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.

I’m not sure about you, but for me, Monday’s are always the toughest to get back into my weight loss routine…somehow I always stray just enough on the weekend to break the successful weight loss habits of the week before.

Getting Off Track

And…if I get off track on Monday, it’s usually Wednesday when I suddenly look at my week and figure out – “if I don’t quickly get my butt moving this week will be a total right-off” – ahhhh….my Wednesday then becomes my Monday!

Of course, the right answer is to maintain your weight loss and exercise routine right through 7-days a week so that you don’t have to worry about getting back into positive habits – but for many of us, that is not the way this whole weight loss exercise will go, especially if you are committed to long-term fitness and health.

It’s the summer, and over the weekend we had some friends over, had a few beers, some wine, a barbecue and ate some foods I typically don’t eat including an ice cream with the kids.

Ok, I had been incredibly good with my weight loss goals all week – so cheating ** a little ** would not have been such a bad thing – but it went a bit too far.

So, Monday morning comes around and every ounce of my being was screaming to delay my workout today. But I’m proud to say I fought that urge and convinced myself that even though I didn’t feel energetic, that my stomach didn’t feel great and I had the start of a headache – I would just start my 5Km jog anyway.

Quitting is NOT An Option

When I first turned on the radio in the morning I heard a Tiger Woods commercial for a watch I think, in there he uttered the words – “quitting is NOT an option”.

Coming off of an inspirational British Open run by 53-year old Greg Norman (easily my favorite player past and present) – I was ready to be inspired and all through the run I kept saying to myself “quitting is NOT an option”

Guess what happened!

I finished my run in a record time, burst through all of the bad feelings from the weekend and then came in and did 30-minutes of weights and felt AMAZING!!

I actually exceeded my weight loss objectives for the day by a great deal – quitting is NOT an option.

Try it yourself. If you have trouble getting motivated one day, repeat to yourself “quitting is not an option” and picture in your mind someone who has achieved something extraordinary that you really respect and admire.

You’ll be amazed at the extra weight loss motivation you get from using this simple, but powerful technique.

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!

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

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.

If you are overweight, then it is up to YOU to diet, exercise and control your impulses on your way to achieving your weight loss goals. 

I am the first person that believes we are all in control of our destiny, including our weight and overall health…yes we can’t ignore the fact that an overwhelming trend in society today is toward obesity — so can we really entirely lay blame at the foot of individuals?

What really made me think of this question was this story about How Our Environment plays a key role in our propensity to eat…specifically — could our day-to-day environment at home, at work, what we watch on TV, what we see when we are out at the movie theatre, have something to do with how fat we are as a society? 

Just as subtle body movements, past experiences and thoughts, our beliefs, word triggers and other triggers impact our behavior without us knowing it – could it be that the businesses behind selling fatty foods have gotten really good at “triggering” us to want more and more food -even without us knowing it?

Imagine that you eat an extra 30 grams of fat and 400 calories when you are out at the movies because of the smell of buttered popcorn in the air?

While I would never fully support the notion that we can shrug off personal responsibility for anything – including our health and weight loss, I think that we must become much more aware of what is around us — smells, advertising, positioning of certain foods so we can gain control of those who are trying to influence our eating habits. 

 It makes perfect sense that a long-lasting weight loss program must incorporate awareness and training on response to the multititude of stimulus we are hit with each and everyday trying to get us to eat more fat…perhaps a good alternative is to spend time each day networking and watching ads about exercise and weight loss to help counter the negative, fatty food triggers that are no doubt impacting our decisions every day.

The challenge with all of these has long been that they are too disruptive in our lives and often do not result in sustained weight loss plunging those who try these diet programs into deeper depression and anxiety over their weight loss.

Certainly, we all understand that exercise is the other half of the equation for achieving lasting weight loss…but there has long been a debate over the type of exercise. 

If you walk for 45-minutues 3-times a week, is that enough?

Do you have to “feel the pain” of intense aerobic exercise where cardiovascular training comes into play – if so how often and at what heart rate?

