How To Lose Fat – Hitting a Goal
I like to start out, after a complete look at the main goal is done, with much smaller goals. These goals are used to build momentum. Which is needed in the beginning more so then in the end. You want to motivate your self to keep going. What a better way to do that then to have several mini-goals that a setup to help do just that.
If your goal is to lose 50 pounds in 6 months. Then maybe you should start off with real simple goals to build some speed. Personally I think 50 pounds us not realistic and this is why. Someone that drops 50 pounds of body weight in 6 months will gain some of that back. The drastic change that had to go through was not gently enough for them to maintain that life style. They will slip back to a comfort zone and do the things that go them in trouble in the first place. I would rather see some pick a goal of 20 pounds the first year. Hit that goal and keep the weight off. Then chose to lose another 20 pounds over the next year. This change happens over time and becomes more of a life style change instead of a boot camp approach. Some make drop the 50 and keep it off but the statistics say most will not
Now, if your goal was 20 pound in a 6 months to a year then I think you can do this and keep it off. Break the goal down into smaller parts. 6 into 20 is a 3 and 1/3. Do you think you could commit to dropping 4 pounds a month for the next six months. I think you could and these little goals will add up to the larger goal. For an even smaller or niche goal. Tell your self you will drop 1 pound a week. This is not very hard to do. This could be a simple as cutting back on some snacks that you have between meals. Or just adjusting your diet a little to drop the simple sugars, add some fiber, and complex carbs.
The overall goal is to lose body fat and weight. This is not a race. Slow and steady will win the race here. Keep your self motivated with small motivational goals that make you feel good. I know I feel good when I set a goal and I hit that goal.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How to Lose Fat – I Gained a Pound
It is time to get on the scale and check to see your progress. At that moment of truth you are surprised to see that you have gained a pound or two. Who cares? Just as long as your pound or two is not every week. Gaining some weight back is part of the process of losing weight, at least in a health way.
Weight gain can be a sign of a couple of things:
1. You have put on some muscle mass. Since muscle weighs more then fat you can gain a pound or two in your fat burning effort. If you are using a weight resistance work out and eating a healthy diet you could have added some lean muscle mass. This is a good thing. You have added the best fat burned, lean muscle mass. The net outcome is you body fat percentage has changed and hopefully for the better
2. You have retained a little extra water. Again this is not a bad thing. You may have had a really strong work out and needed some extra water and you body has not relieved its self of it yet or you have not be given you body enough water and you are holding on to your waste a little longer to pull more water out of it. Again no major here just keep your hydration level up.
3. You have actually gained a pound back. This is all part of the plan. Why not gain a pound back? It does not hurt. You have to ask your self a question. Does that pound make me feel any different? If not then you need to make note of it and maybe push to lose one additional pound this round. If you truly feel that extra pound then you should look back at you last week and determine what could have promote the weight addition. Did you not rest properly? Was there added stress in you life? Did you not stick to you diet plan? Maybe you just threw it a cheat day and had some pizza. If you can say way you gained a pound instead of losing a pound then it can be corrected and you can move one. BUT, do not make a habit of it. This is how you end up 5, 10, 15 pounds heavier. Not a good place.
A pound gained can be good or bad. You have to look at what you are doing and what you goals are. If you are swapping fat for muscle then this is a great thing. If you are putting additional fat weight on then you need to look back at what you did between you weigh ins and adjust you action.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How To Lose Fat – Does caffeine increase weight loss?
There are so many professionals and gurus that say it does and others that say it does not. There are no real clinical trials with this, but there are studies that indicate that caffeine can help in your weight loss efforts. This is how it can work and how you can use it.
First lets look at Caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulate found in plants and fruits around the world. The most common place for caffeine to be is in your coffee and teas. It moderation it is suppose to acts as a stimulate and diuretic. Wiki link to Definition
Now the top 3 things:
1. Water Loss. As mentioned above caffeine acts as a diruaetic. Draining the bottle of water. This can be good and this can be bad. If you carry exseive water weight then this can help you get rid of the water. If you are low in your water this can be harmful. The body needs water to maintain a healthy balance.
2. Acts as a stimulate. Caffeine will stimulate your system kind of like a kick start. It will raise your blood pressure and speed up your heart. In moderation this is OK. This is where you may see a little fat burning benefit.
3. Appetite suppression. Caffeine can suppression your appetite leading you to eat less and then maybe dropping a few pounds.
Again, the studies on caffeine are not vast. Some people use it and others do not and they both see the same results. I personally use if to wake up and get my self moving the the AM. The caution here is it is a stimulate and everyone reacts to them differently. If you are using caffeine increasing it will not make it more affective. You will just need more and in the long run put your body into a tail spin or restless sleep. Remember sleep is very important aspect of you weight loss goals.
Another point here is that a lot of drinks that have caffeine also have fats and sugars. If you are going to use caffeine as a diet supplement and you have not had caffeine before you should always check with your doctor first, and second, take it in small amounts at first. This is a stimulate and it can make you nevous and keep you up at night. The best time to use it is right before a work out to give you a little kick start.
Although I do not promote many supplements caffeine is one that if used properly can help. It is not a magic pill but if you have a hard time getting moving a black cup of coffee may help out.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How To Lose Fat – The low cost home gym
I get a bunch of emails from readers telling me that they would love to workout but they do not have the money to pay for a gym membership or they just do not feel comfortable with going. OK, this does not mean you can not get a really good resistance workout from home. I will outline the things you can do and where to do them.
First, find a place that you can workout. Living room, basement, sun room, even a larger section of a bedroom will work. Once you have this section of your house that you are going to call your gym, lets outfit it with some equipment.
What, equipment? I know, you just told me that you had no money for a gym membership, how can you afford equipment? These are going to be things that you have in your possession already. Lets start off with the movements that require no equipment
Push-ups, are a great way to build your chest, triceps, and shoulders. Change you grip to hit more specific muscle sections. Close grip for more tris. Further grip for more of outer chest and shoulders.
Squats, Yes you can do squats with our heavy barbell on your back. You can put a broom stick over your should if it helps you to balance.
Lunges, this will target you glut a little more and help to firm up the entire leg.
Jumping jacks for a little cardio
Rock climbers are a great way to get a full body movement that gets the heart pumping
Steps. Step up and down from a chair on your steps to the second floor or basement. Do one or even two steps at a time
Vertical leaps: crouch down and jump up trying to touch the ceiling. If you have the space. Hey you could be very tall! 
All of these movements use body weight and gravity as resistance. If you use you imagination a little you can come up with some combinations to challenge your muscles on a daily basis.
Now if you have a little money to spend your money is best spent on the following:
- A jump rope
- An exercise ball
- Some dumbbells
- Exercise bands
With the following pieces you can add the following movements
Dumbbell Chest Press on the ball. One hand at a time or both like a typical press
Dumbbell Chest fly on the ball. This is best done with both arms moving at the same time
Sitting should presses. Sitting on the ball do shoulder dumbbell presses.
Sitting side/front straight arm raises. Again sitting on the ball and with both arms at the same time
Arm curls
Triceps presses
You can hold you dumbbells when doing all you leg movements (squats, lunges, steps)
Now you can super set the Dumbbell movements with the bands if you have them for a great burn. If not the bands and dumbbell can be interchanged with these movements.
As you can see you are filling a great amount of time with resistance training with going to the gym or spending a great deal amount of money
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
