10 tips for fast,healthy weight loss

[Guest guest]

" If you *vigorously* pursue fitness and health..

weight loss will happen! "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Top 10 Tips For Fast, Healthy Weight Loss!

copyright 2001 by Greg Landry, M.S.

Most people want to lose weight as quickly

as possible while not sacrificing their

health in the process. Here are my top ten

tips to help you accomplish that goal..

1. Do some type of aerobic exercise

(walking, jogging, swimming, stationary

cycling, aerobic dancing, etc.) on a DAILY

basis (preferably in the morning) for 30

to 60 minutes! It elevates several of

your body's hormones that tell your body

to burn more fat. It decreases hormones

that tell your body to store fat. And,

it gives your metabolism (basal metabolic

rate) a boost and burns calories.

Here's the bottom line folks - when you're

sedentary, your body loves to hold on to

fat. It likes to " store " as much as it can.

Conversely, when you exercise, your body

loves to " dump " fat. It does everything it

can to get rid of fat. DAILY exercise!

Forget this twice-a-week stuff. Your body

was designed to be active on a daily basis.

When you are, the fat will go!

2. Tone your muscles with weight training

three days per week. Toned muscles look great

and they supercharge your metabolism! This

should be done just after your aerobic exercise

session so that your muscles are warm and

supple and less prone to injury.

3. Do an additional 15 to 30 minutes of

aerobic exercise in the evening, five days

per week. Some people like to do this just

before their dinner meal to decrease their

appetite, but after dinner is fine too.

In the interest of injury prevention and

not getting bored with your exercise, try

to alternate the type of exercise you do.

For example, walking in the morning and

cycling in the evening.

4. Incorporate " intervals " into most of your

aerobic sessions. Intervals are a powerful

tool to help boost your metabolism. they

are explained in detail in my article,

" Intervals for Weight Loss. "

5. Develop a more active lifestyle. Look

for the " hard " way to do things - the way

that requires the most energy expenditure.

Park as far from the store as you can rather

than looking for the closest parking spot.

Use the stairs rather than the elevator, a

rake rather than a blower, etc.

6. Always eat breakfast! Skipping breakfast

sends the message to your body that you're

" starving " because you haven't had food in

18+ hours (dinner meal one day to lunch meal

the following day). As a protective

mechanism, your metabolism slows down. Food,

especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your

metabolism.

7. Find exercise that you enjoy doing.

For example, many people enjoy walking in

the beautiful outdoors, or if they don't,

they make it enjoyable by listening to music

or taped books, exercising with a friend, or

perhaps by varying their route or the type of

exercise they do.

8. Don't weigh yourself every day. Your

body has daily fluid fluctuations that

show on a scale day to day but aren't

reflective of fat loss or gain. Weigh

yourself once a week at most and preferably

less than that.

9. If at all possible, exercise in the

morning. 90% of people who exercise

*consistently*, exercise in the morning.

If you want to exercise consistently, odds

are in your favor if you exercise first

thing in the morning. When you exercise in

the morning you'll be *energized* for the

day!

Also, many people find that morning exercise

" regulates " their appetite for the day - that

they aren't as hungry and that they make

better food choices. Many people have told

me that it puts them in a " healthy mindset "

10. Train for a local 5k or 10k walk or run in

your area or set higher goals and train to

walk or run a marathon. This can be great

motivation to exercise on a regular basis.

Many of the people that are most successful

at weight loss have a specific goal of

participating in some type of race.

Remember, achieving the goal is not in

winning the race but in preparing for the

race and participating!

I've seen many people transformed from couch

potatoes to lean, mean exercising machines,

because they decided to enter and train for

a competition. Don't think you can't do it...

YOU CAN! Get movin'!

Caution: Always make gradual changes in the

intensty and duration of your exercise sessions.

copyright 2001 by Greg Landry, M.S.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~