Weight Loss and Exercise - What You Must Know

It's the rare person who enjoys being overweight. Other than Santa Claus and maybe a few sumo wrestlers... the list is pretty short. Since we all want to love ourselves, if you're unhappy about your weight, it's time you did something about it. And we don't mean reaching for those quick cures like body wraps, grapefruit diets and herbal remedies. While some of these will help you take off the inches, at least temporarily, the only thing that'll really work is a healthy plan of eating, exercise -- and a change of attitude.

I got a new attitude

There's no real secret to weight-loss. Ignore the spaghetti and raisins-soaked-in-vinegar diets presented in screaming headlines by the supermarket tabloids; those are gimmicks, and gimmicks don't work for long, if ever. Eat a moderate diet of lean foods, cut out fats and starches, and eat more vegetables, and you'll be on the right track. There are dozens of diets out there that will show you the general guidelines; you can even get them for free. Another important factor is that you start exercising regularly; the best exercise is that you'll get from running, swimming, and from using those elliptical machines that provide a full-body workout all at once. But your most important weapon in the fight against flab isn't a machine: it's your attitude. Unless you're understanding and realistic about how difficult it can be to lose weight, and how determined you'll need to be to do it, even the best elliptical trainer or treadmill is useless.

Weight-loss realities

After your first few days of diet and exercise, you may note that you've lost as much as 10 pounds. "Fabulous!" you think. "This is easy!" Uh, not so fast. Many of us lose quite a bit of weight in our first week or so of our workouts, but the sad reality is that much of this weight was caused by retained water. Once it's gone, it's gone -- and the rest of the weight's not exactly going to start melting away. See, once a fat cell is created, it can never be removed from your body (short of liposuction). Your goal is to shrink it. Once you've settled into your routine you'll begin to lose some fat weight, but don't expect to shed more than one-half to one pound per week. This might seem frightfully slow, but it adds up over the course of a few months.

Another phenomenon you'll need to take into account is the fact that, even as the fat mass goes away, you'll start developing muscle mass. Muscle is significantly denser than fat, so it's heavier. You might find your waist-size shrinking fairly rapidly, even as your weight gradually edges down. Don't despair, and don't give up. All the while you'll be growing stronger and better toned, even if the scale isn't showing much of a loss. The important thing is that you'll be healthier and more attractive, right?

Humans aren't meant to give up weight once we've gained it. This is especially true of those of us from African and European backgrounds: our bodies have a tendency to prepare us for the famines that, in the past, struck humanity at regular intervals. Although our biology has yet to catch up with our society or technology, given a little work, we can learn to control our tendency to gain weight, and even turn it to our advantage. All it takes is determination, diet, and a firm decision to call some of those ads offering refurbished ellipticals and used treadmills for sale.

Published with permission (FCDMInc)