Information gather from
www.netfit.co.uk
Most people who decide to lead a
healthier lifestyle go on traditional diets. The truth is, however,
that 95% of those who go on such diets fail; what's worse, they
often end up in worse shape than when they started.
Diets are both ineffective and potentially harmful; long-term
health-oriented programs should replace them.
Low calorie diets, result in muscle loss, in preference to fat so
that the most useful tissue is preserved for times of starvation.
Fat produces 9 cal's of energy per gram compared with only 4 cal
per gram produced by your muscle tissue.
However, muscle determines the overall metabolic rate of the body,
so if muscle is lost, the metabolic rate will be reduced. This
means that when the dieter returns to a normal pattern of eating
again, the lower metabolic rate will result in rapid weight
gain.
The other problem with having a low level of lean muscle tissue is
the feeling of fatigue, when doing simple exercise tasks. The
muscles and the liver both store energy supplies, in the form of
glycogen.
This situation has developed simply because many people are looking
for an easy way to lose weight that delivers quick results. No such
approach exists, yet the slimming industry continues to misguide
people into believing that fast weight loss can be achieved with
minimum effort.
Achieving target weight requires lifestyle changes. These changes
include regular exercise, a sensible approach to healthy eating and
the right mental attitude.
Why Dieting can make you FATTER
The conventional approach to dieting is a disaster. The first
mistake is to call a program a weight loss program. There are
many weight reduction programs, which if followed can produce rapid
weight loss.
However, this weight loss is neither sustainable nor healthy as it
involves dehydration and loss of muscle tissue.
When you are ill and bed bound similar results are produced in only
48 hours, especially if you have a complaint like food poisoning.
How much weight do you think is lost in the form of excess
unhealthy adipose fat tissue?
DEHYDRATION
70% of the body is made up of water. It is easy to design a
dehydration diet that results in losing 10 lb. of water within
several days. Many naive slimmer's are encouraged by these rapid
results. Simply dehydration by 2-3 % of body weight can result in a
7% drop in physical performance.
LOSS OF MUSCLE TISSUE
If you lose weight too quickly, much of the weight loss will be
muscle tissue. It is estimated that when people lose over 2lbs of
weight a week, 30-40% of the weight lost will be muscle.
This is a disaster for keeping the weight off in the long term
because muscle is five times more active metabolically than fat
tissue.
Exercise and Healthy Eating the First
Priority
The aim of an exercise program is to lose fat without losing muscle
and without reducing metabolic rate. The exercise needs to be
customized to fitness level and to specific goal of fat loss.
Together aerobic exercise and resistance training are the ideal
combination of exercise to achieve fat loss and it should be part
of your lifestyle.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise metabolizes calories and raises the metabolic
rate. The heart rate needs to be raised to a comfortable level for
20 - 30 minutes at least 3 times per week. By exercising
aerobically, calories will be burnt at a rate of 300 + per hour
depending on your weight and fitness level.
If you consider that just 1 pound of body fat has around 4,100
calories, then you can get a rough idea, of just how long it will
take to shed those extra pounds permanently. Look again at how long
it took to put them on, normally years or a complete lifetime of
your own bodily abuse.
Now comes the debate of how hard to work. Personally I recommend
that you work at a level that you know that you can maintain for a
minimum of 20 to 30 minutes.
The debate comes in, when various fitness bodies suggest training
at a high heart rate 75/90 % of max, for short periods or 55/80 %
of maximum heart rate for easier longer periods.
Iam no scientist, but I have tried both methods on a number of
clients, and have found like most things in life, it may work for
one person but not necessary for another.
In short try both methods, unless you are a complete beginner to
fitness, in which case I would recommend training at a steady pace
for as long as comfortably possible.
Aerobic exercise will also raise the metabolic rate for up to 24
hours after you have finished training. This helps to burn up extra
calories and prevents the metabolic rate declining.
Resistance (or weight) Training
Look in the section on this web site dealing with weight training
for guidelines, or speak to a qualified trainer to aid you in both
the correct exercises and techniques for yourself.
Inactive people lose about 10 % of their muscle mass every 10 years
after the age of 25. However with regular resistance training it is
possible to regain this muscle mass.
Resistance training should be carried out 2-3 times per week for
around 30 minutes. Although not generally effective as aerobic
training for burning calories, resistance training will still burn
about 250-500 calories per hour and will raise metabolic
rate.
Dont feel that by doing weight training that you will develop a
body that resembles a body builders, as these men and women spend a
great deal of their time as well as strict diets and grueling
weight sessions to achieve the physiques that they have.
Another important point is that muscle will not turn into fat, if
you stop training. The muscle tissue will naturally break down and
shrink in size, (hypo trophy)
Important point because lean muscle tissue weighs more than body
fat, your actual body weight may stay the same, during the early
stages of your new lifestyle regime.
Dont be alarmed, the weight will come of, however if it does not,
your overall ratio of body fat compared to lean muscle tissue, will
certainly be in a healthier ratio.
Try and avoid using the scales, unless they can monitor your body
fat as well, instead measure your body at various points e.g. your
hips, chest, stomach and thighs. Using an item of clothing is also
a good way to measure yourself, as with a bit of time and
dedication, you will find that the clothing fits you
properly.
Healthy Eating
Good nutrition is very important for fat loss, and focusing on
health and health promoting foods is far more productive than
focusing on fat loss and denial of favorite foods.
Adopting a whole food diet, avoiding salt, fat, sugar, additives,
preservatives, processed and refined foods, needs to become part of
a life style change.
By increasing natural foods with a high fibre and water content
(fruit and vegetables) more food can be eaten to appease the
appetite without gaining weight.
A whole food diet also has a much higher vitamin and mineral
content than a typical diet containing processed and refined
foods.
Click 
CALORIE EXPENDITURE CHART PER
HOUR FOR VAROIUS ACTIVITIES
The more siong the exercise, the more
calories it burnt. 
