1. Resistance Training
Resistance training is an essential component of any weight-loss program. Resistance training tones and shapes your muscles, giving your body the toned and slender appearance that you want. Unless you idealize the bony and emaciated look of the marathon runner, it is in your best interest to weight train so that your body has shape and definition.
Also, resistance training has an immense impact on your metabolic rate. Unlike fat, muscle requires a significant amount of energy to maintain. Every pound of muscle you add to your body burns from forty to seventy calories a day while you're resting. If hypothetically, I added ten pounds of muscle to your frame, this would stimulate your metabolism to burn an extra five-hundred calories a day. Now, this means that over the course of a week, your new found muscle mass is burning three thousand five hundred calories (a pounds of fat) while you relax. You have to work to get muscle, but once you have it, it starts working for you. Not a bad deal!
2. Interval Training
I'm guessing that if you're reading this blog, you're probably somewhat familiar with traditional "steady-state" cardio, where you maintain a constant speed for a predetermined amount of time. If you've ever run on a treadmill, or jogged around your neighborhood, you've done steady-state cardio before. Steady-state cardio has its uses, and can help you burn large amounts of calories. However, recent studies have confirmed that interval training is a better choice for weight loss.
Interval training consists of short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by short periods of rest or low-intensity exercise. Fifteen to twenty minutes of intense interval training is more than enough for all but the most highly-conditioned athletes. This is a very small investment of time - and as I will explain in a moment, you get a very large return on this investment.
If you run at a steady speed for forty minutes, you burn a significant amount of calories for the duration of your run. Once you have finished, your metabolic rate returns to normal, and you stop burning calories. Interval training is a better option for weight loss because it stimulates your metabolism for up to forty-eight hours after your run. Meaning, you keep burning calories for up to two days after you've worked out! A fifteen minute run gives you two days of calorie burning goodness.
3. Dig Deeper
If you find that you just can't stop from eating - it might be time to examine your own motives and psychological state. Often, people eat as a way of escaping from their problems and comforting themselves in times of stress and worry. Without even realizing it, you may be using food as a way to escape from your reality. Without confronting the underlying causes of your bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to change. Try to see how you feel when you get a craving - notice what emotion is running through your body when you feel compelled to eat. Often, you'll find that you're simply in the habit of eating whenever you feel bored, sad, angry, or anxious. Becoming aware of this will help you master your habits and your life.
"He who knows men is clever; he who knows himself has insight. He who conquers men has force; he who conquers himself is truly strong." - Lao Tzu
4. Have Patience
Changing the shape of your body takes time and effort. There is no magic pill, and I explained in a previous blog post why fad diets are ineffective and unhealthy. Generally speaking, you should lose about two pounds a week until you are at your goal weight. This will take weeks, or maybe months, depending on how much weight you want to lose. If you're losing a lot of weight really fast, this is a sign that you're body is shedding water weight instead of body fat. This is not helpful for you because any loss of water weight is illusory and is not actually moving you any closer to your goals. Many fad diets stimulate a large loss of water weight in a one or two week period and then claim to have helped you "succeed". Do not be fooled, any diet that claims to help you lose more than two pounds a week is only going to help you lose water weight.
Only sustained effort over time will bring you success. Weight loss is not that difficult, nor is it that complicated. All you need to do is to be persistent and you will have the body of your dreams. There is nothing separating you from the body you've always wanted. If you work for it, it will be yours.
5. Enjoy yourself
There's a reason I never use the word "diet". This word evokes negative feelings in almost everybody. It reminds people of suffering, withdrawal, and unhappiness. Diets are always transitory and always short-lived. Rarely are they successful and usually the only result is an emptier wallet and a more skeptical perspective on health.
To be successful, you can't look at your program as a diet. Look at it as a lifestyle. It cannot be something you're forced to do. You must learn to embrace the active lifestyle and begin to enjoy taking care of your body. Make exercise a hobby, instead of your enemy. Make nutrition an excuse to become a better cook. Learn to love the process, and the results will certainly come.
