Thursday, August 25 2005 17:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Weight loss strategy-ways to lose weight

Does dieting help in losing weight? The conventional approach to dieting is a disaster. The first mistake is to call a program a 'weight loss program.' There are many weight reduction programs, which if followed can produce rapid weight loss. However, this weight loss is neither sustainable nor healthy as it involves dehydration and loss of muscle tissue.

When you are ill and bed bound similar results are produced in only 48 hours, especially if you have a complaint like food poisoning. How much weight do you think is lost in the form of excess unhealthy adipose fat tissue? If you lose weight too quickly, much of the weight loss will be muscle tissue. It is estimated that when people lose over 2lbs of weight a week, 30-40% of the weight lost will be muscle. This is a disaster for keeping the weight off in the long term because muscle is five times more active metabolically than fat tissue.

The aim of an exercise program is to lose fat without losing muscle and without reducing metabolic rate. The exercise needs to be customised to fitness level and to specific goal of fat loss.

Together aerobic exercise and resistance training are the ideal combination of exercise to achieve fat loss and it should be part of healthy lifestyle.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise metabolises calories and raises the metabolic rate. The heart rate needs to be raised to a comfortable level for 20 - 30 minutes at least 3 times per week. By exercising aerobically, calories will be burnt at a rate of 300+ per hour depending on your weight and fitness level. If you consider that just 1 pound of body fat has around 4,100 calories, then you can get a rough idea of just how long it will take to shed those extra pounds permanently. Look again at how long it took to put them on, normally years or a complete lifetime of your own bodily abuse.

Now comes the debate of how hard to work. Aerobic exercise will also raise the metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after you have finished training. This helps to burn up extra calories and prevents the metabolic rate from declining.