Lose And Maintain

I found a new website, new to me anyway. Healthvault.com is a Microsoft site that gives advice on exercise and diet for those of us wanting to lose weight.

Remember now that Microsoft is in the business of selling things to consumers so don’t run out and buy a bunch of things you don’t need, but having said that, there’s some good advice and some good products that some of us could use. The site also lets you store all your medical information in an organized way so it’s easy to find and lets you set up a diet plan and keep track of your progress.

One point the site makes is to create a weight goal and track your weight regularly like every third day. Any more often and you could get discouraged by a lack of results. Some experts will tell you to only weigh once a week, you do what’s right for you. Personally, I weigh in every Friday morning before I eat or drink anything.

Next is to track your exercise, you’re more likely to do it if you track the exercise and I’ll explain how. I’ll use myself as an example. I work out Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. I start by riding a stationary bike for 20 or 30 minutes. I want to increase my heart rate to 110 or 120 before I exercise with a weight-bearing machine or free weights. You have all seen those machines where you set the amount of weight you want to use and then sit on a seat and push or pull on the bar until your muscles are sore.

All the gyms have machines like that. If you’re not used to using a machine to exercise it’s easy to overdo. If you notice today all gyms have trainers. First of all, a trainer will help you from hurting yourself. He or she can also show you how to properly use the machine so you have a chance for results. The treadmill is the most popular machine for increasing your heart rate, I like the bike. On the bike there are 3 things that I track in a journal, the time, how many revolutions per minute, and the resistance number which you can change while riding the machine. When you are a beginner, you want to complete at least the 20 minutes so don’t use too much resistance or try to pedal too fast. Always complete the exercise first, you can always increase things later. With a bike or treadmill you start out slow for 3 to 5 minutes, that’s called warm-up, do 20 minutes at your target heart rate, and then do 5 minutes more at a slow speed to cool down. The target heart rate may be a new term for you. A rough calculation would be the number 220 minus your age. If you are 60, for instance, your target heart rate would be 160. Now that rate would be for someone in good condition with few medical problems. If you are under a doctor's care you want to ask him about your target heart rate and maximum heart rate.

Seniors will benefit the most, they’ll see results in just a few weeks, but you need to get advice and help. If a senior is just beginning to exercise, you can get advice and or help at a senior center, at the YMCA (you should join) I love the pool, or a local health club (look for a health club with a pool).

When I start the weight-bearing exercises I always do at least six exercises, if I have the energy I’ll do eight. The way you track these is to first use the same ones every time and write them down in column format at the left of the page. In the next column, you would write the number of sets you did that exercise and in the last column, you would put the number of reps in each set. Ideally, you want to do an exercise for example “sit-up” 10 times. O.K., that’s one set. You rest a minute and then do 10 more, that’s the second set. Rest again, then do 10 more and that’s the third set. When you use weight it’s the same principle. First, you journal the exercise, then the weight your using and the number of sets, and the number of repetitions.

You want to use a weight that you can handle comfortably. You can get a book at the library about weight training. Before I say any more about journaling, I want you to know that weight training or building muscle is what makes your body burn fat. I don’t weight train because I love it. It’s good for my heart and helps me maintain my weight. To be perfectly honest, learn to like it you’re going to be exercising for the rest of your life. You stop exercising and you start to stiffen up. All those aches and pains that come with aging actually come from not exercising and over a long period of time without exercising you get aches and pains. It’s really not due to age.

Back to exercising, picking the right weight for each exercise is critical. You want to do three sets or repeat the exercise three times, so pick a weight like ten pounds or maybe five pounds for a person just starting out. You have to learn to perform the exercise properly. With weights in hand perform the exercise at least 8 times, rest and do the second set of 8, then rest and do the third set. If that was really easy, next time do 3 sets, 12 repetitions, and try to keep building until you can do 3 sets, 15 times in each set. After that, you’re ready to increase your weight. Not too much, remember you have to be able to do 3 sets of 8 reps. If you can’t do that much, you increased too fast, go back to the old weight. Wait a couple of weeks and try again. It’s not about the weight, you want to challenge the muscle but you need to do the exercise properly or it’s all for nothing.

Walking is a good way for a beginner to train for more exercise or to exercise between your days of weight training. Your muscles need time to recoup from the last workout. If you workout 45 to 60 minutes then you need an every other day schedule. If your workout 2 hours a day you might need two days off in between. On those off days, you can walk. A brisk 30 or 45-minute walk is good for your weight loss program.

I don’t know how much you want to lose and getting too aggressive will only set you up to fail. Older people will respond really well to exercise, but you want to talk to your doctor. He might want you to monitor your blood pressure or heart rate while exercising. On the website I mentioned earlier you can find information about devices and where you can buy them. Most everyone can benefit from exercise no matter what condition you’re in but talk to your doctor first. You’re not too big or too old or too weak, there are exercises for everyone.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.