Make 2009 your best year ever!...
With the start of a new year comes the onslaught of new years resolutions. The majority of these resolutions will focus around health. Many individuals will focus on being more active, and the majority will focus on fat loss and weight loss.
Every year millions of Americans embark on a journey to improve their lifestyles. And every year millions of Americans fail at realizing the goals that they set. One of the main reasons for this epidemic is that resolutions are generally just spoken amongst friends and family. Their is no actual planning that takes place. Before we know it, our fast driven culture has made it so that our resolutions get placed on the back burner.
If their is no planning in place, there is no foundation for success. We must be realistic with ourselves if we really want to achieve our weight loss goals. Below are some tips that will help in achieving our weight loss goals for 2009.
- Focus on one goal and one goal only
- Proceed to write this goal down and break it down into mini goals.
- Set deadlines for each mini goal
- Research and Plan as much as you can (are your goals achievable within the time frame that you have allotted)
- Focus more on body composition rather than what the scale reads
- Do not over commit yourself
- Manage your time (always allow time for areas of high importance)
- Surround yourself with positive individuals
- Never lose sight of your goals
We only want to focus on one goal because our time is limited. By adding too many goals we are jeopardizing their success. Weight loss is a very difficult new years resolution to complete. This has to do with the fact that millions of dollars are made by selling “HOT” weight loss products. Many in the health industry want to sell you a product and could care less about your success. Each year there are new “It” products added to the already saturated supplement market. A couple years ago it was Hoodia, it was followed by Yerba Mate, and now Acai Berry.
Weight loss is hard enough, it is best that we stay away from hyped up products. Let’s focus on improving our diet and incrementing our exercise regimen and we will be much happier with the results.
My goal for 2009 is to run a half marathon by the end of the year. I train with friends that encourage and push me to do better at each practice. To achieve this goal I have to further enhance my current diet. I still on occassion eat fast food and chips. I plan on removing these types of foods from my diet completely by years end.
GOod luck to everyone on their Weight Loss goals. Remember that nothing happens if you stay in the planning phase! plan and implement, and if you fail don’t be afraid to try again.
The Truth About Fad Diets...
Have you ever wondered why fad diets are so popular? Or wonder why we are constantly fooled by the hype they create? The grapefruit diet, apple cider vinegar diet (guilty I implement this in my diet), and the Hollywood diet are just a few of the numerous hyped up diets floating around. Are these diets really effective in burning fat? Or are we just being sold a dream?
What manages to keep these diets afloat is the fact that people are losing weight with them. This however, does not change the validity of any of these diets. There is one reason why we achieve weight loss with these diets, they create a calorie deficit. Weight loss is achieved when the amount of calories we burn is greater than the amount of calories we consume. Some diets ask that we restrict carbohydrates from our diet. Other diets require that we focus on a specific fruit or drink. The examples just stated above both involve restriction of certain nutrients. What we are left with, are less calories coming in and more calories being expended.
The fact that weight is being lost does not equal maximum efficiency of fat being burned. The weight being lost is a result of water weight, muscle tissue being lost, and some fat being burned. What we are looking for is a way to burn fat more efficiently and conserve muscle tissue. What we need to understand is that weight loss does not equal fat loss.
If I want to lose weight, all I have to do is severely restrict my diet. My body will enter starvation mode and begin guarding its fat stores in preparation. Not only would I lose weight, but I would also be causing serious damage to my body. My desire to look good physically could severely hinder future weight loss goals and puts my body in a vunerable situation against virus attacks.
Fad diets may achieve weight loss, but are not safe to implement. They are not recommended by the science and medical field (unless they are promoting a product). Our goals is to reduce our percentage of body fat, not to shrivel away our muscle tissue. We want to look good physically regardless of what the scale reads. If you watch shows like The Biggest Loser or Celebrity Boot Camp, notice how none of the trainers are handing out grapefruits or apple cider vinegar. Instead the main focus is diet and exercise. The contestants train for six hours every day and their diet is monitored closely. Although some of us may not have much fat to lose, the concept is the same. We need to eat properly to train our bodies to function efficiently. Exercise will ensure that what we consume, will be used up as energy.
Sadly fat loss is not an easy task. The fact that we lead such busy lives causes us to look for quick and easy solutions. Our best resources for healthy weight loss are desire, determination, being informed, and execution. Nothing will change if we always plan but don’t execute.
Good luck with your weight loss goals.
I hope everyone is in good health surrounded by loved ones
Happy Holidays
Trimfatbuildmuscle.com
