Conquering the Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau

weight loss resistance bookAre you frustrated and discouraged with dieting? Have you reached the dreaded weight loss plateau where it doesn’t seem to matter what you do you can’t seem to budge, burn or coerce your weight down any farther?

You don’t need to be discouraged any longer. There are steps you can follow that will help you to break through your weight loss plateau.

First you need to understand that weight loss plateaus are to be expected as long as you are actively losing weight. Our bodies naturally resist change. Most people who eventually reach their ideal weight challenged many plateaus that lasted for several weeks along the way to their desired goals. [Read more…]

Frustrated with Fat Loss?

frustrated weight1There are a few major principles that you need to adhere to in order to shed fat from you body and keep it off.

The Principles of Fat Loss:

  • Regardless of your baseline metabolic rate, you can choose to elevate your metabolism by taking the appropriate actions and thereby increase the rate at which you burn fat. In other words, your metabolic rate is not cast in stone. You do have the controls.
  • Muscle cells burn fat continuously whereas fat cells merely store fat. When you incorporate strength training into your exercise habit you build muscle tissue and thereby increase your base metabolic rate. More muscle means less fat in the long term. [Read more…]

Sugar turns on the “Fat Switch”

frustraed dieterThere’s no hiding the truth anymore. What you eat does matter. Recent studies show that you do not get fat from simply eating too much nor do you get fat from eating fat, the belief that has been held for so long.

It has now been proven that you do get fat from eating the wrong types of fat and the wrong type of carbohydrates. Basically you could safely say that becoming and staying overweight could be viewed as a symptom of eating an improper diet, one that consists of chemically-laden processed food that is not natural to our chemistry and biology. Not a real surprise to anyone reading this I am sure.

It’s not just the food and calories you are consuming that is keeping you overweight; it is your habits, eating the wrong type of nutrient depleted foods, dead calorie foods. [Read more…]

Do You Know If Your Diet is Nutrient Dense?

micronutrientMost mainstream diets base their strategies on eating in an unhealthy manner. They try to manipulate the amount of macronutrients; proteins, carbohydrates, fats and calories to try and get you to eat less. However, if what they did worked, we would all be slim and trim but the obvious truth is we are far from it. [Read more…]

Resistance Training is Critical for Permanent Fat Loss

womenweightsThe very first thing you need to realize when talking about getting fat loss results is the number one thing you must be doing is strength training. Simply put: there is no other exercise that is going to be as beneficial as strength training is.

Resistance training helps with:

  • Muscle mass: Improve your lean muscle mass with strength training
  • Improves your functional strength capacity
  • Enhances bone strength
  • Fends off diabetes risk by increasing insulin resistance
  • Improves mood
  • Regulates hunger
  • Improves your ability to oxidize fats at rest…

The list goes on and on…there is no shortage of benefits resistance training will provide so it is critical to getting it into your plan.

An effective resistance training session needs no more than about 90 minutes per week broken into three 30 minute sessions.

When you look over the exercise selection for your workout program the primary thing you must pay attention to is compound movements.

The main compound movements that should be focused on are:

  • Bench press
  • Bent over rows
  • Push-ups
  • Pull-ups
  • Lat pull-downs
  • Shoulder press
  • Squats
  • Deadlifts
  • Lunges
  • Step-ups
  • Split-squats
  • Leg press
  • Plank exercise

These particular exercises will help save time since they work so many different muscle groups at once and they also help to ensure you are creating the greatest metabolic response in the body.

The more muscle fibers that are used during any single movement, the more calories are burned and the faster you will spike your metabolism for hours to come after that.

Because these exercises are intense, you’ll get your heart rate up to a much higher level and keep it there thus providing cardiovascular benefits at the same time.

You can also include other exercises such as isolation exercises where you work one or two muscle groups at once. However they should not be something you do as the main focus of your workout.

  • Isolation exercises include:
  • Bicep curls
  • Tricep extensions
  • Lateral raises
  • Leg extensions
  • Hamstring curls
  • Sit-ups

These type exercises simulate a smaller muscle group and since you are not working many larger muscle groups it will prevent you from seeing the results you are after.

