Ask a Question
Frequently Asked Questions
“I need to lose 15 pounds in two weeks. What can I do?”
You can begin by exercising and forming good eating habits. Losing 15 pounds in two weeks is not possible if you want to keep the weight off. In order to successfully lose weight and maintain a healthy, more fit “you,” you need to make some changes in the way you live your life. People are overweight for a reason.
Overweight people eat too many calories relative to the amount of work they perform. Think of food in terms of calories and calories as the amount of energy you are consuming. One of 3 things can happen to the energy you eat. The first possibility is you take in less energy than you need to fuel you through your day, creating a caloric deficit. The second possibility is that you take in the same amount of energy that you use during the day, ending up even in calories burned/calories consumed. The third possibility is that you take in an excessive amount of energy, more energy than you could possibly need for the activities you performed during the day.
Consume fewer calories than you use = weight loss
Consume same calories that you use = maintain weight
Consume more calories than you use = weight gain
What does all of this mean? Well -- consider this: to lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3500 calories. That’s a lot of calories. The only way to lose that many calories is to monitor what you eat and to increase your energy expenditure. Exercise and be active. You must pick and choose your foods wisely. Little by little you create a caloric deficit and lose those unwanted pounds. The process is gradual. Do not expect to drop more than 2 pounds per week when using the proper diet and exercise regimen. Remember, you are going through a lifestyle change. You are going to have to maintain your activity level and your eating habits once you reach your goal weight.
“What about the Atkin’s diet? I have heard that lots of people lose a lot of weight fast on that program.”
DON’T DO IT!!! The Atkin’s diet is a horrible diet and can be highly dangerous. Furthermore, do you really want to live a life without the wonderful carbohydrates of the world? Saying good-bye to bread and pasta is like a death sentence to me.
The human body most efficiently metabolizes carbohydrates for energy. Your body’s preferred energy comes from carbohydrates. Proteins, which the Atkin’s diet prescribes as the main source of energy, are used primarily to build and repair body tissue and as a major component of enzymes, hormones and antibodies. Only as a last resort will the human body begin to metabolize protein for energy. When this process begins, your body begins to eat itself and harmful toxins enter the bloodstream, putting a strain on the kidneys and liver. Additionally, calcium deposits are withdrawn from the bones to buffer the reactions of the acidic waste product of protein metabolization. Sounds pretty horrific, doesn’t it!?!?! Bottom line: the Atkin’s diet is not recommended. Exercise and cut down your caloric intake. That’s the proper way to lose weight.
"Since I began exercising I have gained a few pounds. I look a lot better and feel a lot better but I am not happy with what the scale says. Why can’t the scale be nice to me?”
When you exercise, your goal is to increase your lean muscle mass. Now, this does not mean you want to get big and bulky and enter the next “Mr./Ms. Olympia” competition. In fact, to do so you would have to do extraordinary things to your body. By increase muscle mass, we mean add muscle tissue and lose body fat. The increase in muscle tissue enables you to burn more calories when at rest. Your metabolism increases and your body is more forgiving for the foods you eat. Now, muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue. Hence, the slight increase in weight. However, even with the increase in weight, the toned muscle takes up less space than the fat tissue. The waistline on your pants will make this most evident. Chances are, if you truly are overweight, you will see a decrease in weight. However, with exercise, you will notice the decrease in size is more apparent than the loss of weight, at first. Measuring body fat, rather than weighing yourself on a scale, is a more accurate assessment of one’s physical condition as an exercise program is followed.