Losing Weight Means Changing Your Life

Once you make the decision to lose the excess weight and change your life the trick is to never go back. Losing weight is a combination of your diet and an exercise program. Exercise is the part of losing weight that turns off most people. They’re all motivated at the beginning and then the exercise part is the part that causes them to quit. Remember that exercise is only about 30% of the weight loss process. Diet is 70% of the process. Portion control and only eating the proper foods is key. Yes, exercising is a part of the losing weight process but you don’t have to kill yourself exercising. Some people think that’s the only way to lose weight; "you have to sweat it off". That’s just not true. It is true that you need exercise to jump start your metabolism and start burning calories, but you can start slow.

Walking is a good way to get your body going. You want to try to do your walking as early as you can. Try and do this exercise for 30 minutes. Your metabolism goes dormant at night so you’re only burning the minimal amount of calories until you wake and start moving. At first, you’re still burning a minimal amount and that doesn’t change until you start moving vigorously by walking fast or running or lifting weights, riding a bike, something to get your blood pumping. That’s why you need to exercise early, the faster you get your metabolism into high gear the more calories you’ll burn that day. Remember after dark your metabolism slows down. At night, your body goes into a healing mode. That’s necessary for sleep.

O.K., some people will find the exercise part of losing weight the most difficult and others the diet part. I guess for me it’s the diet part. I love food and always find a reason to go off the diet. And for some people, it’s both parts. After you get use to the exercise part it will make you feel better when you exercise. So I like to exercise, but for the “newbies” who never did much exercise, it’s difficult to fall into a routine. This is when you need to begin slowly. A gym membership is o.k. but still go easy. Just go for the walking or treadmills or maybe the stationary bike. A beginner at exercise can easily get burned out or overdue. Do something you can do easily at first. You can challenge yourself later after a few months of conditioning. 

You want your heart to get accustomed to exercising every day. This is were talking to your doctor is a great benefit. Your doctor will help you begin with a safe exercise program. Yes, you want to challenge your muscles but you can’t let your heart rate go too high for your size and age. Your doctor knows what the safe limit is for you. This along with a good diet program and in a few months you’ll see and feel the results of your hard work.

A gym membership can actually cause a "newbie" to give up. After about twenty minutes you wonder what you're doing there. Try and buddy with someone you know who is already going. Or on your first day sign up with a trainer. Some trainers will work with you by the day and some by the week and if you can't find a trainer at that gym, maybe you should move on. You can look on-line for a trainer that will work with you at any gym or in your home. You don't need a lot of equipment to workout.

A trainer can also help you with your diet. The diet is the most important part. I wasted a lot of money at a health club because I thought I could sweat off the weight. I was doing Racquetball, rowing, sauna and machines but I barely lose any weight. If you really want to lose weight you have to change your diet.

I started to eat fresh, which means fish, poultry (only white meat), vegetables and fruit. No dairy (except Greek yogurt). Whole grain bread is okay. Whole wheat is not whole grain (read the labels). Don't eat processed or enriched flour or rice. Anything with enriched flour is just as bad as eating sugar. No "processed foods" (store made food), No canned foods, some say that fish packed in water is okay, it's a good source of protein. And drink only water, tea or coffee.

On the top of this page, you'll find a tab for another page that has a diet suggestion. It's a good diet and you don't have to count calories. There are lots of choices and the only exercise that's suggested is walking, brisk walking every day. Nothing to buy, just wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes. For a "newbie" who is just starting an exercise program walking is the best way to begin. Walk outside if the weather permits or in the mall if it doesn't. In the beginning, remember it's not a race, don't let your heart rate get out of control. Your target heart rate should be 220 minus your age. I'm 70, so my target heart rate is 150, the maximum is about 180. Your doctor will help you find a heart rate right for you.
Remember that if you're under a doctors care which means that you go to the doctor regularly, make should he knows you're exercising and trying to lose weight and don't take any diet pills unless your doctor prescribes them. People taking medications for anything have to let their doctor know whenever they change their diet.