Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category

Losing Weight Quickly

Each year spring sneaks up on us and we find ourselves desparate to find the means of losing weight quickly before warm weather hits. I know a lot of people who only try to eat right in order to lose weight, but to really lose weight and keep it off, you must add some exercise to your routine in order to really succeed. Exercising is really the best thing for you to do in order to lose some extra weight and improve your health if you are overweight and struggling to lose.

Losing Weight Quickly Requires Exercise

The two main categories of exercise are anaerobic and aerobic. Simply, aerobic is lighter sustained exercise like jogging and anaerobic is heavier burst type exercises like weight lifting. Both types of exercises are good for you, but if your goal is losing weight quickly, you need the benefits of both!

Two of the most effective aerobic exercises are swimming and running.
Swimming is perhaps the quickest way to lose weight as far as aerobic exercises go, but regular trips to the local pool will help you to tone up all that excess body fat. When you swim you use nearly every muscle that you have.

Many people enjoy running. Many overweight people though consider it to be their least favorite exercise. This unique ultra body fat reducing exercise, however, really helps get our heart working and your rate of metabolism moving which seriously helps to burn calories. The most important part of an effective weight loss program is to start slow and build up your endurance so that you won’t wear out too quickly. If you jump right in with too much too soon, your chances of succeeding and meeting your goals is greatly reduced.

The other type of exercise, anaerobic exercise, should not be forgotten or ignored. Adding anaerobic muscle building exercises to our low fat diet and cardiovascular routine is the key that is going to make losing weight quickly become a reality for us. Whenever performing cardio exercises you burn more calories but weight training helps you create muscle, which in turn causes the body to burn additional calories 24/7, even when you are relaxing on the sofa. Just like a big vehicle needs more fuel than a compact car, the more muscle mass you’ve got the more calories you will burn.

You can effectively burn unneeded body fat and start losing weight quickly by exercising just three times each week. When you eat right and exercise you should, with a few exceptions, be able to drop two pounds of body fat each and every week.

Losing Weight Quickly Requires a Plan

Ultimately, the first thing you have to do is get started. Start by setting specific goals. Write them down and stick to them. Remember to perform a variety of exercises, but do not over complicate your routine. So keep your fat intake down, get out there and exercise and watch those unwanted pounds melt away. Before you realize what has happened you’ll be feeling better, losing weight quickly and maybe even turning heads at the beach.

The Quickest Way to Lose Weight

Did Dave Discover Quickest Way to Lose Weight?

The question that plagues many, especially with summer just around the corner is “What is the quickest way to lose weight?” When considering this question, many may begin to think in terms of restricting certain foods, or choosing the best exercise routine or perhaps buying the latest greatest piece of exercise equipment.

I, on the other hand, tend to prefer the more common sense approach. Don’t get me wrong, during running season I am absolutely tweaking my routine, alternating long slow days with tough interval days and (this is important) rest days. At the beginning of the season however, when my only thought is to find the quickest way to lose weight so that my knees don’t hurt when I run, I go back to basics.

When talking about saving money quickly, Dave Ramsey says to go after it like a gazelle; like a man on a mission. If memory serves, his solutions list contained some pretty radical ideas like: Clip coupons, work a second job, don’t go on vacation, work a third job, buy used clothes (Osh Kosh B-Gosh comes to mind) and my personal favorite, “eat every other week.” Other than this last one, these all sound very common sense like to me. In fact, it inspired my annual pre running season weight loss plan.

The Quickest Way to Lose Weight: Like a Gazelle

So, I submit to you now — the Dave Ramsey inspired, common sense financial analogy for losing weight quickly.

• Clip Coupons – This is talking about stretching your dollar. Adding coupon paper to your grocery dollars to make them go further. In our quest to lose weight quickly, our coupons consist of water and fiber. Drink water before and during every meal and eat foods high in fiber. Among other benefits, these two practices will help you feel full and will stretch your calories by decreasing your appetite.
• Work a Second Job – Start your new weight loss job consisting of at least 30 minutes of quality aerobic exercise every day. We aren’t killing ourselves running seven miles here; we’re talking about some jumping jacks, fast walking and stretching so there is no need for a day off.
• Don’t go on Vacation – Translation: Don’t go to Outback. I don’t care if the lobster is back; it’s always back. I like that Australian Shiraz. I love the Bloomin Onion. I dream about the Victorian Filet. If we’re going to be serious about this thing though, it’s time to eliminate eating out and alcohol (which has almost as many calories per gram as fat). Subway has some reasonable options if you have to eat on the road (6-inch, not 12), but sadly, fine dining while enjoyable, is Not the quickest way to lose weight.
• Work a third job – What am I nuts? Ok, just a little job. We’re talking about one more little workout in the morning – either fifteen minutes of cardio or a good strength building workout that takes your favorite body part to complete muscle failure before breakfast. We are kicking this thing into high gear baby.
• Buy Used Clothes – Ok that’s just stupid. Hmmmmm… analogy cramp. Ok, got it. We’re going to go with an opposite here. Plan a reward for yourself when you meet your goal. Preferably one that doesn’t include Outback.
• Eat Every Other Week – I’ve left this one on as a perfect example of what NOT to do. Do not skip meals, especially breakfast. This is the one of the quickest ways to short circuit your metabolism. Also, fasting, while great for your body and spirit is not a valid weight loss method. Besides, if you fast for weight loss, you lose all the great spiritual benefits of learning how to put your flesh under.