Assuming you have improved your diet (not starving yorself, but a sensible diet of eating smaller meals more often so you don’t binge, avoiding highly fatty foods, and getting as much raw fruits and vegetables as you can stand in a week), how does that combine with exercise toward achievement of your weight loss goals?

ABOUT MICE AND WEIGHTLIFTING…

New research released this week from Boston University “Weight Training Reduces Fat And Improve Metabolism In Mice – Science Daily Feb 7″  has once again advanced the notion that there is much more benefit to building muscle mass through weight lifting and resistance training than being stronger or muscular – it has a major role to play in weight loss as well.

The article differentiates between type 1 muscle fibers which are built through endurance training such long-distance running while type 2 muscle fibers are developed through resistance training such as weight lifting.

The study found that the presence of type 2 muscle fibers directly result in losing fat, stabalizing your overall body metabolism and liver function as well as balancing insulin reactions in your body – all favorable conditions for achieving weight loss.

When I first started reading the results of this study, I have to admit – I wondered “how did they get a mouse to lift weights?”  Of course, the development of type 2 muscle mass was created in a lab setting my injecting the mice to enhance the growth of type 2 muscle. 

The results were rather dramatic as mice with higher type 2 muscle mass continued to lose weight even when continuing to be fed a fatty, unhealthy diet demonstrating the importance of type 2 muscle to overall weight loss objectives.

WHAT ABOUT RESISTANCE TRAINING…

Although the study did not elaborate on how much type 2 muscle mass was built in the mice or how that would relate to humans which would give us a clue to how much resistance training we may have to undertake to achieve the same results as the study…suffice it to say that adding a couple of slow-burn, resistance training sessions to your weekly routine appears to be an extremely promising way to help you achieve your weight loss goals.

The question is…how do you turn your good intentions and goals into a daily workout plan that gives you the best progress toward rapid weight loss?

Ideally what you want is to get your body into a mode of optimal health that allows it to automatically burn more fat than it is doing right now…in “Your Body Can Burn Fat On Its Own” the author Debbie Rocker makes some good points…specifically:

1. In situations of either extreme, intense exercise, high intensity weight training, or starving yourself with too much dieting you can actually be causing your body to NOT burn fat, but to STORE fat
2. Varying your exercise in both duration and intensity is the best model for making sure you are both burning fat while exercising, but also that you are building your body mass and metabolism to burn fat when you are at rest
3. Include a combination of cardiovascular training with moderate weight training and thow in some relaxation and coping yoga or meditation to help round out the perfect weight loss program

This concept certainly makes sense to me.

When I first started out training I would do high intensity weight training for 20-30 minutes each day with very little attention paid to diet or cardiovascular training.  What happened?

My chest and arms certainly became more muscular, and it was this progress that kept me following this exercise routine for the first few months.  But…the downsides were:

• I wasn’t losing weight – I was gaining it
• I wasn’t losing size on my waist, I was increasing sizes
• I didn’t feel much better, other than a little more satisfied at mybicept size
• I wasn’t in any better shape when it came to keeping up with my kids
• My stress level actually went up because I had an extra activity to fit in each day which only seemed to add more stress to my life

That’s when I found out about 3 things that have made a major difference in my overall weight loss goals and overall health:

1. By slowly and less intensively working my muscles I could get the same workout with much less pain and more effective metabolism – by performing bicept curls (for example) with 50-lbs making the curl slow (say 10-seconds in total) was actuallly more of a workout on my arms with much less pain and less fat stores
2. By varying my activity – 1 day mainly cardio (fast walk, jogging, swimming or running), 1-day more intense weight workout, 1-day yoga, 1-day half weights – half cardio, and one day a combination of moderate cardio with more intense cardio for 10-minutes I was less bored with my routine and less likely to skip out
3. My weight started to go down quickly – literally 7-lbs within just 2-weeks and I felt better, while the muscle tone still grew

So – next time you think about throwing more weight into your weight lifting routing or running faster or longer or on starving yourself with a diet, don’t forget that you are training your body to process and use fat as efficiently as possible – don’t trick it into storing more than is required for an optimal body.