Weight Loss - 3 Quick Tips

When asked, "Why do you workout?" Most people will say to lose weight. We're a relatively sedentary society of over eaters, and that answer is no surprise. Of all the positive benefits of exercise, including improved health, fitness, strength, endurance, and flexibility, losing weight is flat out the most popular reply.



TIP ONE: Keep a Food Diary (short or long term)
If diet isn't modified, all the exercise in the world doesn't stand a chance against thousands of empty calories that are mindlessly ingested daily. Rule number one; Write down everything you eat. There are many options when it comes to keeping a food diary, from buying a simple notebook and just writing it all down, to purchasing the latest app for that. Get good at estimating on the go. Record food quantity, serving sizes and the like, but don't get so crazy that you find yourself weighing and measuring everything. Here's a way to use your own body to estimate measurement.

Body Part Measurement 
(from About.com)

• Fist = 1 cup of fruit or 1 medium whole, raw fruit
• Thumb = 1 ounce of cheese or meat
• Fingertip = Approximately 1 teaspoon
• Tip of Thumb = Approximately 1 tablespoon
• One Cupped Hand = 1 or 2 ounces of dry goods (nuts, cereal, pretzels)

If you find it cumbersome to keep a food diary long term, record everything for at least three days, including one weekend day. Write down all calories, including liquids (which are very easy to measure). You may have to look up calorie totals of each item, but even if you don't take this to a calculation level, just having your daily menu recorded can be a motivational wake up call. Once your eating habits are understood, it's easier to make positive changes, which brings us to our next rule.

TIP TWO: Eliminate all liquid calories right away 
There's really no good reason, if your primary goal is weight loss, to super size a juice or soda.  There are over 400 calories in a McDonald's Super Size Coke. If you're not into artificial sweeteners stick with water, coffee or teas of any kind (no milk or sugar). This is one of the easiest ways to tip the scale in your favor with very little extra effort. Conscientiously recording your beverage intake will make cutting back easier. Sometimes mindless drinking can be the biggest caloric culprit.

TIP  THREE: Workout from 3 to 6 days per week

Okay... I apologize, this one is NOT quick or easy, but 3 "do-able" weight loss tips sounds a lot less exciting. Find something you like to do, which works all the major muscles, and that your body tolerates well.  Keeping exercise calorically productive means ever increasing your work capacity. The fitness modality of choice would not be ideal if its main focus was muscle isolation, with very little actual fitness (with associated increased ability to do work) being achieved. More work performed means more calories burned, which calls for a greater recovery, which fosters a faster metabolism, along with some increased muscle mass and density, is pretty much the agreed upon scenario.

My caloric workout of choice is the WKC Elite Kettlebell Fitness Protocol, where rounds of kettlebell sets are performed with ever decreasing rest between sets. This ingenious program, developed by Coach Fedorenko, can push the lifter to over 500 reps in under 50 minutes. That's an incredible caloric workload. But some of our other programs may be more appropriate for you, always depending upon your goals and current fitness level.  

For more information on how to exercise to lose weight, contact us at AKC Fitness LI.

One last word, everything in moderation, even moderation. Don't overdo anything, but enjoy your life!