We all know that the best way to accomplish weight loss is to combine eating healthy, cutting back on calories from fat and increasing our exercise as well as toning muscle to help improve our metabolism so we can burn even more fat.

Yet there are very few specific guidelines that help us understand how much activity we need to do in order to burn fat and really make a difference in the way we look and feel.

So, a good first target is to burn 400 calories at least 4-times a week – and here are some combinations that can get you there…

Assuming you are a 180-lb male, then you would have to…

• Bicycle at a leisurely pace for 1-hour, that will burn about 250 calories – pick up the pace or hit a course with some hills for half your ride and you will have easily burned your 400 calories
• Go and have a game of bowling for 1-hour and you will have reached half of your target – add to that another hour of moderate walking (30-minutes before work in the morning, and another 30-minutes at lunch or later at night) and you will have burned your extra 400 calories for the day
• Running is a great way to burn extra calories – a 5mph run for 30-minutes will burn about 280 calories, then you can add in a brisk walk, some Tai Chi, a quick game of tennis or 9-holes of golf to reach the 400 calories burned mark.

The point is that you can make weight loss fun – instaed of forcing yourself to run everday when you really don’t enjoy it (or you have gotten bored), then throw in other activities like walking, bowling, golf, tennis, or play some basketball. 

The more you vary your exercise routine, the simpler and more effective your quest to lose weight and keep it off will be.

It starts with moving up one or two sizes in pants, then knowing we are carrying around an extra, stubborn 10-lbs, losing some endurance when we walk up the stairs or go out to play with the kids…and if we don’t deal with it, then belly fat can become something we choose to live with instead of eliminate.

Not only has belly fat been linked to various health issues including heart disease, cancers, immune deficiency diseases, diabetes and a host of other health ailments…the impact on our energy level, how we feel in front of others and most important, how we feel about ourselves is just as critical.

Self-esteem and self condidence are so important to our personal and professional lives and yet the presence of belly fat is allowed to stand in the way of reaching maximum self confidence.

So what do we do about this extra weight that gathers in and around our belly? Fat accumulating in the front or sides of your abdominals can sit there for years, is there really a way to quickly eliminate belly fat?

The answer is yes, if I can do it, so can you.

Here is a 5-step system that is simple to follow and will show amazing results for you in just a few weeks…

1. Get checked or begin a cleanse for parasites. These nasties can end up in your gut from lots of places – kids and pets are especially active carriers. Once in your system, they completely throw off your digestion causing untold issues of gas, bloating and excessive fat build-up leading to both real belly fat and the perception of more weight than there really is due to excessive bloating and digestive disfunction.

2. Yeast – candida is a culprit in many of our bellies, some is natural while an overgrowth can quickly take over and render the intestines virtually dysfunctional resulting in same symptoms as #1. There are various cleanse methods on the market – take them slow at first, but most of all watch your intake of sugar (ex. pop, sweet cereals, etc…) and yeasty foods. By dealing with parasites and yeast overgrowth you can often dramatically eliminate belly fat in a matter of weeks.

3. At least 45-minutes, 3X a week of aerobics exercise such as jogging, swimming, or cycling. If you are not comfortable with moderate exercise, then substitute the 45-minute of moderate exercise for a 60-75 minute walk at least 3-miles per hour. The aerobic activity will work wonders on your belly fat.

4. Drink more water, less soft drinks and juice. One of the highest sources of hidden sugars that turn into fat in your body are soft drinks and juices. Over 5-years ago I made the decision to no longer drink ANY soft drinks or juices…I still hold true to that today with the odd drink once or twice a month. By avoiding these drinks not only do you avoid the sugar that leads to more belly fat but you then find yourself dealing with your thirst by drinking more water – at least 8-10 glasses a day will flush the toxins out of your system, keep yourself hydrated so you feel more energetic and you will burn still more fat.

