Butts 'n Guts

Rapid Weight Loss

For a moment, consider the fact that it may have taken a few months to several years to gain the excess weight that you no longer want. Perhaps your life became to busy with family and work to find some extra time to exercise. Or maybe you just never seemed to lose those postpartum pounds after the birth of your child. Outside of surgery however, you just cannot expect to lose this weight all in a matter of days or a long weekend. Sadly though, there are plenty of products on the market that promise you the moon and back that this can be done.

It is a physical impossibility to shed fifteen pounds of fat in forty-eight to seventy-two hours. But there are a zillion creams, pills, patches, lotions, and supplements that nearly "prove" this in fact can be done. What they don't tell you is that the weight that is lost is not fat at all but rather water and sugar (glycogen stores) loss. Inevitably you are heading for another ride on the weight loss roller coaster.

What's more is that If you really want to lose the a few pounds of water and/or sugar weight, you don't even need to purchase one of these magical elixirs. Your body weight rises and falls up to five pounds per day naturally depending on how hydrated you keep your body. But after drinking a couple glasses of water and eating some carbohydrates, you are right back to square one. The scale spits out the same number and your clothes don't seem any looser around your waistline.

One pound of fat contains 3,500 calories of energy in all. Quite a lot wouldn't you agree? So, using our above example, in order to shed fifteen pound of fat you are looking at losing 52,500 calories of energy.

If you can assume that by jogging one mile burns roughly one-hundred calories, and a challenging thirty minute circuit that guarantees that you burn six hundred more, you can see how committed and honest you must become in losing all of that fifteen pounds. Dropping weight, even if it is only five pounds alters your lifestyle.

Generally speaking, it is much more reasonable to plan on using three to four hundred calories in general exercise daily. That deficiency should come from my online classes, running around your neighborhood (some type of cardiovascular activity), or hitting your favorite gym for resistance training. It is also wise to generally assume to drop an additional daily two to three hundred calories in your diet.

Now many people think that a few hundred calories lost in their diet means drastic changes. Not so! If you are a coffee lover, skip the Starbucks lattes. This alone can be all that it takes to keep you on track. If you like soda, chose diet instead or switch completely to water every other day. Your body will thank you for all of these empty sugar calories it won't get.

If your counting, this drop between exercise and diet adds up to a little over five hundred calories. By staying committed and focused (see Goals category) on your success, you can then multiply five hundred by seven (seven days in one week) to come to a grand total of 3500 calories lost per week! And this is not water or sugar weight. This is 100% pure fat loss!   

Keep this in mind. This quote comes from one of my favorite motivational speakers Zig Ziglar. "You don't pay the price for good health and a high quality of life. Rather you enjoy the benefits of them."

The "Weight" Is On!

I know women who are deathly afraid to even approach a free weight like a dumbbell or barbell. They think that they too will grow huge manly muscles nearly overnight because they see men doing these same exercises and gawk at their overgrown arms. They avoid the weight room like the plague and turn the other way heading for the cardio room.

Similarly, I get this question quite often when someone new comes to one of my classes. I use two examples. First is a visual aid. I tell them to look around my Butts and Guts class (because we do use some weights) and tell me if they see anyone's legs that look too bulky or overly muscular like a bodybuilder. Of course they don't find any. Instead they see great shaped glutes and legs that look healthy, vibrant, and strong.

Second, I ask them to remember a bike race (either they saw it in person or on television) where they noticed a racers legs just too big for their body. Again they cannot find an example simply because the female racer's legs are sleek and sculpted by all those strides.

What an unfortunate circumstance then that women avoid weights. It's impossible to obtain any of this muscular bulk for women for the simple fact that there is simply not enough of the hormone called testosterone in their system to make this a reality.

When you see a female bodybuilder, like Ms. Universe perform on stage, you are witnessing years of dedicated work. Those women had to work relentlessly to put on their bulk centimeter by centimeter. And their diets are enormous. They are eating so much protein that it would make your head spin. Regular folks, like the ones found in my class, need about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight a day. That turns out to be .4 grams per pound of body weight.

Now for the really great news! There are actually quite a few benefits women can gain from lifting weights. So think of these before you turn you back on that weight room again.

The average women in reality gains strength at a slightly faster rate then the average male. Great news for those of you who are looking to get back in shape for the new year! In addition, by gaining this newfound strength, women will also become increasingly more flexible. Not the other way around like some people may think.

Or course, body fat is reduced far more effectively when weights are used then if you spent forty-five minutes on a treadmill. Furthermore, muscle tone is increased along with bone mass which all improves muscular control and conditioning throughout the body.

And let's not forget the psychological benefits that come from this too! Self esteem is improved along with confidence, well being, and a general sense of accomplishment. Click here to see an entire list of these benefits and more that can come from weight training!