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STEP THREE: Fitness & Muscle Tone
Speeding Up Your Metabolism for Weight Loss
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A friend recently asked: Does reading a Harlequin romance novel count as an exercise?
You could argue it's a mind exercise. Because of the cover hero's broad shoulders and chiselled good looks, you could make a case about breathlessness and increasing your heart rate, which is good, right?
Yes and no. Yes reading is a mentally stimulating activity, but no, it's just not all that physically stimulating enough. Nice try, though.
Let's talk about the other kind of exercise - the sweaty kind. By incorporating regular physical exercise into your daily life, you can actually fire up your reading smarts, as activity boosts brain function by ramping up blood flow so nutrients and oxygen get around to all parts of your body, including your brain.
Beyond its brain-related benefits, physical exercise will also improve the control of blood sugar, speed up your metabolic rate and help you to lose weight.
And those health benefits are just for starters. Exercise also increases the sensitivity of the body's response to insulin, leading to a more stable control of blood sugar levels.
Ideally, you should do at least four sessions of exercise per week to the point of breathlessness. If that effort makes your brow glisten, you're so much the better.
Oh, and if the novel's hero does the same for you, that's perfectly okay too.
Don't let stress mess with you
All too often we stop our exercise regimes at the first sign of stress. This is quite the opposite of what we should be doing, as physical exercise is perhaps the best stress-buster, bar none.
Research shows that regular activity helps to speed up our metabolism and stimulates the release of endorphins, the body's own "feel-good" hormones. (Coincidently, the same hormones are triggered during orgasm or when we chow on chocolate.)
Endorphins have that remarkable ability to improve our mood and put us in a better frame of mind for dealing with difficult situations. No wonder we love exercise. And sex. And yes, chocolate.
Strive for 30 minutes of physical activity daily. Brisk activity, please
Remember the famous 20-minute workouts with actress Jane Fonda?
Her popular low impact, high-energy routines from the 80s shaped the nation, and much of the world, as some bloggers continue to rave about. And while the era's disco music and outfits may have changed, the exercise activity behind the workouts continues to make sense.
Not into power workouts yet? As a healthy goal to strive for, health officials suggest you walk briskly for 30 minutes every day.
If you can bump up your exercise activity, you'll enjoy the results even more. Strength train for 10 minutes three times a week, and do stamina training for 20 minutes three times a week. It's okay to take a day off to give your body time to rebuild tissues and muscles.
Choose a stamina activity you like, as you are more likely to stick to it. Walking, cycling, jogging, dancing, swimming are popular choices. Long hikes are good. Even following a workout on TV or from an exercise video makes a lot of sense.
If you prefer the motivation from other people around, join an exercise class, a walking group, or simply get singing and dancing to your favourite music. According to a recent study, the more upbeat the music, the more calories burned, so get your iPod loaded and get moving to the mojo.
One final point: It helps to note how much exercise you do, so bring a booklet, mark down your daily routines and progress, and take pride in your achievements.
One two squat. Three four lunge.
Measure your fitness level
Getting fit and staying fit through exercise is essential to a long and healthy life, and a vital aid to losing weight and keeping the excess weight off for good.
Not only is physical activity necessary for the optimum function, structure and preservation of muscles, joints, bones and heart, but it does wonders for your mood and hormones, and can send energy levels soaring.
In addition, it boosts circulation, keeps your skin looking healthy and helps to burn calories. Do an hour's vigorous exercise instead of sitting in a chair and you can burn up to 200 calories, which otherwise may have gone on to your waistline.
Weight loss: men vs. women, fit vs unfit
It's long been known that men tend to burn calories more easily than women. The reason? Men have a higher muscle to fat ratio. And leaner muscle mass.
So, if you are female and if weight loss has been difficult in the past, increasing your muscle mass through exercise will allow you to lose weight with less difficulty.
But whether you're a man or woman, when it comes to exercise, balance is key. While we encourage people to exercise to the point of breathlessness, you need to build up stamina before attempting to do this for any length of time. If you start off exercising too vigorously you risk ending up feeling achy, tired and disappointed.
On the other hand, if you don't exercise hard enough to stimulate your limb and heart muscles why bother? Make it worth your effort.
Of course, if you haven't exercised for a long time or are receiving medical treatment, it's best to check with your doctor before embarking on a vigorous exercise regime.
If you're exercising regularly now, your improvement levels may not be as noticeable as someone who is overweight and starting out. Keep in mind: if you are fit, you may need to work harder to stay fit and keep your metabolism at an optimum rate as you get older.
Tips for the very overweight and non-exercisers
- Check with your GP before starting on a fitness regime. Then start exercising gently for 5-10 minutes a day and gradually build up the amount over a month.
- Walking and swimming are good stamina-building exercises.
Tips for the moderately overweight and unfit
- Start exercising gently, perhaps a walk each day for at least 30 minutes.
- Gradually increase your pace so you're walking briskly and you can feel your heart pumping efficiently.
- You should be able to carry on a conversation while exercising. If you can't you could be overdoing it and should relax your pace.
Tips for the mildly overweight and occasional exercisers
- If you're a little overweight for your height (check Body Mass Index) and could do more exercise than you do, follow an improver's programme. This means stepping up your pace gradually and increasing the number of times you exercise a week.
- If you work out at a gym, alternate between cardio one day, resistance/weight training the next.
- Swimming or aqua fit classes will get your muscles working without putting you at risk of post-exercise aches and pains.
