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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. Revving up your resting metabolic rate is a proven 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 lose extra pounds and keep them off. Since muscle burns calories, adding muscle to your body will raise your RMR - you'll feel better, have more energy, and you will maintain your weight loss as your body burns more calories even when you are not exercising. Loss of muscle mass is one of the most well documented and marked problems with aging because it has major healthcare implications. After age 40 men and women both begin to lose between one half and one pound of muscle mass per year. Over time that drop in muscle mass can trigger a significant decline in strength. It's called Sarcopenia (loss of muscle strength and mass due to aging) and it is estimated to account for in excess of $18 billion in health care costs. So as we age we feel worse and are more susceptible to disease including the big killer, heart disease. As far as weight and appearance, the loss of muscle mass results in a reduction in the number of calories that your body metabolizes while at rest, so calories you eat turn into fat! Loss of muscles leads to an increase in FAT! You must remember that diets are temporary fixes. Unless your diet is a life long change in your eating habits, it won't address the long-term issue of losing fat and keeping it off, and it will not address the fact that the 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 your goals and progress down, and share them with others. If you choose a good goal and write down your performance against it every day, you'll see the progress very quickly. This is a huge key to success. Further, if you report your performance and progress against your goal to other people such as family and friends, you will find that you are more motivated and that 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. These steps are for those who are new to exercise as a way of losing weight, and if you follow them for several months you will find yourself feeling better and in better shape. You will eventually exhaust your own knowledge and ability to self-recommend the next steps for growth. This also happens frequently with those who are familiar with exercise and its benefits, but who might need guidance in growing or aligning their exercise routine to fit their goals. In either case new and fun additions could come in the form of more vigorous exercise such as jogging, swimming or weight training. These are examples of forms of exercise that will permit dramatic increases in the demands that you place upon your body, and in the returns that you gather in the form of your sense of well-being, your appearance and weight loss. When you think you're ready, there are a number of written training guides and professional advice available that can lead you through the steps to a stronger, leaner you.
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