Weight loss is usually the first response I get from a prospective client regarding fitness goals. Weight loss is a great fitness goal for you to achieve. You can reach and maintain your weight loss if you take care of more important health issues first. If this sounds strange, just keep reading!
Here are four things more important than weight loss:
1. Your health should always be your number one priority. This includes much more than your weight (although your weight might influence your health). When was the last time you had a full physical exam? Do you know your blood pressure, cholesterol levels and triglyceride (blood fat) levels? Did you know you have good cholesterol and bad cholesterol? Get that health checkup if it's overdue.
2. Your body fat percentage is more important than weight loss. Even skinny people can be overfat. Belly fat, in particular, is a health threat for all of us.
3. Healthy eating will play a huge part in you maintaining good health, fat loss and weight loss.
4. Leading an active lifestyle (which includes regular exercise) has health and emotional benefits that go beyond “just weight loss.”
So, don’t give up on your workouts just because you aren’t experiencing the weight loss you want! Keep in mind that you can lose tons of weight and still be unhealthy and overfat. You may need to change your methods.
Here are some factors that may be affecting your weight loss success:
1. Your body might have reached a plateau. Weight often comes off easily at the beginning of a workout program. But then your body adapts to your workouts. When this happens, you need to vary your workout routines and intensity.
Do different lifts for the different body parts, such as substituting bench presses with stability ball dumbbell presses or doing step-ups and lunges instead of leg presses and squats. A shorter, more intense 30-minute full-body circuit weight workout will work better than a 1-hour weight workout when you are trying to lose body fat and weight.
A circuit workout is one in which you do one exercise after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Also, change up your cardio routines such as rotating treadmill, bike, elliptical, stair-stepper, swimming and sprint intervals.
2. It is more important to lose body fat and lose inches than it is to lose weight. Have your body fat percentage checked and your circumference measurements done by a trainer to see how much fat and inches you have lost. Muscle weighs more and takes up less space than fat, so your body could be shrinking. Don't worry, the weight loss will take care of itself as your body leans out.
3. Longer workouts are not always better. You could be over-training. Shorter, more intense workouts burn more fat. An intense 20-minute interval cardio session at 75-85 percent maximum heart rate will give you more health and cardio benefits than a 1-hour cardio session at 65 percent maximum heart rate.
4. You need to know your basal metabolic rate-BMR (how many calories your body would burn each day if you did nothing). Base your daily caloric intake on your BMR and activity level. If you don't eat enough (severe calorie restriction), your body will store fat because it thinks you are starving. You will gain weight even on the days you work out really hard if you eat more calories than you burn.
Continue to eat right, exercise and lead an active life. When you do this, you will win the fitness (and weight loss) war even if you lose a few battles along the way.
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT is a Certified Personal Trainer and former NCAA Division I athlete. Mark’s Fat Blaster Athletic Training System has been proven to give his clients the fit, sculpted and athletic-type bodies they want. Visit Mark’s sites:
My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com
Sports Fitness Hut http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.com