Thursday, January 1, 2009

Lose Weight And Keep It Off

By Jennifer King

People who need to lose those extra pounds generally think about reducing the amount of food they eat. This may be quite a solution, but not exactly the best there is. In fact, depending on the amount you reduce in your food intake, it could be dangerous to one's health. So how does one lose weight effectively and safely? Here are some points one should consider when trying to lose weight:

Never neglect your breakfast. When you wake up in the morning, your body has just completed an 8 hour fast. After enduring such a fast with no nutrients, your body goes into a catabolic (muscle wasting) state and will begin to break down protein. This is an important time to eat some much needed nutrition as soon as possible. A healthy meal first thing in the morning is critical to any successful fat-burning diet.

Eat every few hours. This means that you will be eating a meal 5 to 6 times a day. Not only does this type of eating regime stimulate muscle maintenance and fat loss, it is also an crucial technique for controlling food cravings. You see, when dieters miss a meal, or haven't eaten in a while, their blood sugar drops too much, and their will power becomes weak. In other words, people who go a long time without eating are much more susceptible to cheating on their diet. Thus, eating every two to three hours will help eliminate those cravings that may have caused you to fail all attempts to lose weight in the past.

Develop your lean muscle mass. A single pound of muscle requires three to five times more energy to sustain itself compared with a pound of fat. This means with more muscle, you'll burn more calories, even when you're resting. Plus having more muscle just strengthens your body. And as your body gets stronger your muscles increase in size, and then you naturally burn more fat.

Increase your intensity. As your fitness improves, your body becomes more efficient, meaning you expend less energy when you work out than when you first started. So you need to mix things up a bit. Change the intensity of workout, and if you can, change your routine. If you stay at the same intensity your fitness will stop improving. Your body will also stop burning fat as to get to the next level you will need to increase the amount of energy you use in your training. Your muscles will also stop getting bigger and getting stronger. This will then prevent your metabolism getting faster. - 16004

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