I am into my 4th week of a rigorous exercise program. So far, I haven’t noticed much weight loss. Will it accelerate once I build up some muscles, say by the 6th week? And then afterwards, does it plateau?

As many dieter’s discover, finding the right balance between diet and exercise can be tricky. In order to ensure healthy weight loss and maintenance, equal attention should be paid to both what you eat and how you exercise. Without balance, your weight can fluctuate. Aside from the frustration this causes, studies have shown that yo-yo dieting is actually more harmful than carrying extra weight. Learning to find the proper balance between diet and exercise can help you to secure and keep the perfect weight for your body type.

All About Calories
The best way to gauge the balance between the amount you eat and how much exercise you need is to count your calories on a daily basis. Once you know how much food you are taking in, planning an exercise program to burn off the required amount of calories gets a lot easier. Of course, every person is different and other factors such as metabolism, body type, age and your current weight will also play a part in determining the right balance of diet and exercise. Learning how many calories your body needs will also help you to decide how much exercise you need to lose or maintain your weight. As a general rule, most women need approximately 2000 calories a day to maintain their current weight. If you are more active, you can allow for more calories, if you are less active, you should require fewer calories. Adding an exercise regimen to your schedule can help to burn additional calories and will help you to lose weight.

The Problem with Plateaus
Once you find the right balance between diet and exercise, you may find yourself running into weight loss plateaus. Although you may be participating in the same activities and consuming the same amount of calories, sometimes the body doesn’t seem to want to lose any more weight. When this happens, there are several ways you can breach the plateau:

Increase Your Exercise. Adding to your normal exercise program is one way to up the ante on your weight loss plan. Once you have been exercising for a while, increasing the difficulty level can help to build your strength and endurance.

Fast for a Day. Many experts attribute weight loss plateaus to a reactionary affect by your body’s metabolism. While long term fasting can be dangerous, limiting yourself to water for a single day can clean out your system and re-boot your metabolism.

Change Your Diet. A change in diet can also help to boost your metabolic rate. By introducing new foods to your diet, you may be able to trick your metabolism back into action.

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

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If you feel like you are overweight you are not alone. There are thousands of people in the world that feel like they could lose a few pounds. But the good thing is that every year a large percentage of people that feel that they are overweight take the steps necessary to get down to their target weight.

Losing weight does not have to be difficult. Over the years there has been a lot of talk about how hard it is to lose weight, and that it takes a lot of time, hard work, determination, and in many cases money. And sure, this is true. You are not going to lose weight by simply sitting around and doing nothing. But the fact of the matter is that every year people all over the world find a way to lose weight. Why can’t you be next?

The first thing that losing weight will do for you is obvious; it will make you look better. Looks are the number one reason that any person wants to lose weight. Sure, there are other reasons, but most people that want to lose weight do so because they want other people to look at them and say WOW!

On the other hand, looking good is always nice, but a lot of people need to lose weight in order to stay healthy. You need to ask yourself one very important question; am I jeopardizing my health because I am overweight? If you answered yes to this question then you will definitely want to look into how you can go about losing weight. By shedding a few pounds you will be able to lose the necessary weight to keep your body healthy.

Many people feel that the only way to successfully lose weight is to spend tons of money on supplements, and specialty diet products. This is definitely a myth. By using traditional methods you should have no problems losing weight. Instead of wasting your money why not buy a book on losing weight and follow its direction to a T? Also, you can mix in an exercise regimen that will aid you in your weight loss. That sounds a lot easier than spending hundreds of dollars doesn’t it?

Overall, if you are overweight you can get started losing some extra pounds today. There are hundreds of different reasons that losing weight will be of a major benefit to you. All you need to do to get started is come up with a weight loss program and stick to it. By sticking to a program and setting personal goals you will be well on your way to losing weight. There is no reason to wait another day!

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

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In the fast food instant gratification society we live in everyone wants the quick and easy fix for everything. In regards to weight loss and dieting, ask yourself the question, did you gain the weight overnight? Well, it isn’t coming off overnight either.