5. Core body exercises. While you don’t need to spend hours each day in the gym, it does help to maintain a basic level of muscle which helps burn fat when you are at rest as well as when you are out exercising. Imagine, burning belly fat while you are sitting at your desk! Keep that image in your mind and you’ll find yourself just itching to exercise 3-4 times a week. Basic core exercises include sit-ups, crunches, and leg lifts that help to excercise the lower abdominals.

Using this simple program I was able to drop 10 lbs in less than 1-month and more important, lose the belly fat that I had been living with for more than 5-years. And, I did it without creating chaos in my existing routine. Give it a try!

The challenge, as many of you also know, is keeping that 20-lbs off. Eventually it begins to creep up again and suddenly I’m right back where I started from. While there is some comfort in knowing that I can reach my weight loss goals anytime I please, there is also an element of frustration in that I can’t take my eye off the goal or else it seems to magically reappear!

Much of that has to do with eating habits.

When I’m in fat burning mode I keep close watch on my meals – making sure to fit at least one meal of salad in, hold off on sugars (including the hidden sugars in drinks, cereals, etc…) and generally keep close tabs on everything that I ingest.

That’s when I read about this study outlining double the fat burning effectiveness of those who keep a formal food diary.

Makes sense, after all, that’s what I was doing when I’m in fat burning mode, just that I keep it in my head.

So, starting last week, I began writing down everything I eat from the time I get up in the morning to the time I rest my head on my pillow at night.

I’ll share more of my experience with you in a few weeks, but right now I can tell you that keeping track of what you eat by writing it down in a food diary is an excellent motivator to being extra careful and will lead to fat burning.

Have you ever used this technique in your fat burning?

Would you feel that was an infringement on your private right to run your own life or would you be thankful that your doctor is letting you know before you get too far overweight and actually works with you to help you understand how to tackle your weight problem early?

Japan has just come out with government standards aimed at fat burning that demands people aged 40 to 74 have their waist size taken and recorded…those that exceed government guidelines will be given 3-months to lose the weight after which they get extra guidance for a further 6-months followed by more guidance if their fat burning is not successful in bringing them below the guidelines.

States and private companies are responsible for taking the waist measurements which has come under some criticism as a method of the Japanese government offloading the cost of enforcing these weight loss guidelines onto private organizations.

Is this really a good idea?

Oddly enough, it may be a better idea for us here in North America where the average waist size exceeds the Japanese by several inches and where disease and health care costs associated with obesity and being overweight could certainly justify more rigorous attention being paid to fat burning programs.

In North America we have done a good job tackling the issue of smoking along with its impact on the health care system, is fat burning the next big area governments will focus in our bid to become a healthier, less costly society?

I for one look forward to the day when such a program exists…while they’re at it, why not begin to regulate and cover other legitimate forms of alternative health care that can go a long way to preventing disease, lowering stress, achieve lower levels of belly fat and improve the health of our society.

In other words, if I struggle with exercise (for any number of reasons including time or other health issues that make exercise less of an option), can I still accomplish fat burning by focusing just on my diet?   Or similarly, if I struggle to control my diet, how much weight can I lose by increasing the amount of exercise each week? 

Another debate that confuses many of us trying to achieve an optimal fat burning metabolism is do we simply have to “watch what we  eat” or must we reduce the actual calorie intake overall? 

In other words, is it enough to cut back on sweets, potatoe chips and to some extent, carbohydrates in our quest to burn more fat OR do we really have to cut down our portions and perhaps eliminate those snacks before we head off to bed?

I came across this interesting research study “When It Comes To Living Longer, It’s Better To Go Hungry That Go Running…” over at Science News.  The study (albeit performed on mice rather than humans which certainly loads it with uncertainty when compared with people) concludes that in mice less food not only meant less weight but rather substantial gains in overall health. 

In short, the study found that mice lived longer if they achieved fat burning via eating less than if they had exercised the weight off. 

To be clear, the study (and others before it) have found benefits to BOTH exercise and eating less both in terms of fat burning and in terms of overall longevity.  The conclusion of this particular research though was that there was a bigger impact on both weight loss and longevity from eating less versus rigorous exercise.

