Stepping
Off the Scale: Changing Your Shape
By Ric Rooney - Guest Article
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Getting off the scale and on the right track
Low-carb,
low-cal and low-fat diets all have one thing in common:
Deprivation. This kind of deprivation cannot be sustained
forever. Even if you meet your goal you’ll gain the
weight back the minute you stop starving yourself.
When
you eliminate an entire food group or many calories from
your diet, you lose weight but you don’t necessarily
lose fat. With this kind of diet, your loss consists of
healthy lean tissue and water, not the fat you’re dying
to get rid of.
If you’re
interested in getting and keeping a healthy body, its best
to shift your focus away from the scale. Your goal should
be to look and feel good, not lose a specific number of
pounds.
How
to exercise smarter, not harder.
If you’re
frustrated by the results you get from cardio workouts,
it might be time to rethink your strategy. A reduced calorie
diet, combined with heavy cardio-exercise actually burns
muscle along with fat.
You
might also have noticed that this formula never changes
your shape, only makes it a little smaller. If you start
out pear shaped and lose twenty pounds in this way, you
just end up a smaller pear.
A better
choice is a nutritionally balanced, higher-calorie diet
and resistance training to build lean muscle mass. The more
lean tissue you have, the more fat you burn, and the more
fat you burn the more lean tissue you have.
It’s
a healthy cycle that leads to life-long success. Also, resistance
training allows you to sculpt your body, an important goal
ignored by many weight-loss programs.
Where
to turn for advice, training, and support
The
diet-industry does not exactly inspire trust with their
gimmicks, empty promises, and high-priced temporary solutions.
So where can you turn when you need to get a handle on your
love handles?
There
are a few fitness experts out there who know the secrets
of life-long weight loss:
