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Weight Loss Exercise

Leptin – Fat Hormone Regulation

Leptin is a hormone in our body that controls fat regulation. This post is going to be a work in progress but I wanted to point out a hormone that we all have to deal with when it comes to hunger and fat loss and fat storage (getting fat).

One of the problems that I have found, and my wife as well, when Leptin is explained is that science is not very nice to us common folk. I suspect that you want to know how to lose weight and are not really too interested in becoming a biochemist to do it.

How Leptin controls fat stores

Leptin is that starvation hormone that decides that our body has to store fat if we are in a starvation situation (like animals getting ready for winter hibernation) or to burn our calories quickly (like when animals are in a hunting or hunter situation).

Basically when we eat too much food and do not exercise enough we store fat. Leptin controls that storing of fat in our body just like it would in animals but we as people with supermarkets, fast food, and easy access to the smells and tastes that we like. We kind of mess things up as far as eating when hungry comes in and do have to do something to regulate it on our own.

Okay, have you got that straight? Hope so. So when we are on any kind of a regular diet what will happen is that we lose weight for the first few days or couple weeks and then we plateau. The other crappy side effect is that our energy drops and we have trouble working out. The plateau is caused by our our Leptin levels dropping which causes our metabolism (energy burning) to slow down and at the same time our body stores as much fat as possible.

This means that we have to do something to take us out of this fat storage problem

How to Reset Leptin Levels

Leptin Fat Hormone Regulation

Reset Leptin Levels

There is a simple way to rest our Leptin levels and this is to stop our bodies from thinking we are starving. What will happen is that you will diet for a week or week and a half and then take a day or two off and remind our bodies that we are not in a starvation phase. Some diets do this already and they call it different things. Fat Loss for Idiots calls it calorie shifting, in 24/7 Fat Loss Joel Marion calls it a cheat day.

On any diet that uses this strategy you don’t just go and gorge, you eat normal size meals until satisfied but not worrying about fat content of the foods or carbohydrate types.

The important thing about this method is to make sure that you are reminding your body that you are safe, you are not starving, and to bring your Leptin levels back so that you are again able to lose fat and not have your body store fat.

Diet and Leptin Levels

Now that you know how this Leptin business works you have all the information you need to make your current diet or to further evaluate a diet. What you need to do is never diet hard for more than a week or two without taking a day or two off. Although these cheat days can cause a bit of weight gain if done incorrectly you will be doing more help then any single diet day to making sure that you are going to have long term weight loss success.

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General Weight Loss Tips

My 2011 Story

I’m slowly getting back in the groove of counting calories and I have to say that showcasing what I eat here is challenging me to make better decisions. You guys have been known to keep me on my toes with comments, so for the “eat more vegetables” reminders, I find myself throwing a salad on my plate where I otherwise would have went without.

I’m also drinking a lot of water. I find that I just don’t drink enough through the day and while water, juice and milk are the only beverages I consume on a regular basis, I’m just not drinking enough. I’ve got water bottles filled and in the refrigerator for easy access.

I’ve been thinking today about what my story will be at the end of this year. What I want it to be. Come January first I want to reflect on 2011 and be proud of the first three months of consistent exercise. That I stuck with it even when the scale was slow to move. How I believed in myself despite people asking “are you sticking with your exercise?” assuming I had stopped. A valid question giving my past history. I will talk about how in April I started to take my eating seriously with calorie counting, and how the hard part was doing it even on days when I really didn’t want to.

I will talk about how the scale started to move and I was seeing my weight go down each week. Every month my clothes were getting looser. By early Fall I had to buy new pants and by winter I was down two sizes. My face is slimmer and people are noticing. They will wonder how I did it- there won’t be a gimmick, no pills, not diet fad of the week and no restrictive plans. Just me believing in myself.

I will talk about how I feared not losing the weight- would I not lose weight even if I tried? I believed in myself and tried anyway. I will talk about how I learned to eat in moderation. How I found other ways to fill myself up.

I don’t know what my weight will be come January 2012, but I truly believe it will be significantly lower than it is today. On top of that I will feel the joys of being able to move a little easier and feel much more comfortable in my body.

What will your story be?

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General Weight Loss Tips

The Best Aerobic Exercises for Achieving Weight Loss

It’s no secret that people these days are getting fatter. The modern world, with all its technological advances and easy access to fast food, has caused waist lines to expand. Most people are aware of this, but not everyone actually does something to stop it. A big reason for this is people are unsure of the type of exercises they should do. The best exercises for weight loss are aerobic. In order to sustain itself during aerobic exercise, your body needs to use massive amounts of energy. It gets this energy from your fat. As long as you do some aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week, you can stop fat gain in its tracks and start on the road to a lean sexy body. Let’s look at the best aerobic exercises for achieving weight loss.

Bike Riding

If you haven’t been on a bicycle since you were a kid, you are missing out on one of the best fat burning exercises out there. The only thing you need to watch out for is the temptation to coast on a flat stretch of road instead of pedaling. You want to make sure you are putting in a constant effort. If you don’t like the idea of riding a bike all over the road or on trails you can also use a stationary bike set up in your home or the gym. These give the exact same benefit of a real bike with the added bonus that it is impossible to coast.

Stair Climbing

As anyone who has had to stop and catch their breath after going up a flight of stairs can tell you, stair climbing can be hard work. But the benefits are amazing. In addition to the calorie burn, you will also help develop your balance and coordination. Stairs also have the added benefit of giving you a built in rest period while still working out: Going up the stairs is tough and going down the stairs gives you time to catch your breath while still moving. If you want to maximize your fat loss with this exercise, you can also try the stair climbing machine at your local gym, which mimics the experience of only going up stairs thereby accelerating the amount of calories burned.

Swimming


There is a reason all the Olympic swimmers you see on TV look so lean and fit. Swimming may not look like a fat burning exercise, but it is a secret fat burning tool that many people never take advantage of. Because you are in the water, you don’t work up a sweat, and therefore don’t feel you have worked as hard. Swimming uses both your arms and legs and, when done consistently, helps them to look lean and toned. One word of caution; swimming may look easy, but if you haven’t learned correct form, you may tire yourself out too soon and therefore not get all the benefits you should. If you have not had any swimming instruction since you were a kid, you should look for a qualified instructor to give you a few lessons and perfect your form before you try working out alone.

Dancing

This is not social or ballroom dancing. This is dancing that uses the whole body and keeps it moving for a sustained period of time. Think hip hop or Latin style. A current trend in many gyms right now is Zumba, which is a specially designed dance program that focuses on weight loss and improving fitness. And above all, dancing is fun.
Running
For the absolute best calorie burn that results in the most fat burned of any aerobic exercise, all you need to do is literally lace up you sneakers and put one foot in front of the other. Running is the oldest of human aerobic activities. It is what we are built to do. There is no special equipment to buy, (except maybe a good pair of comfortable running shoes) and you can literally start seeing results in a few weeks time.
These aerobic exercises are the best they are at what they do. And what they do is burn fat and help keep it off. But the best part is that you don’t have to choose one. Do as many as you like and mix it up. The more options you have the less likely you are to get bored and quit. Put these aerobic exercises to work for you and soon you too will be the proud owner of a lean, healthy body.

Mayo Clinic has a page which lists types of exercises and the amount of calories you can burn off doing each one in your weight class. Check it out Exercise for weight loss: Calories burned in 1 hour .

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