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Kick Back And Relax For Weight Loss
Donovan Baldwin
A couple of ground rules first. When I say to kick back
and relax for weight loss, I don't mean to imply that there
is no effort involved in losing weight. The old truths still
remain. If you eat more calories than you use, you gain weight.
If you use more calories than you take in, you lose weight.
A combination of exercise and sensible nutrition are the key.
Nuff said!
However, trying too hard to lose weight can actually sabotage
your weight loss efforts while possibly creating an unhealthy
situation for you.
First of all some simple facts. If you cut your food intake
too drastically or limit your food choices, in addition to
potentially depriving yourself of essential nutrients, you
may actually alter your metabolism so that your body learns
to survive on fewer calories. Not only does this mean that
strict dieting may result in only small losses, but, as so
often happens, when you finally fall off the diet wagon your
body will continue to use fewer calories for its daily functions
and activities and store even more fat than before. This is
why yo-yo dieters tend to gain weight over time.
Seriously restricting your food intake may also deprive you
of energy. This can result in lowered ability and willingness
to actually perform the very activities that can help burn
calories. An extreme decrease in nutrients coupled with related
psychological effects may also produce a mental unwillingness
to keep going with the program. Since, at least it seems to
me, one of the reasons for weight loss is to be happy, healthy,
and enjoy life more, creating this sort of situation seems
like a lose-lose proposition.
From the physical standpoint, trying too hard in terms of
difficulty or amount of exercise may result in actual physical
injury. At the very least, someone trying to do more than
they are actually capable of may reach a point where their
body and mind team up to demand that they "knock it off".
Now, let's talk about stress and weight loss.
If you are trying too hard, whether physically or mentally,
you are stressed. In fact, as soon as you decide to "go on
a diet" or "start trying to lose weight", you are under stress.
Ever hear of "stress eating"? Well, it's real. There are psychological
and physiological reasons why, but the bottom line is that
when under stress, many of us are tempted to eat more. Chemicals
in our bloodstream, such as cortisol, not only cause us to
want more food, but even act as a drug, which they are, producing
nearly irresistible cravings in some people.
So here's what you do.
Start your exercise program off at an easy pace. Slowly increase
the difficulty or time. There's no hurry. The key to good
weight loss results with exercise is to keep at it for weeks,
months, and even years. In fact, if you're on the right track,
you are creating a lifetime habit.
Make your nutritional choices wisely. There is no law anywhere
that says a piece of pie or bowl of ice cream will send you
back into the gutter. In fact, there is no reason why such
treats cannot be an occasional reward for good behavior. The
occasional nutritional indiscretion will not offset a daily
lifestyle of exercise and good nutritional choices.
Try to relax. Try meditation, yoga, long walks, prayer, good
conversations with friends...whatever works for you. Get a
good night's sleep, because being short on sleep can actually
trigger cortisol production. Yes, this is a bad thing. A good
night's sleep can help your weight loss program immensely.
Last, but definitely not least, recognize that you are only
human and will err no matter how hard you try. You would tell
your best friend to forget about it and just get back on track
if she admitted to pigging out on a quart of Rocky Road. Be
your own best friend and learn to forgive yourself.
Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. He is a University
of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa, and is retired
from the U. S. Army. His blog on health, fitness, diet and
weight loss is at nodiet4me.blogspot.com . He is the owner
of texasprepaidcellular.com
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
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