Saturday, February 23, 2013

Permanent Weight Loss - Exercise Is A Key Factor

You are of course aware that health and fitness, a healthy eating plan and weight loss all go hand in hand.

If your goal is to shed just a few pounds or 50lbs, and you want it to be permanent weight loss; you will need to exercise along with eating healthy food.

So what exercises should I do?

Well, much will depend on your time available and your physical ability. If you are new to regular exercise then you would be well advised to begin slowly and steadily and also to begin with exercises that you enjoy. Of course some people may think that having the words exercise and enjoy in the same sentence just does not sound right!

Well, there are many ways that you can move your butt and shake your booty without it being a miserable time.

Jogging is a great cardiovascular exercise which simply means that it exercises your heart and lungs, raising the heart rate and breathing; this is great for heart and lung health and for burning calories too. Of course not everyone enjoys jogging and it does happen to be very hard on the joints, particularly knees and ankles.

Exercise machines can help with this.

Elliptical trainers allow your body to go through similar motions to jogging but greatly reduce the stress on the limbs and joints.

Exercise bikes or cycling machines allow you to get very good cardio workouts and you do not have to face the dangers of being in traffic.

There is a whole range of exercise equipment that will help you with your exercising for permanent weight loss and if you decide to join the local gym then your instructor will be able to give you a good weight loss program to suit your weight and abilities.

Swimming is excellent. It offers all round body exercise with no strain on limbs and joints and gives a great workout for everybody regardless of size and weight.

Squash, badminton, racquetball, tennis, all offer great opportunities to reap the benefits of cardio exercise with the added bonus of you perhaps being able to team up with someone who has similar weight loss aims. This will give you the opportunity to support and encourage each other.

Strength training with weights is a great way to lose weight. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Every pound of muscle burns up to 500 calories per week in normal use, 1lb of fat burns only 14 calories per week, so if you increase your muscle mass then your metabolism will increase and you will burn calories. This does not mean that you have to become the next Schwarzenegger, but pushing weight will increase your muscle mass enough to make a difference. It is especially relevant in more mature people as muscle mass declines as we get older. Strength training with weights or even just body weight can combat this: push-ups, chin-ups, parallel-bar dips and squat thrusts will all help increase muscle mass.

Yoga is a marvelous discipline for weight loss and for general health, calmness of mind and flexibility and suppleness of the spine. Yoga is not competitive and so whatever weight you are, it will not affect your ability to be able to do yoga. Everybody works to their own capabilities with yoga and you will soon begin to feel the benefits. There should be a local class near you.

Dancing can work wonders. Just put your favourite music on and dance around your living room for half an hour, couldn't be simpler, right?

Make the time for exercise and movement. Try to use the car less often. Go for a walk in the evening instead of just vegging in front of the TV all night. The same thing applies at weekends, if you are off work be sure to be active and not just a couch potato for two days.

Stay away from elevators and escalators and use the stairs as much as possible.

There are so many ways in which we can improve our overall exercise rates with just a little thought and adjustment of attitude.

Exercise stimulates endorphins in the brain which makes you feel good.

Making exercise a regular part of your life will dramatically improve your chances of achieving permanent weight loss and feeling great as well.

The old maxim of 'a healthy body is a healthy mind,' is absolutely true.








I am an ex-overweight person who was fortunate enough, many years ago, to find a healthy eating plan that helped me to lose a life-changing amount of weight. I have since maintained that weight loss. I have studied diet and nutrition for many years and I have a passion for health and fitness. I have studied yoga in England and India. I have a diploma to teach yoga from the B.S.Y. and also from the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Ashram in Majurai, Southern India. For further weight loss advice and tips click here => howcanistopeating.com howcanistopeating.com.

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