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The Weight Loss Roller Coaster

By Stan Small

Avoid any diet plan that wants you to focus mainly on a single nutrient group (like protein) and eliminate one of the other two (fats or carbohydrates). An example of this would be a diet where you eat primarily protein and virtually eliminate carbohydrates. I'm not a big fan of fad diets. Your body needs all of the nutrient groups in order to be healthy, yes, even fat. A good way to find out how much of each food group to eat is to go to the Food Guide Pyramid website. There are interactive tools you can use there to determine a guideline for your calorie intake. You can also enter your information and get a recommendation for how many servings of the different food groups you should consume.

Why do most diets fail? The problem is the fact that when you drastically cut your calorie intake, your weight loss is in the form of muscle instead of body fat. You're essentially starving your body. Your body, realizing it's being starved, shifts into survival mode. When deprived of calories, it looks for the most nutrient dense supply of food available, your muscles. Muscles are packed with nutrients as opposed to fat, which has much less nutritional value. So the key to successful weight loss is less dieting and more exercising.

Every pound of muscle in your body burns between 35 and 50 calories per day. A pound of fat burns 2 or 3 calories per day. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down. So, the cycle goes like this, you lose 25 pounds on a diet without any exercise, the majority of it is muscle. You eventually go back to your previous eating habits with which you gain back the 25 pounds. You are back to your original weight but have a higher percentage of body fat. Every time you repeat this cycle you end up with higher and higher percentages of body fat while your metabolism gets slower and slower making it harder to lose the weight. The way to avoid this is to build a greater percentage of muscle in your body. More muscle equals higher metabolism.

These are the steps to taking the weight off and keeping it off:

  1. Eat 5 or 6 meals and snacks each day. They should consist of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy products, lean proteins, nuts, and plenty of water. By eating whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, you'll also get a healthy amount of fiber. The thing about eating healthy foods is that a lot of them are harder for your body to digest which means you'll feel full longer and your body will have to burn additional calories to digest them. Again, the best way to get specific servings is to visit The Food Guide Pyramid website. You may have to adjust the serving sizes to get results but it's a great starting point.

  2. Resistance train at least twice a week. You don't have to strain like crazy to build muscle. You just have to work the muscles harder than they're used to working. Your final rep in any muscle building exercise should never be as easy to perform as the first few. It should be difficult but doesn't have to be to the point of muscle failure. You don't need a lot of fancy equipment. You can get a fantastic workout using your own bodyweight, resistance bands, or a stability ball.

  3. Get at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity each day for a minimum of 3 days a week. This activity should be challenging while at the same time being careful not to overdo it. A good way to gauge the intensity that's right for you is to use the talk test. If you can't say more than 5 or 6 words without taking a breath, you're working too hard.

  4. Make your diet something you'll stick to by cheating once in a while. My theory is that if you eat a healthy diet 80 to 90 percent of the time you'll be successful. It's unrealistic to think that you'll never again eat the foods that you love so much. Whether you choose to have a cookie or two after lunch or an entire day each week that you cheat, it will help you stick to the healthy stuff more consistently.

  5. Make exercising fun. Partner up with a friend or members of your family and think of activities that you enjoy. You'll not only look forward to it more but you'll have a good reason to not say to heck with it. You and your partner wouldn't want to let each other down would you?

Losing weight and getting fit shouldn't be a chore, it should be something that brightens your outlook on life by making you feel more energized, motivated, and maybe even a little sexy. It's a nice thought, why don't you give it a try.

About the Author:

Stan Small is a certified personal trainer in Ellsworth, Maine. He is the owner of Personal Fitness Solutions providing in home training programs for the Ellsworth, Maine vicinity. His website is www.Personal-Fitness-Solutions.com