Does this mean we should hang up our running shoes and simply focus on our diet?  Not necessarily, there is still substantial evidence that exercise is tremendously beneficial to preventing certain types of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes…but one can take some advice from this study…

1. Exercise alone may not be the optimal way to achieve your fat burning goals and should you continue to not focus on the quality and quantity of what you are eating, your longevity may be impacted as well.

2. By balancing portion control, good health diet and moderate exercise you can achieve a great deal more weight loss, prevent disease and possibly live longer all while making your fat burning program more realistic and achievable further improving the liklihood that you will stick with your program over the long-term. 

In the end, weight loss is an ongoing factor in our lives where we must institute a program that we can stick to long term – becoming a way of life – a habit we can live with instead of using techniques that intrude on our lives, that we will not stick with. 

By following the advice of this study, we can offset unrealistic assumptions about exercise with a combined approach of portion and calorie control mixed with moderate exercise and achieve all the health benefits that will improve our lives as we live each day.

Here’s what would happen, I would finish running and it would be so painful that psychologically I would keep myself from running again that week.  Maybe if I was really eager I would get out for a power walk – but something always seemed to come up to ruin the consistency.

It’s been about 60-days now and I’ve been on a very consistent jogging schedule where I get in 30-45-minutes of quality jogging time.  I started out slow, at about a 5Mph pace and have gradually increased the pace to where I figure I’m now burning about 500-600 calories each jogging trip and I’m feeling much stronger, less out of breath, less overheated and a whole lot more energetic after the run than before.

What’s the difference…

1. I took it slow and gradual.  Instead of trying to run a 10-min mile full out for 30-minutes I’ve slowed it down and listened to my body understanding that it takes time to build your stamina and losing the weight will come.

2. Being consistent.  This is the MOST important thing.  Ideally you can get out 3-4 times a week, but if it’s only twice, then that’s ok – just be consistent about it week in and week out.  You will find after 3-4 weeks a significant improvement in your stamina and after 6-weeks another big leap in energy and stamina until you are running faster and farther than you ever though possible just 6-weeks before..  Oh, and you WILL notice some significant weight coming off as long as you maintain a healthy diet along with your exercise.

3. Wear comfortable shoes.  I made this mistake, wearing a $40 pair of running shoes WILL have an impact on your knees, hips, back or some other part of your body.  Running is shocking to your body, so you need to absorb as much of that shock as you can and good shoes are the way to do it.  If you don’t wear quality shoes you will hit an injury which throws off your consistency and weight loss goals.

4. Find your best time and place to run.  By running at an optimal time of day for you and mixing up your routes you can keep the exercise fresh and enjoying not allowing it to get boring.

Try it…and stick with your jogging or running campaign.  Not only will you lose more weight but you’ll find you will notice the fat burning off, leaner core muscles, more energy and stamina and an overall happier outlook on life.

Jeff

We’re up here in Canada wher the winters are pretty snowy, quite dark and yes…pretty frosty!  So, we head down South to Florida, Arizona, Mexico and sometimes to the Caribbean when we can to make the winter seem a little shorter…BUT yikes…that means a bathing suit, swimming and suddenly loose fitting sweaters won’t hide the extra 10-pounds gained since the fall.

Things were pretty hectic in my business back in late February though – there were some major campaigns I was running for my own business so it wasn’t like I had loads of spare time.

But…each day I did one of 3 things:  Every second day I jogged for 35-minutes and then worked out with weights, the other days I either walked for 45-minutes or worked out in my basement at home.

In addition, I decided to eat at least 3 salads for lunch each week replacing what would have normally been a high carbohydrate lunch of pasta, breaded fish or some other high calorie, high fat food.  One other dietary change, cut back on desert and cut out late night snacks.

This was all possible even though I was busy leading up to the trip.  How did this persistant weight loss routine work out?

