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Archive for January, 2010

It’s estimated 64% of American’s are overweight. That’s about 129.6 million people and there are many myths when it comes to exercise for weight loss. Often it is difficult to separate the truths from the myths.

Here we do our best to do just that. Read on.

Is there such a thing as area specific weight loss?

If you have a few pounds that you would like to lose on your stomach or if you have love handles, when you decide to make an effort to lose weight you will not automatically lose weight off those areas of the body. Sorry to disappoint you! The body decides where it will drop the weight from. This is something no one has any control over. Make your aim just to lose weight.

If a little exercise is good then a lot must be better:

This is not the case. If you have been inactive for a considerable period of time and you suddenly start engaging in too much physical activity such as running, swimming, doing aerobics, cycling, etc. you could do harm to your body. You must start slowly and work up to more vigorous activity. Prepare your body for what is to come by being gentle. In particular, doing too much can be detrimental to the joints. The extra weight you are carrying can add to the problem.

Resistance training and toning are not appropriate for those who want to lose weight:

Toning and resistance training are for everyone, not just those who are already in good to excellent shape. Resistance training, such as working with weights, gym machines and resistance bands increases your muscles mass. This in turn strengthens your bones. This will help you to drop the weight sooner and look more toned at a faster rate than if you simply did a form of aerobic exercise. Muscle burns more calories than fat which means that in effect you burn calories more rapidly when you do resistance training.

Weight can be lost easily and quickly:

Trying to lose weight quickly is dangerous for your health. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. A diet that is so restrictive that it causes the body to drop pounds very quickly is not good for you in any way. Avoid these kinds of destructive diets! Instead aim for a slow to gradual weight loss of one to two pounds per week. This is safe and healthy. Patience plays a role in weight loss after all.

Once I reach my goal weight, I can go back to eating like I did before:

No, unfortunately you cannot. The goal here is not to lose weight but to make healthy dietary changes that will allow you to lose the weight and keep it off. The smaller your body is, the fewer calories you need to take in to satisfy it. Once you institute healthy changes to your diet, you need to put them into play- for good! Think healthy not simply slim.

There are many exercise for weight loss programs but look for ones that don’t focus on melting the body fat as the body just makes it back faster. Look for a program that keeps out of the fat burning zone when exercising and let’s your regular metabolism take the fatty ponds off your weight. One such program is Dr Al Sears PACE 12 minute fitness program along with his heart rate monitor wristwatch device for making sure you’re following an exercise for weight loss program correctly.

Samantha

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If the holidays just happened to your weight in a bad way then get back on track with the PACE: 12-Minute Fitness Revolution program from Dr Al Sears.

Any weight loss program should include an exercise component but many people go over board in trying to burn off fat and end up with injuries or doing workouts that actually work against them. Traditional weight loss programs that include an exercise component nearly always emphasize long session programs where you’re sweating out on a treadmill or some cardio machine for 40-minutes or longer. In fact gym trainers will tell you to stay as long as you can to burn as much fat as you can.

However, the PACE program from Dr Al Sears does not advocate doing any workout longer than 20-minutes. In fact his new program is title – The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution – and he has believed for a long time we don’t need long slow workout but short intense bursts of energy, but in progressive intervals.

Dr Sears also indicates that the way we have been exercising for years with the long aerobic and cardio workouts instead of providing us with strong lungs and heart has actually been detrimental to these vital organs. The heart especially shrinks with the long cardio workouts rather than expands.

There’s a lot more to be said on the weight loss benefits of the PACE program but rather than repeat it all here you can read all about the benefits of the PACE: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution program here.

As we move towards Valentine’s Day – what just happened to January again? – our thoughts turn to our significant others. So I’d like to leave you with a thought for today in our fast-paced world.  Do something different and out of character for your loved one this February. I don’t mean outlandish or even scary but something unexpected. Like leaving a note under the pillow for them to show how special they are. Whatever you do don’t buy it – make it with your own hands. The value we can give somebody today is our time and spending a few minutes writing a note in your own handwriting and not a Word document on a PC,  says they’re special.

Just try it. You’ll feel good as well.

Samantha

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