How To Get Maximum Results In Minimum Time From Your Fitness Program with Steve Preston

WHY DIETS DON'T WORK!

Those of you who have been trying to lose weight for a long time, have probably tried numerous diets. Notice how you have tried lots of different diets. If they worked, you'd never keep trying different ones. Right? Most diets require that you eat less. Eating less is not the way to lose weight and keep it off for life. Before I explain, I want to get something off my chest.

Last night I was watching TV. After flipping through the channels and seeing what was on, I quickly remembered why I never usually watch TV any more. Anyway, I came across that show "Big Loser." For those of you uninformed, it is a show with people competing on teams for weight loss. They even have personal trainers. Well, there was this guy on the show. He was very heavy. He had been "dieting" for 2 weeks. His "personal trainer" was some girl who weighed him, and then told him that he had lost 19 lbs. in 2 weeks. She was very encouraging when she told him that this was "all fat" that he had lost. The problem is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to lose more than 2 or 3 lbs. of fat per week. Anything more than that is water, and muscle tissue being lost. The thing that bothered me was that this "fool" basically told the whole country that losing 19 lbs. of fat in 2 weeks is possible. So now, she has a guy who has starved himself for a couple of weeks, and will continue to do so to lose more weight. Pretty soon the scale will say that he will have lost 40 lbs. But will he look good. No! He will be lighter by scale weight, but will be just as flabby or more flabby than before. Geez, here I am in Las Vegas trying to get the word out about how you can lose fat for life, and you've got this girl on TV, who is clueless! Go figure.

The clueless trainer basically told America, eat less and train more and you will lose fat! Is she right? HELL NO!!! Let me explain. Have you ever come across a meal plan, or article that told you to figure out how many calories you burn in a day, then subtract 500 calories per day, and you will lose a pound per week? (One lb. equals 3500 calories). Well, this might work for you, and it might not. You could have 2 different people who weigh the same, and seem to require the same amount of calories. However, with the same calories, one person might lose fat, and the other person might not. This is because their metabolisms may be different. There are so many variables throughout the day, that affect the metabolism.

You put fat on, when you eat too many calories at one time, not from lack of exercise. Exercise is a separate entity and is equally important for overall fitness and fat loss because it helps spike the metabolism.

Calories that you eat either become fat or energy. Extra calories are either stored in muscle cells or fat cells. Most of the time, extra calories are stored in your fat cells because the muscle cells are full. When the muscle cells are full, the calories are redirected to fat cells. When the fat cells are full, they simply start multiplying. This is the body's means of protecting itself. So how do you counteract this fat storage?

TURN FOOD INTO ENERGY!

Here are 3 ways to start losing fat right now.

Stop storage of new fat
You can't lose body fat, if you haven't broken the cycle that got you fat in the first place. This begins with eating, not exercise.

Increase Metabolism
By increasing your metabolism through how you eat and your strength training/cardio program, you can keep fat off of your body and continue to burn more fat.

Stabilize Energy Levels
By eating correctly, and keeping away from sugar, you stabilize the energy levels in the body. This keeps the metabolism higher, and keeps up the fat.

So, how do we begin to lose fat, stop storage of new fat, increase metabolism, and stabilize energy levels?

MATCH YOUR EATING TO YOUR ENERGY REQUIREMENT!

You've heard time and again that you need to eat small frequent meals. That is very important to speeding up the metabolism. But let's take it a step further. The body burns calories 24 hours a day. Although it is constantly burning calories, the rate of calorie burning changes according to our activity levels. There is a myth out there that you shouldn't eat after 7 pm. Is this true? No way! If your body is hungry after dinner, than you need to feed it. If you're just watching TV you won't need to feed it a lot of calories. Now let's say you are doing your Christmas shopping and moving around for hours. You would want to feed the body more calories at this point, to supply the current energy needs. Do you see where I'm going with this?

PEOPLE GET FAT WHEN THEY EAT TOO MANY CALORIES AT ONE TIME!

So, when are the best times to eat more calories? Breakfast and after workouts. These are times when you can regularly eat more calories. In fact, you should plan on eating more food at these times. You need to eat more at breakfast because you just starved your body when you were sleeping, and the calories at breakfast will speed up the metabolism for the day. You should eat more calories immediately after you do a workout as well. This meal should be consumed within 20 minutes of completing your workout.

Ready for the best part?

If you have a sweet tooth, and you can't go without chocolate or ice cream, you should eat them ONLY right after a workout. You have a "window of opportunity" right after a hard workout. The calories from sugar consumed immediately after the workout won't be stored as fat. Beware however, the 20 minute window should never be stretched beyond this time, or you will store the sugar in your fat cells. Do you need to consume sugar at this point? No. But if you have a craving for sweets while you're trying to lose fat, then wait until after your workouts, and reward yourself!!

I love my clients and I love referrals. If you feel that my services warrant it, please tell your family, friends, and associates about me. They'll thank you and so will I :)

Steve Preston MSed
702-596-2927
www.steveprestonfitness.com
www.fast-fitness.net
www.backpainworkout.com