps with heart health and circulation as well as getting rid of toxins in your system. Here again, you need to set realistic goals. If you haven’t exercised in 6 months or a year, then set a goal of working out for 5 minutes a day. Now come on…who of us couldn’t find 5 minutes to move our body? Do that for 1 week and then increase to 10 minutes the second week. Repeat until you reach 20 to 30 minutes a day. You don’t need to do more than this to have a healthier body. I know in my busy work schedule an hour’s time was too precious to sacrifice but 30 minutes seemed more realistic.

These are just ideas to get you started. The biggest step you can take right now is to sit down and list the top 10 reasons why you want to lose weight. Remember that if you think you will feel better about yourself if you were thin and looked great that isn’t always true. Figure out now how to love and appreciate yourself and life and you will find that dieting becomes easier.

I know there are a lot of diet products out there and sorting through them all can become overwhelming. I feel that Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach Diet, and Low Carb Dieting are all valid programs but only if they work for you. The moment you feel deprived you can expect that you will start to falter in reaching your weight loss goals. Find the diet that works for you and until that time, just work on eating smaller portions and working out for 5 minutes. You can do it!

Two products that helped me reach my weight loss success are listed below but I don’t want you to feel that you have to use them. Again diets need to be individualized. The reason I liked these products was that they allow you to do whatever diet suits you best but helps you curb those cravings that overwhelm us and also boosts energy so exercise doesn’t seem so tedious. I have tried other products but these are the only two that I feel that I can recommend. Good luck and feel free to email me anytime if you need some support.

www.EmeraldEZweightloss.com

I have been a nurse for 10 years and not only helped patients lose weight but managed to have my own successful weight loss. Please feel free to contact me at charlotteapayne@hotmail.com

Share This

Stoking the furnace

Look at the cover of any lifestyle magazine today and the chances are that the two words “burning fat” will appear in some form or another. Its an obsession. Even those who don’t necessarily have a weight problem are drawn to articles that discuss fat burning and new strategies to do so more effectively. Fat - more specifically, body fat - has become a topic of increasing debate over the past 10, 20, 30 perhaps even 40 years, and today more than ever, we are constantly trying to find new and effective ways to “burn” fat off our bodies.

Fat is usually “burnt” off through exercise. There are also dietary approaches that claim to put the body into a “fat-burning” state, but generally, the term “burning” is more readily associated with exercise.

There have been many analogies used to define how body fat is burned off - one such analogy being to liken the body’s metabolic system to a “furnace” that needs to be “stoked” to increase its “fat burning” efficiency. This analogy implies that fat is burnt during a particular exercise activity - whilst the activity is being performed. This analogy has also fuelled other theories and mindsets, such as the longer the duration of an exercise activity the more fat will be “burned off” - i.e. the “I’ll-just-run a-few-more-miles-to-burn-off the-extra-slice-of-cake” way of thinking.

Unfortunately, this eat more/exercise more approach can spiral out of control with exercise becoming just a means to an end - almost creating a situation that can be seen as “exercise bulimia”.

This approach not only also leads to potential overtraining injuries, but is extremely time consuming, with some people exercising up to several hours a day to ensure that they continue to “burn fat”.

There is a far more sensible approach to burning fatone that not only is far less time consuming, but also burns fat whilst at rest.long after the exercise session is finished.

Burning fat - From 10%-90%

As mentioned earlier, the traditional “fat burning mindset” is that body fat is burnt whilst performing a particular exercise activity (the preferred exercise activity usually being aerobic or cardio type exercise). However, even if an exercise activity is performed for 2 hours (e.g. 2 hours on the stationery bike) - which is a considerable amount of time - this still only represents just under 10% of the day. Also, with most aerobic type activity, the metabolic rate returns to normal just 1 hour after the exercise session is completed (the metabolism or metabolic rate being the single most important aspect that affects fat burning).

Surely it would be better to be able to burn fat for 70%-90% of the day? To somehow keep the metabolic rate elevated for as long as possible to ensure that fat was “burnt” long after the exercise session had finished?

Metabolism and Muscle

If you want to burn fat, you need muscle - it’s that simple. The more muscle, the more fat is burnt.whilst exercising and whilst at rest.

Now this does not mean that you need to become a competitive bodybuilder, or even become “musclebound”. But it does mean that you should consider reducing the cardio sessions and increasing or adding resistance training sessions to condition your muscles. To put it in perspective, for every pound of muscle, the body requires an extra 60-100 calories a day to maintain it at rest! Also, resistance workouts keep the body’s metabolic rate elevated for up to 15 hours after the exercise session is completed (assuming that the workout is relatively intense). Also, endurance cardio training makes muscles smaller, which means a less efficient fat-burning furnace in the long-term.

