Wednesday, July 23, 2014

HOW COME I’M NOT LOSING WEIGHT QUICKER?

HOW COME I’M NOT LOSING WEIGHT QUICKER?






Shaun T
“Don't let the lack of fast results stress you out. Some people lose weight really fast and others take a little more time. Your heart is getting healthy and everything else will follow suit. Just be patient and stick with it.”

When we gain weight we don't realize the time it took to gain it.  When we want to lose weight, we want it to happen overnight!  It just doesn't work that way, unfortunately. 

There are factors that determine how quickly you will lose weight:  Age, sex, hormones, thyroid activity, genetics, etc.  Now, these are not reasons to blame if you are eating anything and everything and then wondering why you aren't losing weight.

In the beginning you will lose weight faster.  That is normally water weight.  As you begin to attack the fat, it takes longer.  One pound equals 3500 calories.  To lose a pound a week, you need to cut 500 calories a day from your diet.  To lose 2 pounds a week, you would have to double that to 1000 calories a day less.  That is a lot of calories to cut each day and still maintain the minimum suggested!  If you cut 500 calories a day, in one year you will drop 52 pounds!  That’s a lot of weight to lose in one year! 

The other thing that aids in losing weight is exercise.  Now if you think you can eat whatever you want and exercise 30 minutes a day, you are wrong wrong wrong.  If I jog for 30 min, I'll burn about 300-400 calories.  That would be about 1/2 pound in a week.  However, when you are exercising you build muscle.  Muscle doesn’t replace fat nor does it weigh more than fat.  A pound is a pound is a pound.  BUT muscle takes up less space than fat does in your body.  That’s why when you are exercising, you look smaller and your clothes get looser.

So if you are cutting your calories and exercising, you will see changes in your body even if you don't seem to be losing weight.  Why?  Because you are building muscle.  I haven't really lost any pounds (or so the scale says) since I started jogging 5 weeks ago.  But you should see how much smaller my legs are!  My thighs and calves are just shrinking as they build muscle.  Most all my pants look like Hammer Time pants now.  lol

Figure out how many calories you want to eliminate from your diet each day.  Do aerobic exercise AND weight bearing exercises.  Remember, that for women, even dieting you should eat 1200-1500 calories a day.  If you go below 1200 calories, your body will go into starvation mode and you will stop losing.  Men should eat 1700-2100 calories a day while losing weight. 

When you hit times when the scale doesn't move, check your clothes.  Are the arms getting baggy?  Is your mid section shrinking?  Are your pant legs getting too big?  Is your butt beginning to disappear?  These are all indications that you are losing weight.

It took a long time to gain all the extra weight you are carrying.  It will take time to lose it.  The great thing about our bodies is that we can lose weight in less time than it normally takes to gain it.

Don't let a slow period or even a plateau halt your efforts to lose weight, exercise and get healthy.  If you keep doing it, it will happen.  Have a plan and be consistent.  That's the key.

copyrighted 2014
caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber:  www.caryncann.com

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