Lose
the Weight or Lose the Scale?
It’s
the New Year and most people are thinking about diet and exercise.
The simple answer is to get on a nutrition plan and exercise. Whatever
you do, realize that your attitude will play a great role in your
perceived success. If you just want quick weight off the scale,
remember, the scale can be fickle. Your weight on the scale can
change throughout the day. Weight loss can reflect water loss, fat
loss and muscle loss. During a weight loss program you should work
to maintain or add muscle so you have a nice toned body with great
energy while losing body fat.
Muscle
contributes to about 75% of your over-all metabolism. An efficient
metabolism helps burn calories. Added muscle tone can help you burn
up to an additional 50 calories per hour while resting! This helps
you become a “fat fighting machine”!
Building
lean muscle in the early stages of a fitness and fat reducing program
can slow initial weight loss on the scale down for about a week
or two. This can get frustrating, but in the long run, pays off.
The object is to decrease fat and increase muscle, so the weight
on the scale becomes less important than the size of your clothes.
Generally,
most people, trainers alike, use weight loss, body fat reduction
and inches lost as the markers for a successful program (biggest
losers). However, you can lose in all those categories but also
lose muscle mass which is not the goal for the long run. Loss of
muscle tone will only mean your metabolism will slow down and you
will gain weight back rather quickly when you are not on your "diet"
anymore. Most "diets" fail in the long run because muscle
tone is lost in the process of reducing weight on the scale.
Taking
on-going digital photos of your progress is another important marker
for body changes that aren’t reflected on the scale or with
measurements alone. Changes in posture and correction of muscle
imbalances in the body cannot be monitored on scales. Remember to
look at everything to measure success. It will do you no good to
lose rapid weight, but also become fatigued because of muscle loss,
or to get stronger but continue with shoulder or knee issues due
to muscle imbalances.
You
want to be happy, healthy and changed for life! So, stop trying
to find quick fixes and take the time to find the real thing. Find
a nutrition plan that is healthy for you and your life-style. Find
cardiovascular exercise that you enjoy and that feels good to your
body, and do it daily. Be sure to include a weight resistance routine
in your workout schedule and keep in mind that flexibility helps
with injury prevention.
mvanhorn24@hotmail.com
