Diet is by far the best way to lose weight naturally. There is no long-lasting, healthy weight loss program that does not include a healthy diet rich in whole foods: fruits, vegetables, berries, legumes, nuts and seeds. Any diet or weight loss program that does not consist mainly of these foods is just a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
Exercise can also be a powerful tool in your natural weight loss program, but it would be foolish to start an exercise program and continue to eat junk foods and processed foods.
I see people all the time who work out, maybe they run for 30 minutes, and then later that day they eat donuts or cake and say, "Well gosh I burned so many calories working out, it's ok to treat myself." This is backward thinking!
The more you exercise, the healthier you must eat! Exercise boosts the rate of burning glucose for energy in your mitochondria, producing more free radicals and damage in your body. You must soak up these damaging free radicals and the only way to do it is to get antioxidants from fresh fruits, veggies, berries, legumes, nuts and seeds - whole foods. If you exercise heavily and eat junk, you're burning up your body and aging at a much more accelerated rate.
Maybe you can lose weight on an exercise program and continue to eat junk food, but at what cost?
A healthy weight loss program must contain both a healthy diet and healthy exercise.
So, with that out of the way let's talk about exercise for weight loss.
What burns calories quicker, muscle or fat? The answer: Muscle! Duh!
Most people know this. Yet they still go to the gym and run for 60 minutes and do no strength training. The key to weight loss exercise in a short period of time is a small amount of intense cardio combined with a small amount of intense strength training.
The keyword here is INTENSE! Most people waste so much time in their workouts. They do all these fancy-looking things with little results.
Studies and stories from top body-builders and trainers have shown again and again that low-rep, high intensity strength workouts create the most muscle gain the fastest. You want to build muscle in order to lose fat. I'd rather have you maintain your same body weight but lose 20 lbs of fat and gain 20 lbs of muscle - that's your body getting healthier!
In most cases, you'll lose weight and gain muscle at the same time on a healthy diet as mentioned before combined with an intense, low rep strength training exercise program. It should only take 15 minutes a day max to do your strength training.
The key is to workout until you experience complete muscle failure. This is when you're doing your last rep and you physically cannot lift the weight again. Hold it at that climax for at least 5 seconds. It will probably hurt. You may be out of breath and exhausted. Good! It took you 2 minutes at most to exhaust that muscle. The muscle will grow stronger over the next few days as you let it heal and regrow. In 2 minutes you accomplished more than you've probably ever accomplished on a high-rep multi-set workout plan.
Your exercise plan for weight loss doesn't need to take hours and hours and hours... just workout each major muscle group until exhaustion. You can and should switch between groups each day.
Example workout plan:
Day 1: Arm: Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders
Day 2: Legs: calfs, thighs, quads, buttocks
Day 3: Abs, back
Day 4: Rest
Day 5. Repeat...
Remember, just workout the muscle until exhaustion.
You can mix in cardio 3-5 days a week depending on your schedule and goals. Remember, intense cardio is the key, not length. Get the most out of your workout, put your all into it.
If you want to do longer periods of exercise, just enjoy a nice hour long walk with your dog, friends, family or by yourself and think about how great you feel and how blessed you are to have such an extraordinary body.
What are you waiting for? Get moving!
Note: You should consult your doctor before starting a new exercise or diet plan (blah blah blah). Enjoy!
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