Tips for the overweight but fit
- If you're on the heavy side but exercise at least four times a week, you should carry on with your routine, gradually increasing your pace and maybe adding another session.
- If you're into resistant training, gradually add weights and repetitions.
- Alternate between cardio one day, resistance training the next.
- Continue to stick to a balanced eating plan.
The exercise right for me isn't necessarily right for you
The secret to sticking to any exercise programme is simple. Choose an activity you enjoy and are physically capable of doing. That way it's easier to motivate yourself to do it each day.
There's little point arranging to play squash if you hate the game or promising yourself to jog each day if you loathe running.
Remember, the aim of your activity is to get to the point of breathlessness. This type of exercise, known as aerobic exercise, stimulates the large groups of muscles in your body, getting them to contract rhythmically. Over time these muscles, including the heart, a muscular organ, become more efficient.
And once you've achieved improved cardiac function you'll start to feel better physically and mentally. Instead of feeling sluggish you'll feel energised and happy.
Vary your exercises and your training schedules
It's a good idea to vary the type of exercise you do on different days of the week to stave off boredom. Good aerobic options include:
- Running
- Power walking
- Cycling/Spinning
- Swimming
- Cardiovascular machines at the gym
- Raquet sports (tennis, squash, badminton)
- Dancing
- Roller-blading
- Hockey/football/soccer
- Rowing
- Rope skipping
- Aerobics-based exercise class
Alternatively you can just stretch and dance to your favourite music. I tune in and work out to Planet Rock on my digital radio before the day begins, and I swear I feel 20 years younger as a result. If you haven't got an established exercise routine I recommend you give it a try.
Try to fit some exercise into your routine on a daily basis and chart the amount you do each day in your exercise diary. If you're concerned you may not stick to an exercise routine it may help to plan your week's activity in advance in your diary or on a wall chart.
Invite a friend to be an exercise buddy
It can also help to exercise with a friend. It's more fun, feels less like a chore and you can catch up on gossip at the same time. You also motivate each other-you're less likely to cancel your regular workout if you feel you're letting the other person down.
Keep the benefits of exercise uppermost in your mind until your regime is firmly established. When you've reached your goal of getting in four or five sessions of exercise a week, work to maintain it, but don't exceed it on a regular basis.
Believe it or not, too much exercise can be bad for you, putting a strain on your joints and bones.
After each workout really tap into how you're feeling. Because exercise encourages your body to release endorphins, the body's own feel-good hormones, you'll feel elated, full of energy and proud of yourself.
Hold that thought and next time you hesitate over whether to work out or not, remind yourself how good it makes you feel.
Ten ways to sneak fitness into your life
- Walk around while talking on the phone to friends.
- Don't use lifts; always use the stairs.
- Instead of e-mailing colleagues, go to their desks and talk to them.
- Go for a walk round the block in your lunch hour.
- Go to the disco instead of the pub and dance yourself fit.
- Get rid of the remote control and get up to switch TV channels instead of channel hopping from the sofa.
- Leave the car behind and walk or run to the shops for the newspaper.
- Put some real effort into the housework.
- Arrange to meet a mate and walk to the football match instead of having a pint in the pub beforehand.
- Take up an active hobby that you enjoy such as salsa, t'ai chi, or five-a-side football.
Jump-start a sluggish metabolism
Metabolism often gets a bad rap from those who have trouble losing weight. That's because the term is often misunderstood.
In essence, your metabolic rate refers to the amount of calories your body uses every day in it's normal function. And that metabolic rate can be altered, that is, sped up or slowed down, by what you do and what you eat.
The best way to boost your metabolism is to exercise, which reduces body fat and increases lean muscle mass. And because muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, people who are lean and muscular tend to have a higher metabolic rate, which aids in weight loss.
During a bout of exercise you may only burn so many calories per hour, but that's not the case for your metabolism - it continues to work its energy-boosting calorie-busting magic long after the exercise.
Burn calories up to 8 hours after exercise
So don't give up a walk or run because you feel you're only burning a few hundred calories. Even through you stop exercising, your metabolic furnace continues the calorie burn for 4 to 8 hours.
The other way to keep your body's metabolic rate pumped is to keep your body's fuel/nutrient supply consistent and regular, which means no skipping meals.
To fire up your metabolism furnace, start with good nutritious breakfast, just like mum said. Then stoke the furnace with small nutritious snacks throughout the day. It's better to eat smaller portions six times a day rather than one large meal, which many on-the-go people tend to do.
Remember what happens to bears
Many people think the fewer the meals you eat, the more weight you'll lose. In truth, when you consistently eat only one large meal, your metabolism will slow down to compensate for the lack of nutrients.
Worse, your body will actually store more fat, thinking it won't be fed for a while. Think of bears that put on a lot of fat weight before hibernation. Their metabolic system knows they won't be eating for a long, long while.
Your cells have a good memory, so convince them they can expect regular feedings. Start your day right and snack nutritiously and judiciously throughout the day. Without guilt.
Yes, mentally you'll immediately feel so much better for exercising regularly. And next, you'll notice other subtle changes. As well as burning up the fat, the exercise will tone you up and you'll find yourself glancing in the mirror, liking your reflection and wondering, who is that new person?
It's a terrific feeling.
To see how many calories you can burn by keeping fit, check out the following website.
1. Brain Chemistry & Hormone Balance
2. Food & Energy Balance
3. Fitness & Muscle Tone
4. Mind Over Matter
5. Rest, Relax, Sleep & Fun
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