Successful Weight Loss- It All Starts With Eating Right & Exercising Effectively!

A few days ago I gave the appropriate formula for balancing carbohydrates, healthy fats, and lean proteins (MYTH #4). The formula is a bit difficult to remember so, put more simplistically, the image below is a great benchmark to aim for at every meal.

If you want to lose weight and maintain your weight loss for good, you need to first change the way you eat. Forget about the fad diets and the juice cleanses. They only work for the short term.

And as much as we all hate counting calories, you need to be at least somewhat cognizant of how much you’re eating every day. The formula for weight loss is really quite simple.

𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 > 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗗

Now it’s well known that our bodies burn calories even while we’re sitting around doing nothing. Heck, we even burn calories while we’re sleeping. But in order to burn enough calories throughout the day to have a net calorie deficit we have to keep active. That doesn’t necessarily mean hanging out at the gym all day. But it does mean you need to continue moving throughout the day. For those of you with an iWatch, this is why the watch continues to remind you to stand up throughout the day.

So now that we’ve addressed the quality and quantity of food you eat, the next part is exercise. Your success rate for losing weight will increase substantially when you integrate exercise into your weekly routine. And despite what you’ve probably been told, you don’t need to hit the gym for an hour every day to lose weight.

𝗛𝗜𝗚𝗛 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 (𝗛𝗜𝗜𝗧)-

There are two reasons why people love a HIIT cardio workout — it can help to burn more calories and it can produce something called the ‘afterburn’ effect.

In basic terms, after you finish a HIIT workout, you can continue burning fat. Your body works harder to deliver more oxygen to your muscles, which means you are burning calories for longer.

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗔 𝗛𝗜𝗜𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗕𝗘?

Typically, a HIIT workout should be done within 15-20 minutes, not including a warm up and cool down. If the workout is going for longer, you may not be pushing yourself to the intended intensity — and potentially not giving yourself the chance to reap the most benefits.

The goal of high-intensity training is to elevate your heart rate into a zone that is close to that of your maximum heart rate during the work periods. Your target heart rate zone is a personal guideline, so getting close to your maximum heart rate may be something to work towards — initially, you might aim to get your heart rate within the lower end of the target heart rate zone as a starting point.

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧’𝗦 𝗠𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗫𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘?

A good rule of thumb is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you’re 50 your maximum heart rate is 170. During HIIT workouts you should aim to be at around 80-90% of your maximum during the intense portion of your workout.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞-𝗧𝗢-𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗜𝗜𝗧-

HIIT workouts can be tailored by varying the work-to-rest ratios. For example, beginners may use a 1:2 ratio, training all-out for 60 seconds and then resting for twice as long. People who have been doing HIIT for longer may transition to a 1:1 ratio; that is, training at high intensity for 60 seconds and resting for 60 seconds before repeating.

As you progress with HIIT training, you may choose to begin shortening the ‘work’ periods slightly — for example, going from 60 seconds to 45 seconds. Shorter work periods means you can reach a higher intensity (thanks to your increased fitness level) because you don’t have to sustain the work period for as long. Just remember you want to progress to a tougher work-to-rest ratio, so you should reduce the length of your rest too.

Regardless of your fitness level, HIIT workouts should be capped at 30 minutes daily. Rest is also crucial between HIIT workouts. Personally, I’d recommend doing HIIT workouts on MWF with weight training TTS. Sunday is your day off! 😴

If you follow this plan, your physical fitness is guaranteed to improve and you’ll watch the pounds drop off faster than you ever imagined.

The hardest part of losing weight is having the discipline to follow the plan each and every day because you’re bound to have screw ups along the way. After all, we are only human. Keep your screw ups in check and you’ll be on your way to health and fitness! 😉