One of the toughest things you will ever do is accomplish the goal of losing weight and keeping it off. A good diet is only a portion of the overall weight loss program, it’s possible to lose weight by dieting alone but maintaining it for a long time is difficult and also slows your metabolism if you attempt to do it without exercise.

Our bodies are made for survival, so there are built in mechanisms to help accomplish that mission. One of the strongest of these is the anti-starvation instinct which kicks in when we try to lose weight by simply cutting calories. Your body thinks that you are having a problem finding enough food and goes to work to protect itself from starvation by slowing down you metabolism which makes it even more difficult to lose weight.

This is the reason why you need to combine an exercise regimen with your weight loss program; exercise helps to keep your metabolic rate up. Any time you attempt to withhold something from your body in an attempt to trick it you will get a negative result. This is the same reason that you can’t lose water weight by eliminating drinking water; your body will retain water thinking that you are going to dehydrate.

In addition to the negatives I have already given you, a diet without exercise will also result in the loss of muscle. Whether you know it or not the more lean muscle your body contains the more calories you burn, so you guessed it. Muscle loss results in less weight loss do to a lower metabolic rate. A proper exercise regimen will assist you in losing fat while maintaining or even gaining muscle which is desirable for long term weight loss management.

You aren’t alone if your desire to take a magic pill and sit on the couch watching TV and eating Doritos. Almost everyone would rather eat celery sticks and drink only water than subject themselves to an exercise program of any kind, and God forbid, sit-ups! This is exactly why our nation as a whole is obese and our children are facing an obesity epidemic. You don’t have to exercise like you are training for a triathlon; there are some simple things that anyone can do that will help you lose weight.

One thing you can do that almost everyone is able to do is just walk. Start with just 15 minutes and work on increasing it. You don’t have to walk the whole distance at once either. You can work up to doing 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night and that will go a long way to helping you keep your metabolism stoked, how hard is that?

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as www.thebestdietpill.com“>Diet Pills and Programs at www.thebestdietpill.com

We’ve all done it, well at least those of us who have dieted. We have lost weight only to regain the pounds in a matter of weeks or months. Don’t get frustrated and give up, there is hope!

For starters you have to realize that weight loss programs do work if they are followed correctly. It is also necessary to combine exercise along with a balanced diet and adequate water intake regardless of what specific diet plan you have decided to follow. Sorry, all the late night hype commercials that tell you can lose 30 pounds just by taking a pill and laying on the couch are just that, hype! The only way you will lose 30 pounds that easily is by cutting off a leg. The key to a healthy diet plan is to find one that you can follow long term; it has to be a lifestyle change. The short term crash diets are the biggest reason for failure to keep the weight off.

The other big killer in keeping weight off is exercise, as I alluded to above. A long term weight loss plan must include a regular exercise regimen as well or it is doomed to failure. A good exercise program will help you to build lean body mass, help your heart, and increase your metabolism to burn fat. Exercise will help you get your body in great shape and keep it there. If you attempt to diet without exercise it is highly probable that the weight you lose will find you again.

Fad diets like Atkins, South Beach and others will not work long term. They are not healthy and they are difficult to stick to. A healthy diet for the long term will include foods from all of the major food groups as shown in the USDA food pyramid from the government web site or from the Mayo clinic. The key to weight loss isn’t restricting certain foods as much as it is the amount you eat and the caloric intake. It’s pretty simple if you eat 3500 calories less than your body needs you will lose a pound. You just have to find the magic number of calories that your body needs to operate on.

People who are considered obese and are more than fifty ponds over weight very often will go for the low carb diet approach in order to lose weight rapidly. This works for some people in the short term, however as I have stated before the long term success of such weight loss programs is doubtful at best. A combination of exercise and a healthy diet while realizing it is a lifestyle change is the secret to losing the weight for good.

