You are going to be pleasantly surprised! Most people think that in order to lose weight you have to do strenuous exercise, continuously, and lots of it! Well, Guess what? NOT TRUE!
I know you are thinking? That’s crazy! It doesn’t make any sense! I thought the same thing, when I first heard this. But it all comes down to understanding how your body works.
By exercising 20 minutes a day average, you can reduce your craving for the wrong kinds of foods that result from your life stresses. SO let’s explore that concept of how the body really works! Your body has two ways to create energy. Your body can turn fat into energy, or it can turn blood sugar, glucose, into energy. But it can’t do both at the same time. At any time, your body is either burning fat, or blood sugar. When your energy demand is low, your body burns fat. When you are walking, working at your desk, driving a car, and even sleeping – the demand for energy is low so the body is burning fat. But as soon as your activity levels increase – your body turns to blood sugar since fat cannot be converted into energy quickly enough.
Let’s take an example. You are walking down the street to the bus stop (burning fat), and you see your bus start to close the doors and ready to leave. You start running – and very quickly your heart rate and your breathing will increase, and your body will begin to burn blood sugar instead of fat. Constant strenuous exercise conditions your body to burn blood sugar, instead of fat. Wow! That is an eye-opener, isn’t it?
These types of strenuous exercises are great for the heart, lungs, and circulation, and you may want to do these AFTER you lose the weight. Until then, try anaerobic exercise that doesn’t increase your heart rate. Try long, slow walks, because they are burning fat while you walk – but as an added bonus, you are conditioning your body to burn fat, opening up fat burning systems, burning calories, and building muscle
Weight lifting is another great exercise for losing weight because it will build muscle and muscle burns fat. Yep, that’s true. The more muscle you have the more fat your body burns every day. Don’t get me wrong – I am talking easy weight lifting, such as with 5 or 10 pound weights, and limit this to about 20 minutes a day, every other day. Alternate walking and weight lifting during the week – take Sunday Off. It is really that simple! Start your walking program easy too. Start with 5 minutes out, and then come back. Over time increase to 10 minutes out, and then come back; then 15, then 20. 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back – 40 minutes total every other day. Then stay consistent!
One of the biggest problems with strenuous exercise is that people sometimes injure themselves early on in the program, and then that’s the end of it! All you need to do is walk and weight lift – light workouts. And once you have gotten started, do it consistently. This easy exercise program combined with a program of nutrition, information, and personal coaching can be just your ticket, to getting rid of those unwanted pounds forever.
Michelle is a personal wellness coach who will cut through the diet-hype and help you reach your goal weight. No public ‘weigh-ins’, meetings that cost you money or fads…simply results you will love! You can receive a free consultation.
Visit today: [http://www.w8off4ever.net] For more articles please send an email to michelle.wollaston@bigpond.com. This article can be reprinted freely provided it is published in its entirety.