Why Is Weight Loss So Hard?

Weight loss is a common problem millions of Americans today struggle with. Very few Americans have been successful at losing a desired amount of weight.

The main problem is that most cannot stick to the designated program. For instance, a general weight loss program includes both diet as well as exercise. Most of the time an individual trying to lose weight will at least attempt one of these. Often times what happens is that the exercise may be too strenuous for that person since they must have lacked exercise for so long going back to why they are in such shape.

Another perspective is the diet. Most people looking to lose weight are usually in this pandemic because of eating not only food with high amounts of sugars and fats, but also food in high quantities of these fats ans sugars. This becomes a significant problem because changing old habits for anyone is such a difficult process especially in America since you can’t walk two feet out your door without seeing a McDonald’s.

So in the end dieting or weight loss in general is such a difficult process because of the extreme new “way of life” you would have to adapt to. A recent statistic said that of those who fail to reach an ideal weight goal in a diet actually gain more weight trying the diet rather then losing.

The reason for this is once you “give in,” you start “binge eating” meaning you eats almost everything in site with no restrictions. This is a one negative impact of dieting viewed by many. Of course most researchers/doctors say diet and exercise are essential for a healthy life, whether losing weight or not.

Why Walking is the New Running

There is a word that most overweight people dislike, it is a word that turns people off and makes their mind switch to another channel to avoid thinking about it. Unfortunately it is a key part to weight reduction and something that when done correctly can be the cause of your success.

The word is……………..

Exercise!

Now stay with me here, switch your mind back on to what I am saying stay, in this same frame.

The reason most overweight people do not like the ‘E’ word is because they have set up in their mind that in equals pain and like most people they will do anything to avoid pain. There is a better way and you can find the better way when you begin to understand that there are different ‘types’ of exercise (hey, don’t disappear – stay with me now)

At the lowest level there are 2 forms of exercise, these are;

· Aerobic

and

· Anaerobic

Aerobic exercise causes your heart and muscles to work very hard, pumping blood round your body at a high rate to get the oxygen to the muscles in order for them to keep working.

A side effect of this is that it produces acid in your muscles, lactic acid to be precise. It is this lactic acid that causes you muscles to stiffen up after you have finished, causing you pain. Lactic acid also stays in your system for a long time as your body finds it hard to break it down. If your body cannot break the acid down it wraps it up and stores it as fat!

The main type of aerobic exercise that people do on a regular basis is running, yes this helps build fitness but if you want to reduce your weight you can only concentrate on building fitness once you get down to a sufficient weight. What you should concentrate on to start with is reducing your weight and nothing else, fitness comes later.

This is where anaerobic exercise comes in.

Anaerobic exercise causes the heart to work harder than normal which still pushes the blood and oxygen around the body but does not work the muscles as hard and therefore does not create lactic acid. Further more anaerobic exercise helps in releasing stored fat and acid and helps it into the waste system so that the body can get rid of it. Remember you cannot ‘burn’ off your weight. The phrase ‘burning off calories’ is a myth!

The weight you get rid of has to leave your body somehow and it is through your waste system that this happens.

So, what is the best form of anaerobic exercise? I hear you ask

Well, as the title of this article suggests it is walking.

My suggestion to you is that you walk for 1 ½ hours at least 3 times per week and that should be broken down into the following;

· 15 minutes warm up walking at a pace slightly faster than your normal walking pace

· 60 minutes walking at a high pace that gets your heart pumping

· 15 minutes warm down walking at your normal walking pace.

If you cannot manage that to start with find your own level and start there and slowly build up to this level.

Remember the warm up and warm down though as this is vital.

Enjoy your walking.