Lose Inches, not pounds

You really can melt away inches. It’s not marketing hype and it’s not based on some strange supplement or magic formula. It’s grounded in physiology and is based on fact. I’ve always had this fantasy of doing an infomercial and actually telling people the truth about how to lose fat. You know what I mean -- not the usual quick fix or fantasy machine that has you achieving six pack abs and a tight butt in 10 seconds a day. My fantasy may have to wait awhile, but at least I can share some of my insights with you here.

This week a member, told me how happy she was because her clothes were fitting much looser and that she had lost inches all over her body (yes, including her thighs, butt and "love handles"), however, the scale had not gone down! She went on to tell me that when I originally told her how to lose inches, she just couldn’t seem to buy into it. Guess what? She’s a believer now. She knows scale weight will drop in time, but that losing inches and a few dress sizes while maintaining the same weight has an almost magical quality to it.

There are some things about muscle versus fat that you should know. If you compare one pound of fat to one pound of muscle, you can see that the fat was much larger in size and volume compared to the one pound of muscle. The one pound of muscle may have appeared to be the size of a small compact tennis ball whereas the one pound of fat may have been three to four times the size and actually resembled Jell-O. That tells us that muscle is leaner and tighter than fat.

For every pound of muscle you gain, the body burns 30-50 additional calories per day. If you gain five pounds of muscle, that’s 91,000 additional calories per year that you’re burning. Increasing muscle helps to burn fat, stokes the metabolism, increases bone density and makes one look more pleasing to the eye. When fat is decreased on the body and slight muscle gains take place, it creates a more fit and symmetrical look.

I can hear the screams now, "Yes, but I don’t want to get bulky -- I don’t want to look like a bodybuilder." Who says you have to? Testosterone is the main hormone for making major increases in muscle. A woman has approximately one-third the testosterone compared to a man. So, you have nothing to worry about.

If you gain muscle and you increase your body fat, well then yes, you will look bulky. However, that’s because you’re simply eating too much. You’ll have to blame the excess calories on that one, not the muscle increase.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, how out of shape you are or how much total weight (body fat) you need to lose. Everyone should be doing some form of resistance exercise. Are you over 65 and injury-free? Do you need to lose 50 pounds or more? Yep, you still need and will benefit from resistance exercise like we offer in the studio.

The initial result will be a melting away of inches. The slight increase in muscle will stimulate the metabolism and help to burn more calories and fat. This might result in a loss of body fat, but a gain in muscle -- which would show as no weight lost on the scale. However, you would have actually lost fat. Not a bad deal at all.

Make Mine Mediterranean

Eating a Mediterranean diet has been shown to improve your health. it is rich in Omega 3s and phytonutrients and is also low glycemic. The November issue of the Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a 90 day study of 200 men and women at moderate trisk for heart disease. Those who ate Mediterranean had a 15% reduction in risk factors for heart disease. How about that? Pass the Pasta Please!

Get Healthy!

Begin to think along the lines of "slight lifestyle change." When your lifestyle changes slightly, all other aspects will fall into place.
Start thinking in terms of improving your health, energy, nutrition and exercise habits. Don't be intimidated by all of this! Recognize that this philosophy will take some time to evolve within you. However, if you really want it, it is yours for the taking.
Each day, you have the ability to take a step closer to fat loss and improved health. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is to lose 10 pounds or 50. Once you have this "slight lifestyle change" philosophy, it all gets a lot easier. Unless you are absolutely motivated, drastic changes usually result in failure.
It is also good to set goals. Great things begin to happen internally when we see our goals on paper. Write them down! Make them measurable and realistic. For example, a short-term goal might be, "My goal is to lose one pound per week for the next 4 weeks." A long-term goal might be "I will lose 40 pounds by Christmas, 2006."
Review your goals each week to reinforce them within yourself. If you experience a setback or standstill with your goal, don't panic! Simply realize that some parameters may need to be adjusted in your nutrition or exercise plan.
It’s not really that difficult. You can take small steps to get big results. Pick up a pedometer at our studio and keep track of your daily steps. Even just increasing your steps by 10 steps a day gets you on the right path and it doesn't tkae any extra time! You can accomplish great things. If you want more thatn steps check out the studio. Working out only 30 minutes three days per week gives your body a boost.
The key is eating the foods you enjoy, having an enjoyable exercise routine that fits into your lifestyle and remaining consistent most of the time.
How about a program that has the FORMULA FOR SUCCESS already built in? This is where No Sweat Fitness Express can help! We provide customized exercise plans and encourge low glycemic healthy eating. We also give you the luxury of continuous personal training at a fraction of the cost of hiring a trainer at a health club. Help us redefine WELLNESS - yours!