The next element you need to address is your rep and set range. This refers to how many times you move through the pattern of movement before resting, thus creating one single “set”.

Ideally you do not want to take your rep range too high as that will make it harder to sustain the heavy load that does get results but at the same rate, you do have to do enough reps to evoke the metabolic response that you are looking for.

A good safe area to be at is the 8-12 rep range. This produces nice strength gains while still allowing you to tap into the fat burning potential that weight lifting has to offer.

For all you women who are afraid of heavy lifting; do not be afraid to push yourself and really challenge the body with heavier weights. Heavy lifting is going to help add superior muscle tone and definition and improve your metabolic rate that much more.

Heavy lifting is never going to cause you to get big and bulky. You do not possess enough testosterone in the body to add a significant amount of muscle mass tissue. As a woman, getting “big and bulky” is just not going to happen.

Lift heavy, you won’t regret it.

The last element you need to be concerned with is “rest periods”. In order to create a very strong metabolic response in the body, you’ll want to keep these on the shorter end.

If possible, your rest periods should be limited to about 30-60 seconds as this will help ensure that you are keeping your heart rate up and fully challenging your body. If you still don’t feel full recovered and think you need to take an additional 15-3- seconds to recover that’s fine too.

Remember whatever resistance training you choose to do, proper form is a must.

If you are ready to get past your “resistance” and learn what it really takes to win the weight loss battle once and for all..everything you need to break through your own personal weight loss barriers is in my product
“Stop Weight Loss Resistance”.

Try This Sample Nutrient Dense Eating Plan for Success

weight_scaleEating nutritious foods leads to weight loss and the stabilization of weight naturally.

Our bodies reward us with higher energy and fewer pounds. Until our bodies receive the nutrients they need they will be nudging us to eat. You simply can’t shut it up using empty calories.

Empty nutrient-poor foods will never satisfy the body if its life sustaining needs have not been met. [Read more…]

Fat loss vs Weight Loss…There is a Difference

fat loss vs weight tlossWeight loss is a hot topic there’s no denying that. The world is a buzz trying to fix a population overrun with overweight people. You’d think that would be a good thing. However, many people actually lose sight of the intended goal…the real goal of enjoying a lean, strong and healthy body.

So many so called fitness experts who are not qualified or with enough experience filling minds with lots of misleading information/advice on how people should exercise and diet.

There are two terms that are used interchangeably in the weight loss world that cause further confusion: weight loss and fat loss. But they are not the same thing and in order for us to move ahead successfully we must focus on fat loss and ban the term “weight loss” from our vocabulary. [Read more…]

Your Metabolism Is Your Body’s Engine

metabolismExcess weight…if you want to take it off and keep it off a healthy metabolism is your best friend. It’s about making sure your metabolic motor (your metabolism) is running smoothly so you do not have to become a yo-yo dieter on a never ending merry-go-round of weight loss/gain.

Losing weight is like running half a marathon. You are only half way there. You must change your metabolism right down at base level or you will continue to gain weight and as the years pass it will only get worse.This jeopardizes not only your looks but your health is at risk because being overweight increases the risk of al disease.

Strength training is by far the best answer to resetting and boosting your metabolism so it can burn more fuel around the clock. It is vital in cases of slowed metabolism as it may be that way if you have not been doing enough muscle building and maintaining activity. [Read more…]

Slim People Have Different Habits…In Their Minds and Activities

stop weight loss resistanceThe way you feel and think about yourself manifest outwardly into your world. But even more importantly, your beliefs color your perceptions of food, exercise and living a healthy lifestyle.

When you once quit living in daydreams about what you would like to achieve and take the reins, take control of your life, you quickly realize that the solutions you’ve been searching for outside of yourself are inside yourself. [Read more…]

12 Weight Loss Tips to Taking It Off and Keeping It Off

12 tips to weight lossThere are no magic bullets to weight loss but here are 12 steps you can follow that will help you to lose the weight, keep it off and feel good doing it.

12 tips to help you curb your appetite take weight off and keep it off… [Read more…]