Dan's Papers - June 6, 2008 - Start the Regime, Do a Food Diary, Drop the Weight

Summer is virtually here. So are warmer days, vacations and that dreaded trip to the store for a bathing suit. All that inactivity over the winter, once covered up by heavier clothing, is about to be revealed. While fitness should be a regular activity all year round there are some steps you can take now to help slim down and tone up.

Unless you are under a doctor's supervision it's not recommended to lose more than two pounds per week. This is a slow but safe amount to lose. Losing too much weight too fast may result in fat loss but also bone and muscle loss as well. Crash diets lead to frustration and cravings resulting in abandoning your plan, overeating and gaining back the weight you lost. To really manage your weight you must make permanent lifestyle changes. By making changes slowly, you give yourself a chance to adapt to the change resulting in weight loss that stays off.

To lose weight you need physical activity, and aerobic exercise burns the most calories. Aerobic activities include walking, biking, swimming and aerobic dance classes. The activity should be sustained for 30 to 45 minutes and elevate your heart rate. Many people want to lose their belly fat and want one exercise they can do for their stomachs. Unfortunately you can't spot reduce, but there are exercises that strengthen your abdominal muscles.

Strength training is also important. These exercises are done against resistance such as free weights, machines, tubing and even your own body weight. They should be performed slowly, with control, and aimed at strengthening a specific muscle. It is tempting to skip strength training, thinking that bigger muscles make you weigh more but the opposite is true. Even at rest, muscle burns more calories then fat. That means your basil metabolic rate (the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself) is higher. Stronger muscles burn more calories even while sleeping! Sometimes people walk with hand or ankle weights attempting to do aerobic exercise and strength training at the same time. Unfortunately you are setting yourself up for injury. If you are walking fast enough to get aerobic benefit you are not really controlling the weights and isolating specific muscles. If you go slowly enough to strength train you are not moving fast enough to elevate your heart rate to a fat burning level. When you swing the arms and legs while wearing weights you put a lot of stress on your joints and this can lead to injury. For the best results separate your aerobic activity from your strength training routine.

Getting started is always the biggest challenge, but this simple program is easy to get going. If walking for 30 minutes is too much, break it up into two 15-minute or three 10-minute walks throughout the day. Actually schedule this time into your day and make it non-negotiable. Leaving it up in the air never works. Give it the same priority as work or a doctor's appointment.

Add abdominal crunches four days per week. Lie on the floor with the knees bent and feet flat. Bring your fingertips behind your head. Press your back flat, tighten your abdominal muscles and lift your head and shoulders off the floor. Only come up until you feel the abdominal muscles tighten and do not pull on your neck. Do three sets of ten.

Start a food diary and write down everything you eat and the calories. Don't show the dairy to anyone and be completely honest. This is not to make you obsessed with calorie counting but increase your awareness. After a week of compiling your food diary, you will begin to make some changes.