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Tired of Getting Burned by Diets?
Burn Fat Instead!

By Sandra Mayer

It wasn’t that long ago that many of us rang in the New Year with promises of “trimming the fat,” a healthier lifestyle, and saintly behavior modification. We celebrated the emergence of spring with vows to slim down and firm up in time for the summer swimsuit season, perhaps buying a skimpy little number as an inspiration, only to have it mock us as it hung in the closet.

Now, as retailers bring out the fall wardrobe it’s time to ask yourself: has your diet lived up to your expectations and helped you meet your healthy lifestyle goals?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, excessive weight and obesity now effects two-thirds of adults over age twenty, and prevalence of obesity has more than tripled for teens and children in the last twenty five years. Obesity is now considered a nationwide epidemic and is one of the leading known threats to health status in the U.S.

How, then, is the “average American” supposed to wage war against this formidable enemy?

According to Shonda Smith, manager of Fitness Together in Auburndale, Massachusetts, and a licensed nutritionist, “most people don’t realize that the key to health and fitness is burning fat—not dieting.” Anyone can train their body to burn fat, Smith says. It takes a healthy eating plan married to a balanced fitness performing a challenging routine of exercises religiously will eventually find diminishing returns.

To keep workouts productive metabolically, Desforges also incorporates interval training. “When you perform any physical task repeatedly,” Desforges explains, “the body learns over time to build whatever muscles and endurance required to support it. For this reason, we constantly vary the speed and intensity within each segment of training to keep the body working to keep up.” Interval training helps prevent ‘workout plateaus’ and promotes the body’s ongoing development of lean muscle.

Even with the best fitness program a sensible diet is still important to lose fat, yet many people are mistaken in believing that less is always better. “We see many clients who complain that they’ve hit a weight loss plateau and can’t possible eat any less,” says Smith.

“Obsessive dieters commonly force their bodies into starvation mode, a state that forces the body to hold on to fat.” Often the problem is not eating enough. “When we get them to increase their calories as part of their fitness training,” Desforges adds, “they suddenly begin losing weight.”

“Ultimately, burning fat requires a healthy metabolism,” Smith explains. “The body’s metabolism is like a furnace. The more you stoke it, the more it burns.”

For a healthy metabolism Fitness Together recommends an eating plan that includes many small meals of protein and complex carbohydrates. Menus should also include fiber-rich food sources and lots of water. “The body’s signal for dehydration is the same sensation as hunger,” Smith says. “When my clients complain they are hungry I suggest they try drinking a large glass of water and then wait twenty minutes. In most cases what they are feeling is actually dehydration.”

For many, the strength training component of a meaningful health plan is even harder to maintain than the diet. “People often come to us saying they don’t like working out,” Desforges says. “I talk to them about simple changes they can incorporate into their lives, reinforcing a pattern of healthy choices and acts that leads to a healthier, fat-burning metabolism.

Because of the privacy of our setting and our one-on-one partnering approach, most people feel comfortable making an initial three to four month commitment. This is all it takes to begin to see and feel tangible changes.”

Copyright Fitness Together Newtonville, 2007

About the Author:

Sandra Mayer is the owner of Fitness Together in Newtonville, MA. You can find more information at her website, www.ftnewtonville.com.