Methodical Body Fat Loss
by: MarcusWarble on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 at: 10:27 PM Go to: Article Next Article
As with most things in life moderation is the key to success here. Dramatic changes in our lifestyles are overwhelming failures for the long haul. Instead of being apprehensive about significant lifestyle changes be comfortable with making a series of lesser changes in your lifestyle.
It is a quite simple equation that in order to lose body weight, which is almost exactly another way of saying in order to lose body fat, we have to reduce our intake of calories. We just need to have a rough idea of how many calories you consume in an average day and then begin to tilt that balance in our favor.
It is critically important that you go slowly into this process. When most people attempt extreme changes in their eating patterns they find that the body reacts in a very mystifying way by actually reducing the number of calories that it needs in order to function properly day by day. If your body then kicks into what we call starvation mode, even though you are eating less you are not losing any weight. This starvation mode is usually the culprit.
The common view of losing weight is that we must immediately drop our average daily calorie consumption to 1000 calories per day or less. This is insane. Your body simply will not tolerate this without rebelling by slowing down your metabolism so that it actually needs fewer calories to function efficiently. You will also find it extremely difficult to stick with extreme changes in your eating patterns.
You are best going to lose body fat by doing things in a slow and methodical manner. For instance, in the first week of your new weight-loss program you only want to reduce your average daily calorie intake by approximately 10%. Do not go into a panic mode by realizing that you are still consuming 2000 calories or 2500 calories or even more each day. Instead, focus your mind and your emotions on the fact that you are going to eat less this week than you ate last week. In fact, it may be a good idea to delay the start of your new body fat loss program by just tracking your approximate calorie intake for the next seven days.
You will find that when there are regular smaller reductions in your calorie intake day by day it is much less likely that your body will react negatively to this fact. Also, it's just common sense that as an individual you will find it easier to stick with small methodical changes as opposed to dramatic large changes.
Take the same approach to your exercise each week. Do not make a dramatic increase in the amount of exercise that you engage in during that first week. Maybe you want to increase your exercise a tiny amount during the first week but it's probably best to wait until the second week to make any changes in the amount of exercise that you engage in and then make it a very small increase.
Having gone successfully through your first week with an approximate 10% reduction in the calories consumed and maybe, just maybe, a small increase in your normal exercise routine once again you reduce your calorie intake for the second week by 10%. What you are doing is manipulating your body's metabolism so that it works with you instead of against you. Continuing with this program week after week will give you a realistic and real life decreases in the amount of body fat that you carry.
About the Author
And, losing ugly body fat is only one of the advantages of a moderate approach to diet and exercise.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
View PDF | Print View Total views: 12 Word Count: 598 - 0 comments
