Ob2Ath
male - 40 years, Mesa, United States
Blog / Tags / weight loss
Blog messages with the tag 'weight loss':
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Sorry for my absence, I'm back now
It has been a while since my last entry. Over the past month, I've been studying for IT exams, and regrettably that has taken up a great deal of time. Now, this has passed, so I look forward to continuing my weight loss blog, which I hope has helped at least some people who have read it. If all goes well, next week I should resume my weekly entries on topics and that I found to help me with my weight loss. Stay tuned...
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When Does Fat Burning Begin?
A common question I hear being asked, how long does it take for the body to enter fat-burning mode when doing cardio. The common answers floating about are 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and I have seen 30 minutes be given as the answer. However, technically speaking, all those answers are wrong. Our bodies are always in a state of fat burning (actually, technically speaking we don't even "burn" fat so to speak, what we refer to as fat burning is actually a process called gluconeogenesis, a process which converts one substance, in this case fat, into glucose, the primary and prefered energy source of the body and especially the muscles).
For decades, it was thought by doctors and scientists that our fat stores were generally immobile and static, except in adverse conditions such as aerobic exercise or famine. But in 1935 the biochemist Schoenheimer using radioactive Hydrogen-2 tracers demonstrated our fat stores are highly mobile and dynamic, undergoing constant turnover. This means we are always burning fat, this is good. However, it means much of our carbs and fats we eat are immediately converted to fat, which is bad. This actually made sense to me when I first read this report. Our 50+ trillion cells constantly need energy, and it seemed to me that what we eat could not constantly supply the energy our cells need to function. I've gone as long as 36+ hours without eating, and still survived. But reading the results of Schoenheimer's research, now I see how. What we think of fat burning during cardio, then, is simply an existing ongoing process that becomes accelerated, triggered by biochemical signals produced during extended strenuous activity, such as cardio. Knowing this information, you can "tease" and trick your body to constantly burn off fat, but without feeling hungry, and without depriving yourself. Eat whole grains, lean meats, and raw leafy vegetables during the day; they have low density in calories and will maintain constant blood glucose levels. Right after a workout, you can eat more liberally thanks to elevated metabolism. In fact, that is a common practice of mine; on a day I plan to go out for fun for the evening, I will perform an extended intensive cardio workout so that I may enjoy the evening without worry that I have jeopardized my weight loss. For more such useful tips on ways to lose weight and effective weight loss plans, please check out my sites. -
Point Of Diminishing Returns
In my last post, I have shown how it is possible to strike a balance between losing weight and then maintaining a healthy weight and still enjoying the fattening foods in moderation. This post, I will examine the concept put forth by many people that in order to have a long life and an active and independent life in one's senior years, you must also give up on those foods we love. A lot of these people will tell you that you can only eat leafy vegetables, tofu, etc., everyday for the rest of your lives. For some people, that is what they prefer and that's fine. But most of us, especially me, do like to enjoy other types of food. So, is it true we must eat what most of us consider bland foods every day of our life to reach a healthy and active old age? I looked into this, particularly into the lifestyles of super centenarians, people who made it to 110 or beyond. I also recalled my great grandmother – she lived to 104. My great grandmother loved to eat ice cream, greasy – and fatty – German sausages, and drank coca cola, and she enjoyed baking and eating pies. She ate and drank these items up to and a little beyond her 102nd birthday. There was a French woman, Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122; I took a particular interest in her lifestyle. This woman indulged in 2 pounds of chocolate per week, she ate desserts, and even smoked until she was 119. However she was very active, going for bike rides until she was 110, and still stayed physically active after that. Other super centenarians were not so well-documented, but I still got a glimpse into their lifestyle and noticed some commonalities. One, they were physically active for most of their years, two, they handled stress supremely. It was reported that Jeanne Calment was smooth as ice when dealing with stress. My great grandmother also seemed to let very little get to her. The one thing I did not see was where any super centenarian credited their long life to eating bland but healthy foods each and every day of their life. Indeed, those who feel this is the only way to eat often stress heavily over their meals, or stress about seeing others eating foods they disapprove of, and stress does appear to compromise longevity. However, when it was reported, most of them did include healthy choices most of the time, only most of the time, not all the time. In the final analysis, whether one lives to extreme age or not, whether one has an active old age or not, is going to depend on many factors. Having an overall healthy diet is one of those factors and an important one at that, but it does not mean one must have it 24/7/365 for all the days of their lives. If it is your desire, go ahead and enjoy an occasional treat of your favorite food. Just keep control and don't overdo it. And don't stress out over it.