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find out more about weight loss at SweatAwayThePounds.com at www.sweatawaythepounds.com

In this world of extreme makeovers and desperate diets, there are two definitive actions that bring about effective long-term weight loss—(1) a high nutrition and high protein, low calorie meal plan and (2) consistent, regular exercise routine. Forget about magic pills that melt the fat away or sauna wraps that steam away inches. There are, however, herbs for weight loss that can supplement—not replace— healthy eating and exercise. These herbs can help increase the body’s digestive and metabolic efficiency and make easier the process of long-term health and weight management.

The principle behind weight loss is that energy intake must not exceed energy expenditure. What you eat must have fewer calories than what you put out in day to day activities. A body composed of lean muscle (built from protein and exercise) will use more calories than an unexercised body. There is every reason to maintain a solid exercise regimen and high protein consumption because you need both to turn your body into a fat-burning machine.

Some herbs that can help weight loss and make this process more efficient are Green Tea, Flaxseeds, Psyllium and Chromium.

Green Tea is not only a powerful anti-oxidant but a fat-burner as well. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (January 2005), consuming green tea rich in catechins leads to a lowering of both body fat and cholesterol. These compounds enhance nervous system activity at the level of the fat cell, causing it to release more fat. In another recent study, one group of subjects was given green tea extract (with 150 mg of caffeine) and 375 mg of catechins three times a day.

A second group was given just 150 mg of caffeine alone and a third group was given a placebo. These subjects spent three 24 hour periods in an energy chamber during which they received their green tea, caffeine or placebo 3 times a day. Results show definitely that the green tea group burned the most energy—by almost 5 percent more when compared with those who received the placebo alone and 3.2 percent more than those who received the caffeine alone. In addition, fat burning was increased in the green tea group.

Researchers speculate that a special antioxidant compound in green tea called EEG may trigger fat oxidation and thermogenesis (fat burning). What is also interesting is that the maximum fat-dissolving capacity of green tea comes from the tea in concentrate form, which provides the benefits of 5-6 cups of tea in a single dose of tea powder. Green tea is an herb that has demonstrated effectiveness in encouraging weight loss.

Flaxseeds provide essential fatty acids which are building blocks the body uses to make fats. The body must get various kinds of fats ( fish oil, flaxseeds oil) not only to ensure proper health but to stabilize blood sugar level. Stabilized blood sugar means stabilized appetite. Unusual hunger and food cravings develop in people who do not consume sufficient essential fats. These people often turn to a high consumption of carbphydrates ( bagels, donuts, chips) because their bodies are on a frantic search for the missing nutrient—essential fats. Moreover, the body has an intelligence of its own; when it is deprived of fats, the body will lower its metabolic rate, store fat as well as make fat. A body deprived of essential fats will turn into a fat-producing machine. Flaxseeds are therefore another form of herbal tools for weight loss.

Psyllium is a soluble fiber that comes from the small reddish black seeds of the “Plantago Psyllium” plant. Psyllium seeds not only help ease constipation, they are effective in lowering cholesterol and promoting weight loss when used in conjunction with exercise and healthy eating. Psyllium helps stabilize sugar in the blood which also controls food cravings. The bulk in psyllium adds to the sensation of fullness and satiety when it is taken in its recommended dose:1-3 tsp of powdered psyllium dissolved in water taken 3 times a day before meals. In a British study, women who took psyllium with water 3 hours before a meal consumed less fat and fewer calories during the meal.

Chromium is a trace mineral found in whole grains, potatoes, prunes, nuts and brewer’s yeast. It seems to help the body use insulin more effeciently so that normal blood sugar levels are maintained. Chromium also helps the body break down protein and fat. In a recent study, people consuming 400mcg of chromium picolinate a day lost 6 pounds over 3 months while another group receiving a placebo lost only 3 pounds. The most significant aspect of the study was that the weight lost by those taking the herbal supplement chromium was in the form of body fat, not muscle.

While all four herbs have demonstrated that they can help promote weight loss, they are by no means magic pills and should be taken in conjunction with a solid nutrition and exercise program.

Article Source: http://www.dietarticles.info

A fitness and weight consultant, Mary is helping people reclaim their bodies through nutrition, exercise, positive vision and creative engagement. Visit her atGreatBodyat50 or at ProteinPower