Why can't I lose weight?: Part 1

As many of you who have tried know, losing weight is not an easy task. For one, our bodies are hard-wired to keep us from starving. A little trick from mother nature from back in the day when we actually had to hunt and harvest for our next meal. Today, it's as easy as driving through the corner coffee shop and we have a sugar and caffeine jolt that could feed and jump start a small village. I often wonder how I ever got through my teens without my beloved coffee, so don't get me wrong, the advances we have made are wonderful. I am thankful for the ability to spend my time and money doing much more fun and enlightening things than "working" for my food, but why can't we make it "work" for us? The funny thing is, there is more information than ever to help us navigate this mysterious topic of healthy eating and weight loss. In the first of this 5 part series, I will address the topic I have the most experience and love for...exercise.

There are lots of variables that factor into how our bodies will shift into a fat burning mode, but the first and foremost thing you should know, is that the best, fastest, and easiest way to maintain weight loss, is to combine a modification of you diet, and to increase your exercise on a regular basis. It is a well known fact in the diet world that it takes an expenditure of 3500 to lose one pound. This expenditure can come in three forms; decreasing the total amount of calories we eat, increasing the amount of calories we burn during exercise, or increasing the amount of calories we burn at rest. The benefits of exercise are vast, but here is a top 5 list:
1) Increases energy and immunity
2) Increases bone density
3) Improves cardiovascular health
4) Burns calories and increases our basal metabolic rate
5) Relieves stress
To meet the above criteria of a 3500 calorie expenditure, you would have to use an extra 500 calories per day for a 1 pound weight loss in a week. You can use this great website at NutritionData to calculate what that would look like for you. But even better, is to combine a little exercise with a little better moderation with food. That means 4-5 days of moderate exercise and a couple hundred less calories a day (choosing skim milk in that coffee would make the difference).

Ah, but the time...how can you fit in this 4-5 days of moderate activity. Well, if you can, try to start with just 2-3 days of a 30min. walk where you can get in some hills or stick in a light jog for a couple minutes every so often. The idea is to increase the intensity when you are going for a shorter period of time. In the other two days, just try to get in 3-4, 5-10minute bursts of activity like walking from the farthest spot in the parking lot or taking the stairs. To know how hard you should be working, see my previous blog on breathing.

Check in next time for more information on losing weight, Part 2...What should I eat?