Resistance training is an essential component of any weight-loss program. Resistance training tones and shapes your muscles, giving your body the toned and slender appearance that you want. Unless you idealize the bony and emaciated look of the marathon runner, it is in your best interest to weight train so that your body has shape and definition.
Also, resistance training has an immense impact on your metabolic rate. Unlike fat, muscle requires a significant amount of energy to maintain. Every pound of muscle you add to your body burns from forty to seventy calories a day while you're resting. If hypothetically, I added ten pounds of muscle to your frame, this would stimulate your metabolism to burn an extra five-hundred calories a day. Now, this means that over the course of a week, your new found muscle mass is burning three thousand five hundred calories (a pounds of fat) while you relax. You have to work to get muscle, but once you have it, it starts working for you. Not a bad deal!
2. Interval Training
I'm guessing that if you're reading this blog, you're probably somewhat familiar with traditional "steady-state" cardio, where you maintain a constant speed for a predetermined amount of time. If you've ever run on a treadmill, or jogged around your neighborhood, you've done steady-state cardio before. Steady-state cardio has its uses, and can help you burn large amounts of calories. However, recent studies have confirmed that interval training is a better choice for weight loss.
Interval training consists of short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by short periods of rest or low-intensity exercise. Fifteen to twenty minutes of intense interval training is more than enough for all but the most highly-conditioned athletes. This is a very small investment of time - and as I will explain in a moment, you get a very large return on this investment.
If you run at a steady speed for forty minutes, you burn a significant amount of calories for the duration of your run. Once you have finished, your metabolic rate returns to normal, and you stop burning calories. Interval training is a better option for weight loss because it stimulates your metabolism for up to forty-eight hours after your run. Meaning, you keep burning calories for up to two days after you've worked out! A fifteen minute run gives you two days of calorie burning goodness.
3. Dig Deeper
If you find that you just can't stop from eating - it might be time to examine your own motives and psychological state. Often, people eat as a way of escaping from their problems and comforting themselves in times of stress and worry. Without even realizing it, you may be using food as a way to escape from your reality. Without confronting the underlying causes of your bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to change. Try to see how you feel when you get a craving - notice what emotion is running through your body when you feel compelled to eat. Often, you'll find that you're simply in the habit of eating whenever you feel bored, sad, angry, or anxious. Becoming aware of this will help you master your habits and your life.
"He who knows men is clever; he who knows himself has insight. He who conquers men has force; he who conquers himself is truly strong." - Lao Tzu
4. Have Patience
Changing the shape of your body takes time and effort. There is no magic pill, and I explained in a previous blog post why fad diets are ineffective and unhealthy. Generally speaking, you should lose about two pounds a week until you are at your goal weight. This will take weeks, or maybe months, depending on how much weight you want to lose. If you're losing a lot of weight really fast, this is a sign that you're body is shedding water weight instead of body fat. This is not helpful for you because any loss of water weight is illusory and is not actually moving you any closer to your goals. Many fad diets stimulate a large loss of water weight in a one or two week period and then claim to have helped you "succeed". Do not be fooled, any diet that claims to help you lose more than two pounds a week is only going to help you lose water weight.
Only sustained effort over time will bring you success. Weight loss is not that difficult, nor is it that complicated. All you need to do is to be persistent and you will have the body of your dreams. There is nothing separating you from the body you've always wanted. If you work for it, it will be yours.
5. Enjoy yourself
There's a reason I never use the word "diet". This word evokes negative feelings in almost everybody. It reminds people of suffering, withdrawal, and unhappiness. Diets are always transitory and always short-lived. Rarely are they successful and usually the only result is an emptier wallet and a more skeptical perspective on health.
To be successful, you can't look at your program as a diet. Look at it as a lifestyle. It cannot be something you're forced to do. You must learn to embrace the active lifestyle and begin to enjoy taking care of your body. Make exercise a hobby, instead of your enemy. Make nutrition an excuse to become a better cook. Learn to love the process, and the results will certainly come.