So now that we know that better conditioned and stronger muscles increase the body’s metabolic rate - which in turn leads to more efficient fat burning, how do we do this in 15 minutes?

Fat Burning in 15 Minutes

Please note the following: This exercise approach is very intense. If you are not used to exercise or exercising with resistance, then you should begin the routine with very light weights at first and take a 2-3 minute rest between each exercise. As you become fitter and stronger, you may gradually increase the weight and also gradually reduce the time between each exercise.

The following 2 routines are toughvery tough. There are several aspects that make this routine effective:

1) Each exercise uses several muscle groups - thus placing a higher energy demand on the body

2) Each exercise focuses on larger muscles - by using larger muscles, we also place higher energy demands on the body

3) The level of resistance required places 90-100% demand on each group of muscles (NB: beginners/intermediates must use lighter weight)

4) There is minimal - ideally zero - rest between sets creating a massive cardio and fat-burning effect that literally “fries” calories

5) Both routines are brief - and should not take longer than 15 minutes

The Metabolism Stoking Fat-Frying Routine

For each exercise of the following 2 routines, select a resistance load that allows you to complete no more than 10-12 smooth repetitions. If you can perform a 13th repetition, then the weight is too light (NB: Beginners & Intermediates to select a light weight and progress gradually).

Also, keep rest between each exercise as short as possible (ideally run to next exercise and start as soon as possible). Again, beginners & intermediates take longer rest periods between sets.

Routine 1:

Squats

Dumbbell Pullovers

Stiff-legged deadlift

Squats

Bench Press

Chins or Pulldowns

Bench Press

Barbell Curls

Shoulder Press

Routine 2:

Squats

Bench Press

Chins or Pulldowns

Repeat above 3 exercises 3 times with no rest between all 9 sets

Author Info: Ted Frazer has been dedicated to the weight loss and “Wellness Revolution” for 20 years. He has written a fast selling e-book titled “The Total Diet Solution” in which he looks at the various approaches to eating and how we all need to find an individualized and unique eating approach that works for the long-term. Visit http://www.total-diet.com and download the 1st chapter for free.

Share This

One of the most asked questions I get while training others is how many reps and sets of an exercise are needed to achieve lean muscle growth, strength increase, and an overall improvement in body composition.

Reps

The desired repetition range for both men and women for just about all exercises is four to six repetitions for your last, heavy sets.

That doesn’t include warm-ups or acclimation sets, just your last sets.

There is one and only one reason a muscle has for gaining lean muscle tissue and getting stronger….

….Progressively increased overload.

You need to progressively “force” the muscle into growing and getting stronger or it will not.

In order to increase overload, you need to increase resistance. In order to increase resistance, you need to increase the amount of weight, or work, you are doing.

Lower repetitions of an exercise will allow you to increase the overload to that muscle instantaneously. This forces the stimulation of new muscle fibers that will be recruited to handle the additional stresses that will be placed upon the muscle.

The repetition range for optimal muscle fiber stimulation will be between four and six repetitions for just about every heavy set of an exercise you do.

Low reps will not cause women to “bulk” up. Low reps will
strengthen and “tone” your muscles quicker than higher reps.

Lighter weights and higher reps will basically keep you from making optimal gains. If you can do ten repetitions of an exercise, the weight is too light to achieve overload.

How do you know what weight to use? If you can do more than six repetitions on your heavy sets for an exercise, the weight is too light. If you cannot do at least four, the weight is too heavy.

So the low down on reps is 4 to 6 for all heavy sets. Warm up sets and intermediate can be 8 to 10 reps, but to get the muscle stimulating benefit of weight training, you must use lower reps to create enough of an overload.

Sets

The amount of heavy, intense sets per exercise will be between one and three sets, depending on the order of the exercise.

When you are warmed up, the number of all-out, intense sets will be three at the most, and on some exercises, just one or two sets.

It is the overload that causes the muscle to grow, not the
amount of sets you do. There is no “universal law” which states that if you double the amount of sets you perform, you also double the results.

The key is to stimulate, not annihilate, the muscle into
responding and growing. You do this with two, very intense sets of four to six repetitions. This will efficiently stimulate the muscles more than doing more sets with more reps at a lighter weight.

If we were doing bicep curls, we would do our warm-ups and then two heavy, intense sets of four to six repetitions. This exercise is now done. You have effectively overloaded the bicep muscles and will then proceed to the next exercise, if there is one.

As you can see, it is all about quality over quantity when it comes to producing results.

It is so much better to do one or two heavy sets at maximum intensity than 3 or more at an easier level.

More is not better….better is better.

Fitness Consultant Shawn Lebrun has helped over 13,000 individuals lose fat and build muscle in less time. To
read more about what he can do for you, please check out
his site at Shawn Lebrun Fitness.com

Share This