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Weight Loss Exercise

BMI Calculator

Hmmm…I am not to sure about the BMI. There are real problems with throwing everyone into a table and deciding how fat or thin they are based on only two factors: Height and Weight.

You may have seen that at the top of this page I have a BMI and BMR Calculator, well the biggest question about this is what is BMI and why should I care?

The BMI stands for Body Mass Index and the body mass index is simply a calculation of your height versus your to come up with a number, hopefully not a number over 30 which is classifies as obese.

There are more important factors but you can plug in your numbers of height and anyway and see where your BMI stands. I would rather that we never take this number too seriously as anyone with any muscle will come in as very over but the health authorities in both Canada and the United States swear by the BMI in the absence of any easy way to judge peoples level of obesity.

OK, so why am I a little underwhelmed by BMI numbers? Well one of the problems with the BMI is that when you take a persons shape into consideration then the number may not be too accurate. Carrying to much muscle? Carrying a little too much fat across your entire body? Are you too young? These are all a way that BMI will give you warped numbers.

Really thought there is a good reason for BMI and that is to make sure that you know where you stand. Many of us are a little too confident that we do not have a problem and really losing that 10 or 20 pounds and therefor beinging your BMI down is maybe the best thing you can do for yourself and you may not even realize it.

Try out the BMI calculator now and see what your BMI is at.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Starve Your Distractions – Feed Your Focus

I have had lots of problems over the years just trying to stay on track. You know, really staying focused.

The problem is that you start a new eating program, or exercise program, or any kind of self improvement program and almost immediately your ego wants to take over and make better whatever it is that you have just started.

I started a couch to 5k with my daughter last Summer and of course it is easy at the beginning, the plan is to just get you out there. Right away I wanted to start on week three instead of week one.

“We are too good to start at the beginning” I told my daughter. Fortunately she knew better and had us start getting the habit going instead of worrying about the mileage right off the bat.

The problem is that you start a new eating program, or exercise program, or any kind of self improvement program and almost immediately your ego wants to take over and make better whatever it is that you have just started.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Weight Loss Guarantee? Can There Really Be Such A Thing?

Are there any weight loss guarantees? I know that what we are all looking for is a plan that we know will tell us that once you start you can not fail.

This does not seem like a lot to ask but let’s see why I do not believe that it is possible.

First of all there are so many diets, actually there is a diet that stresses everything out there and at the same time there are so many diets because there is no shortage of people looking to try the latest diet or weight loss scheme.

The best way to see why there is not guarantee is to look at what the regular cycle of a diet is.

How Diets Fail

weight-lossHere is usually what happens.

You find out about a diet from a friend, then another friend mentions the same diet, you try the diet and are initially excited, lose weight the first week, don’t lose weight the second or third weeks, tweak the diet for the fourth week but if it does not work then you tank it.

So why does the diet fail?

Well for two reasons. Diets fail because they are not sound or because we cheat thinking that we know better than the diet.

Let’s deal with the first problem – the bad diet. Some diets are just terrible. Eat nothing but lettuce and lose weight, or eat 500 calories a day and lose weight.

Come on, just because the diet is some kind of sacrifice does not mean that it will work, and even if it does who wants to sacrifice for their whole life.

The problem with the single or restricted type diets is that they are not a lifestyle choice and more often than not the restriction of calories is going to force your body to slow your metabolism and this will make it even harder to lose weight.

Ruining a Good Diet

OK, now the second part, cheating on a good diet. We all like to have our sweets or other weakness type foods. When you get on a new diet you will initially follow it very closely but as time goes on you will go to restaurants, substitute a meal with Subway, or in some other way ruin the point of the diet.

Not only do we do the cheating but sometimes in a quest to make things work even better we will reduce our food intake or increase our exercise and ruin things that could have worked well.

So here is the real scoop. No matter what you do with a diet you need to look at the diet before the hype

(this coming from the guy promoting the great lose 9 pounds in 11 days diet)

we need to look at what the diet consists of and why it will work. Although there are superfoods and diet supplements always coming out you need to understand how your body loses and what your goals are.

If your goal is simply to lose then maybe some kind of diet pill will help you drop some but if your goal is to lose and also to improve your health and lifestyle then it would be a great idea to look at a good diet that allows you to exercise and get in better shape at the same time.

A Weight Loss Guarantee?

When you want to lose the real way then you need to do two things. You need to lower the calories that you are eating forever.

That means that if you are gaining eating 2000 calories a day then you would need to drop that to 1500, remember everyone is different.

The other thing that you need to do is increase the number of calories that you are expending with running a marathon at the top end of the calorie burning scale and watching TV while creating the perfect body indent on the couch as the bottom end of the calorie burn rate.

So this is it. If you are wondering why there has been no guarantee on losing weight you can see why. It all comes down to cheating on good diets in one way or another and having diet fads and bad diets in the mix. Choose well and you will have a better chance at losing the weight that you want.

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