I had lost 5-pounds before leaving for the trip – that was 2-weeks after starting the program.  But here’s the really neat part…

Despite overeating and not exercising when on our 10-day vacation I didn’t gain ANY of the weight back and still was 5-pounds lighter when I got home.  That gave me the motivation to keep up this persistant action.  Even though I have missed the odd walk day, I’ve been able to stick with the workouts and have lost an additional 5-pounds.

So far, the energy and emotional lift from the way I look and feel is a big boost.  The lesson for me has been persistant weight loss action…not necessarily radical action…is what gets longer term results. 

If you are struggling with your weight today and have had numerous experiences of dieting and exercise only to gain the weight back again…try just one small change and keep it up for a few weeks.  Change your diet in one small way, begin walking 30-minutes 3-times each week or fill in an extra workout or two…but the key is to keep it up. 

Begin your persistant weight loss program today…and watch the weight melt off over the next few weeks.

Jeff

However, many people like (or need) the constant support and feedback of a class or personal trainer to help keep them going…but personal trainers can run anywhere from $50-$100+ per hour and you often have to go to see them at a gym requiring even more outlay.

Along comes the Wii Fit… the anticipated Wii fitness game/instruction video which looks like it is finally being released.  For many of us who take our exercise and relaxation rather seriously and who have kids at home playing Sonic or Mario on the Wii, the idea of a fitness Wii program just seems too far out there to be true…but according to this preliminary review, it’s the real deal and that has me excited.

Indeed, the Wii Fit program will be pricier than typical games, but it looks like we’ll get the full range of aerobic, fitness, yoga and balance training that makes it even better than a costly personal trainer…albeit without the true personal attention a trainer would pay to you, but after all, it IS the Wii, the coolest, most innovative gaming platform yet created.

So, I’ll be checking my local games store, or wait a minute, will I have to look at my fitness store…or perhaps Yoga shop. 

Now that’s confusing…anyway once I get my Wii Fit and Flex board to give it a kick at the can, rest assured, you’ll be among the first to find out if it really works.

Jeff

What gives, why isn’t the weigth coming off?

Turns out that it may have something to do with how you spend the rest of your 16 or so hours each day.  If you spend the time sitting either at a desk or in a chair then you could be cancelling out the best intentioned exercise routine and in fact, still gain weight instead of realizing weight loss.

Research conducted by the Baker Heart Institute, International Diabetes Institute is reported in “Our Office Chairs Are Slowly Killing Us” explaining that critical digestive enzymes are rendered less effective when most of your day is spent sitting. 

This is certainly sobering news for those who lead rather sedentary lives with brief spurts of exercise – if you are one of these people you may want to consider the benefits of fitting in regular breaks in your day where you stand, pace, walk around or perform an activity.

By working more frequent periods of activity in your day you just may significantly improve your overall health, lower your risk of diseases such as diabetes and certain cancers as well as improve your weight loss goals.

The entire episode involved the group of friends taking this supposed no fat yogurt to a lab to get it tested to see if it really was no fat. 

Of course, in typical Seinfeld format, the samples at the lab get mixed up and they get an erronous reading so we never really knew if the yogurt was no fat.

This week, a new study from Purdue University uncovered a similar debacle – the fact that non-sugar sweetners seemed to cause test rats to get fatter. 

In “Sugar Substitutes May Contribute To Weight Gain” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/11/AR2008021101069.html the story suggests that lab testing showed the more sugar free substitute given to rats, the fatter they got.

The theory behind this sounds a little far-fetched to me… but basically the arguement is that a rat’s body metabolism adjusts due to certain taste senses being heightened.  So, in other words, when a rat tatsts sweetness from sugar and typically expects calories to come along with that sweetness, their metabolism is trained to burn more calories – even generating more body heat in the process.

Yet, after multiple feedings of food containing artificial sweetners the metabolism didn’t kick in to the same degree and thus did not burn as much fat resulting in weight gain instead of weight loss.

Personally, I find the conclusions drawn from this research to be on shaky ground and so the jury is still out.  If someone wanted to look for criticism of artificial sweetners, there are many other health implications that should be examined first such as some studies demonstrating links with cancer, nerve diseases and other brain related conditions.