Please visit my website to see how I was able to still eat my favorite foods and lose weight. -
The Gym - Not A Place I Want To Relax
The other day, I was next to a guy on a cardio machine. We were engaging in the usual small talk that eventually got around to the topic of fitness. I mentioned that whenever I come to the gym, I push myself hard. He said to me when he comes to the gym, he only wants to relax. After he said that, I had an epiphany. For a long time, I wondered why I was not getting any results before from all my efforts at the gym. Additionally, I have observed individuals at this particular gym who have been attending at least as long as I have been going there, since June of 2006. In spite of spending huge amounts of time there, on the treadmill, on the elliptical, on the cycle for all these months, they still look the same. For a long time, I could not understand why this was the case. Then when my companion told me he only wants to relax and take it easy at the gym, it hit me. To get the best results, or perhaps any results at all, one must push their bodies beyond their comfort zones. This means the gym must be the one place we cannot “relax and take it easy”, not in the physical sense. Of course a good workout can emotionally relax you since it is a good reliever of stress. But, when it comes the physical, the gym is a place to challenge your body, for it is the only way for it to improve. Looking back, I must honestly admit during my prior endeavors at the gym, I shied away from discomforting myself, and the results reflected that. It was only when I started at November of 2006 that I was going all out, that I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone, and I started getting immediate results. Now, one must not go to the other extreme and push too hard. Aside from risk of injury, there will not be enough time to recover between sessions, making it hard sustain training. That can cause loss of motivation, and so can being injured. Therefore, balance must be struck on individual training sessions being challenging enough to promote improvement but not to slow recovery or injury.
While a gym is not the place to physically relax, outside the gym one must remember to relax. Recovery is a vital part of fitness; indeed it is almost impossible to achieve muscle growth without proper resting and recovery. So, remember, take it hard in the gym, but take it easy outside of it.
For more ways to lose weight, please visit my website. -
Drink Your Way To Thinness!
As we know, summer is approaching and many people are getting ready for swimsuit season. Often this involves losing weight. One key to my weight loss was staying well hydrated. Water is essential to life, in fact life originated from water. Even in the bible (Gen 1:20) agrees with that. Water is like no other liquid; it can be a solution for many substances. Inside our bodies, countless chemical reactions, including those related to breakdown of fat into glucose, occur in water. Our muscles are 70% to 80% water. As we become dehydrated, these reactions become sluggish. Some estimates for every 2% our dehydration increases, our muscles can suffer as much as 10% decrease in performance. I can attest on days I slack off on water consumption I feel it during my workouts. A common misconception about drinking water needs to be cleared. Drinking water will not cause you to burn more fat, instead it will allow your body to reach its maximum fat burning potential. Staying well hydrated also benefits skin. Skin will be firmer, and look more youthful when one is well hydrated. For more about water and weight loss, look here . To learn more weight loss information please check out my site. Stay hydrated and look great for the summer!
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My Intro
Hello. Over a year ago, I experienced a very successful weight loss, losing 80 pounds in four months. Since it has been over a year, 14 months specifically, and the weight is still off, I have dedicated my time to helping others who are struggling with their weight. On this blog, I will be posting on a regular basis the little things I did that allowed me to have a big and permanent weight loss. For more information and resources, please visit my website at http://www.obesetoathletic.com . Stay tuned...
