Weight Loss in 3 Steps

If you are truly serious about losing (fat) weight, it’s important to understand there is NO magic, quick fix, and long-lasting solution. It requires commitment and work and most likely some lifestyle changes. Here are the 3 key components to successful long-term weight loss:

1. NUTRITION – NOT diet – Unless you are morbidly obese or have health issues that require you to be on Dr. recommended “diets and calorie restrictions” – most everything else is a passing fad. When considering a “diet” of any type think long term. Are you going to continue these eating habits always? If not, your chances of actually gaining more FAT weight after reaching your target is greatly increased. These lose-weight-quick diets result in water and muscle (protein) weight loss, which you NEED – NOT the fat weight that you want to lose. Keep it simple, eat whole, natural foods; avoid all packaged and processed foods; eat tons of fruits and even more veggies; eat fish and lean meats; watch your sugar, salt and fat intake and drink water – all the time.

2. CARDIO, Cardio, cardio – You HAVE to find the time MOST days of the week for moderate to intense cardio activity. A leisurely stroll is great, but will NOT generate the results you want. You need to push the edge and get a little uncomfortable to see change. That means sweating, out of breath, heart rate and blood pressure up. If it’s too difficult to maintain this then do intervals of higher intensity activity (jog or sprint) with lower intensity recoveries (brisk walk or jog). It’s essential that you keep active throughout the day. Even if you workout like a maniac but sit on your duff the rest of the day, you’re sabotaging all that hard work. So get up and move around, walk, take the stairs, stretch, just try not to be sedentary for more than an hour at a time.

3. STRENGTH or Resistance Training – Often overlooked by women for fear of “bulking up” (a myth), strength training builds lean muscle mass – our muscle mass is our furnace or calorie burner. If you’re trying to lose weight (fat weight to be specific) you definitely do NOT want to lose any muscle weight (which usually occurs on these fad diets I mentioned above). In fact, increasing your muscle mass will further increase your calorie torching potential during your workouts and while at rest (this is your basal metabolic rate). How great to be constantly using up cals while on the computer, driving or watching TV?  Strength training consists of any type of resistance exercise whether you use weights, bands, water jugs or your own body weight. It will also tone and give definition to those muscles.

Here are the three key aspects to unlock the success of long-term weight loss. All three are required, however, most fitness professionals will agree that it’s 50% or more dependent on proper nutrition and the rest activity.

Two notes to remember:

–       For lasting weight loss – slower is better. Dropping 1-2 pounds/week will ensure you are losing fat weight and that it will stay off.

–       You most likely did not put the weight on over night or even over a month so don’t expect it to come off that quickly.