Drastically reducing your calorie intake without exercising is definitely not the way go about getting fitter, firmer, faster. In fact, if lasting weight loss is your ultimate goal dieting without the right type of exercise (more on what that is in just a bit...) could cause you to lose both fat and muscle. This is not good. Low-calorie diets slow down your resting metabolic rate and make weight management significantly more difficult in the long run. Muscle is lean, metabolically expensive tissue you just can't afford to lose. Without adequate muscle mass you will have a very difficult time staying physically fit.
When you lose weight on a low-calorie diet, up to 30% of the weight you lose comes from calorie-burning muscle. In other words, if you "successfully" drop 15 pounds on a reduced calorie diet, as many as 4 1/2 of those pounds come from muscle. The more weight you lose on a low-calorie diet, the more damage you cause to your metabolism. Weight loss without the right type of exercise is a lose-lose scenario.
Your Metabolism, Minus a Few Pounds of Muscle
Here's the deal, if you lose 4 1/2 pounds of muscle as the result of dieting (or the gradual process of aging) you would need to eat about 180 calories less every single day to maintain your weight loss. If you lose 6 1/2 pounds of muscle you'd need to eat approximately 260 calories less every single day to maintain your weight loss. On a low calorie diet your weight loss tends to eventually plateau as your metabolism slows down, while at the same time your sense of food and nutrient deprivation increases. Obviously this is a bad combination.
Boost Your Metabolism While Losing Weight
Most people would agree the best case scenario would be to lose weight (fat) while simultaneously increasing your metabolism so you can eat more-not less. Sounds good to me. A 1999 study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition proves this best case scenario is actually possible. If you follow a low-calorie diet but simultaneously increase your muscle mass through resistance training exercise, your metabolic rate can actually increase despite weight loss. (1) The only way to increase your metabolism as you lose weight is to build up your muscles through resistance training exercises. Aerobic exercise (such as running, biking, swimming, etc) will not increase your resting metabolic rate. Aerobic exercise is fine to add in addition to resistance exercise...but if you had to choose one over the other (especially if you are following a reduced calorie diet!) then your best bet is to choose resistance training over aerobic training. In other words, hit the weights, not the treadmill.
30-Minute Workout, 3 Times a Week
Here's where the news gets even better. You don't need to spend all day in the gym to get results (in fact, you don't even need a gym-you can get results working out in your own home, which by the way, is where we workout, with just a few sets of dumbbells.) If you've got 30 minutes to spare three times a week then that's all the time it takes to increase your resting metabolic rate. Don't get me wrong, you'll need to work out intensely and you'll need to really push yourself, but a short 30-minute circuit training workout can absolutely be effective.
Lift Weights
Your goal with resistance training is to build muscle and build strength. A variety of exercises exist to "tone" your muscles (such as yoga, pilates, etc) -and once you lose weight you can certainly add more variety to your workouts with a variety of different types of exercise-but the most effective way to build muscle and build strength (and increase your metabolism) is to lift weights. You want to choose a weight light enough to lift eight times during the given exercise but heavy enough that you can't lift it more than twelve to fifteen times. This will take a little bit of experimentation on your part to determine the right amount of weight to lift, but it's not rocket science. If you've never lifted weights before you should seriously consider hiring a personal trainer to help you with your form (in order to avoid injury it's essential you not compromise your form in order to lift heavier weights).
Basic Metabolism-Boosting Circuit Training Workout Routine
If you perform the following 30-minute circuit training workout 3 days a week on non-consecutive days (such as Mon, Wed, Saturday) you will increase your resting metabolic rate-assuming you lift heavy enough weights. By increasing your resting metabolism you'll have a much easier time staying physically fit. There's a few pointers you'll want to keep in mind to maximize your results. First of all, don't rest between sets. Move quickly from one exercise to the other. By doing this you'll also increase your heart rate and get some cardio benefit-plus you'll get the workout done faster. You'll also want to pull in (or "suck in") your abdominal muscles when doing every exercises. This will not only help your form but it will simultaneously strengthen and tone your core muscles. Be sure to lift the weights slowly. A good rule of thumb when lifting weights is to count to 4 (count in your head "one...two...three...four") on the way up when you are lifting the weight and count to 4 on the way down when you are lowering the weight. Absolutely do not use momentum and don't "swing" the weights. Think quality over quantity; it's better to lift a lighter weight with perfect form than it is to lift a heavy weight with bad form. If you don't know what the below exercises are or you do not know how to properly execute them then print this workout and take it to any good gym in the country and a certified personal trainer can show you how to do the exercises with good form. A good personal trainer can also modify the exercises if you have injuries.
Note: I give the amount of weight my husband and I use for each exercise as a reference but you will need to adjust the weight depending on your personal strength and fitness level. Women who have never strength trained will need to use substantially less weight. Start with 5 pounds for most exercises. Men should start with about 8 pounds.
3 minute light warm up (light jog or brisk walk, jumping rope, elliptical trainer, walking up and down stairs, stationary bike, rebounding on a mini trampoline, etc)
Squats: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 12- 15 reps
Pushups: Do as many as you can with proper form. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat
Walking Lunges: 40 reps
Shoulder Press: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 10 reps
Squat Jumps: 10 reps. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat
Single Arm Bent-Over Rows: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 15 reps on LEFT arm then 15 reps on RIGHT arm. Repeat and do 12 reps with LEFT arm then 12 reps with RIGHT arm.
Kneeling Bent-Knee Glute Raise: Ivy & Andy both use ankle weights plus 8 pounds behind one knee/ 20 reps LEFT leg then 20 reps with your RIGHT leg. Repeat and do 20 reps with LEFT leg and 20 reps with right
leg.
Pec Fly: Ivy uses 10 pounds & Andy uses 15 pounds/ 15 reps
Deadlifts: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 20 reps
Pec Fly: Ivy uses 10 pounds & Andy uses 15 pounds/ 15 reps
Deadlifts: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 20 reps
Back Extensions: 15 reps
Basic Crunches: 20-40 reps
Isometric "Bridge" Pose (or Plank Pose on Forearms): Hold for 30-60 seconds. Rest 30 seconds. Repeat
Oblique "Bridge" Pose: Hold for 30-60 seconds on LEFT then RIGHT. Repeat
Chest Press: Ivy uses 15 pounds & Andy uses 25 pounds/ 15 reps
Single Leg Lunge Press: Ivy uses 8 pounds & Andy uses 12 pounds/ 20 reps LEFT leg then 20 reps RIGHT leg. Repeat doing 12 reps LEFT leg then 12 reps RIGHT leg
Upright Rows: Ivy uses 12 pounds & Andy uses 20 pounds/ 15 reps
Ball Squats (Hold at Bottom 3 counts): Ivy uses 8 pounds & Andy uses 12 pounds / 20 reps
Tricep Overhead Press: Ivy uses 20 pounds & Andy uses 30 pounds/ 15 reps
"Hammer" Bicep Curls (palms face inward): Ivy uses 10 pounds & Andy uses 15 pounds/ Balance on LEFT leg and do 8-10 reps. Balance on RIGHT leg and do 8 -10 reps.
Plies: Ivy uses 10 pounds & Andy uses 20 pounds/ 15 -20 reps
Ivy is a healthy lifestyle coach who runs HotandHealthyLiving.com HotandHealthyLiving.com. Along with her husband, Andy Larson, M.D., Ivy is the author of the bestselling Gold Coast Cure, Fitter Firmer Faster and Whole Foods Diet Cookbook. A popular figure among national media outlets, Ivy has appeared on such shows as Good Morning America, CNN, and Fox News. She currently makes regular appearances on Lifetime Television.
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