Well, that’s it: The quickest way to lose weight, based on common sense and financial peace; good luck.

7 Ways You Can Lose Weight Quickly Starting Today

Lose weight quickly following these simple steps

No matter which plan you might be following in an attempt to meet your weight loss goals, following these tips will help you to lose weight quickly. There are many possible facets to the optimal weight loss plan.  Even experts disagree on many of these, but below are seven weight loss tips that nearly everyone can agree on.

1. Drink more water

Water makes up about 60% of your body and you cannot stay alive for long without a good supply of it.  Drinking plenty of water will help curb your appetite while simultaneously flushing fat and toxins out of your system.  Opinions vary about how much water you should drink a day, but Eight 8oz glasses can be considered a reasonable minimum to stay healthy.  Drink more to accelerate your metabolism and help you lose weight quickly.

2. Eat more frequently to lose weight quickly

This doesn’t mean eat more food each day… sorry, no free rides.  What this means is that, if your goal is losing weight quickly, you should break your daily food intake up into smaller meals or snacks that are spaced closer together, eg. 5 or 6 small meals instead of the typical 3 squares.  This helps keep your metabolism up to speed so it can burn fat and also ensures a steady source of the nutrients your body needs in order to function properly and stay healthy.

3. Don’t skip breakfast

You know who you are.  And by the way, coffee is not breakfast.  Heading out the door for the day without eating tells your body that it is not going to get any food today.  Based on that information, your body takes matters into it’s own hands and reduces your metabolism to conserve energy.  This is not the way to burn fat quickly. Skip breakfast, and the very last thing on your body’s to do list is now Burn Fat.  It also makes advanced plans for the next meal it does get;  It’s Plan… Store as much as possible as FAT!

Start your day off by letting your body know that it’s OK to stoke the furnace and burn calories today and you are one step closer to burning mostly fat so that you can lose weight quickly without losing muscle.

4. Eat more protein

Protein is absolutely necessary for repairing cells as well as for the creation of new tissue.  Remember, new tissue, specifically muscle tissue will help you to lose weight at a higher rate, even when resting.   The body can break proteins down into all the essential amino acids you need for healthy growth, particularly for adding lean muscle.

At about 4 calories per gram, vs. 9 for fat, protein is also less calorie dense which helps keep your daily calorie count in-line.  That means you can eat a higher volume of food, avoid feeling hungry and still lose weight quickly.  Even better, protein has a higher thermic value which means that it requires energy just to digest it.  If you eat 100 calories worth of protein, it takes 20 to 25 calories just to digest it.

5. Eat less processed foods

I like the way Susan Powder used to say it, “Does it grow that way”?  If not, she wouldn’t eat it.  FYI, Hamburger Helper doesn’t grow that way.  I’m not saying you have to go 100% organic (though it wouldn’t hurt), but eating more natural foods and reducing the amount of processed foods you eat inherently improves your diet, reducing toxins while at the same time increasing fiber intake along with important vitamins and phyto-nutrients.  Processed foods are also readily turned into fat in the body.  Remember, we want to burn fat, not store it if we are going to lose weight quickly, so lets not make it so easy for our body to be bad to us.  If you implemented this one tip alone, you would likely lose weight in the long run.

6. Lift weights

Resistance training increases muscle mass, period.  Even if you do not visibly increase muscle, regular, proper resistance training increases muscle density, improving your BMI.  The increased volume of muscle cells in your body work for you 24/7 to increase your metabolism, burning more calories, and burning more fat.

This is the kind of vicious cycle we are looking for — the kind that helps us lose weight faster and keep losing it even while we sleep.

7. Get in some cardio

Any cardio is better than no cardio.   If you are able you want to at least get to 60% of your max heart rate, which means power walking as a minimum.  A casual stroll with your dog does burn some calories, but doesn’t really stoke up the fire.  The slowest easiest jog you can manage should put you above 60% and this intensity can be maintained for a long time.

I would recommend at least 30 minutes if you want to burn fat at any reasonable rate.  The 20 minutes that many programs tout is a bare minimum.  I figure if I’m going to get all dressed up to run, hit the treadmill, whatever, I might as well make sure that I burn fat and a lot of it while I’m at it.  After all, our goal is to lose weight quickly — we’re not putting forth all this effort to lose weight at the leisurely rate of 1/2 pound per week.

Bonus: Take it to the Next Level

Another popular and effective method of firing up the fat furnace is to do interval training.  This basically involves exercising at high intensity and then ‘walking it off’ at low intensity.  Repeat this for the duration of your workout.  This allows you go reap the benefits of high intensity cardio without killing yourself by trying to do it non stop for 3 miles.

It is also a lot easier for some to motivate themselves to ‘go out for a walk’ than it is to go running.

Start implementing these 7 steps to lose weight quickly and you will burn fat and be well on your way to achieving your weight loss goals.