Conventional wisdom of the day says that the most effective path to losing weight is to diet, and there are hundreds if not thousands of fad diets to choose from that claim to be the fastest way to weight loss. But think for a moment: if you "go on a diet" the implication is already stated that you will, sooner or later, "go OFF the diet". It's a temporary solution! Let me show you how you can make small and incremental changes to your lifestyle that taken together will leave you feeling better and equip you with a set of tools that you can use to lose unwanted pounds and keep them off.
Increasing your resting metabolic rate is a well known and well documented method for losing extra body fat and keeping it off. By increasing your resting metabolic rate (the rate at which your body burns calories while at rest, also known as your RMR) you can shed extra pounds and keep them off. Muscle tissue burns calories; adding muscle tissue to your body will cause you to burn more calories even at rest, increasing your RMR. You'll feel better, have more energy, and you'll maintain all of the weight loss that you achieve as your body burns more calories even when you are resting.
Loss of muscle mass is one of the most well documented problems that comes with aging, and it has major healthcare implications. After age fourty men and women both begin to lose between 1/2 and 1 pound of muscle mass per year. Over the years that decline in muscle mass can result in a significant decline in strength. This is called Sarcopenia (loss of muscle strength and mass due to aging) and it is estimated to account for over $18.5 billion in health care costs. As people age and become less active they feel worse and are more susceptible to disease including heart disease, one of the top killers globally. And as for appearance, the loss of muscle mass results in a reduced number of calories that your body metabolizes while at rest, so the calories you eat turn into fat! So loss of muscles leads to an increase in FAT!
Diets are temporary fixes - they don't address the long-term issue of losing fat and keeping it off, and they don't address the fact that gradual loss of muscle mass over time accelerates the rate at which you put on fat. The best approach to losing fat and keeping it off is to find an acceptable level of exercise that will get you and keep you strong, fit and lean. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you develop such a plan:
1) Start slow, keep it simple. Most important if you're new to exercise. If you are new to exercising, you're in for a surprise: your routine does not have to be difficult at all to start with in order to make a big difference in the way you feel. Start by making simple changes to your everyday activities. Take the stairs when you can, don't use that elevator or escalator. It doesn't matter whether you are at home or at your place of work, walking, even if it's just for a short distance, is a great form of exercise and a wonderful way to break the tedium of a workday.
2) Set a goal for yourself. Whatever you do, DO NOT set a difficult goal. Set a goal that is very simple and easy to reach. As an example, start with a goal of five minutes of exercise per day. You can grow this to ten or fifteen minutes after a month or so, but keep it easy, especially in the beginning! DO NOT set an initial goal that will be hard to reach - it's a sure-fire recipe for failure.
3) Write down your progress against your goal, and share it with your friends. If you have chosen a good goal and written down what you've done to reach it every day, you'll see progress and changes in the way you feel in very little time. This is a gigantic point, and a key to success. And another thing: if you share your progress toward meeting your goal with other people such as your friends and family, you'll discover that you feel more motivated - you don't want to let them down - and you will be more honest and faithful in sticking to your goal.
4) Grow your goal. As time goes by you can gradually increase your goal, adding increments of time and then perhaps by adding more strenuous exercise.
The initial steps described above are designed for people who are new to exercise as a way of losing weight - if you follow these steps for several months you'll find that you feel better and are in better shape. In time you will exhaust your personal knowledge and ability to determine the next best approach for growing your exercise program. By the way, this happens frequently with those who are very familiar with exercise and its benefits - the pros who still need guidance in growing or aligning their exercise routine to fit their goals. (Even Tiger Woods has a coach!) You could build in new and fun additions to your workout such as jogging, swimming or weight training. These are just a few examples of exercise that all will permit you to place dramatic increases on the demands that you place upon your body (gradually!), and will result in an increase in the returns that you gather - returns such as improvements in your sense of well-being, your appearance and weight loss. When you're ready for more action, there are wonderful written training guides and professional advice available that can lead you to a stronger, leaner you.
About the Author:
The author has over twenty-seven years of experience writing about and coaching weight loss to individuals. If your goal is to build a stronger, leaner you through an active lifestyle please visit our site.
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