The secret to weight loss really boils down to 3 things to ensure you’ll lose weight. Yes, if you’re doing just 1 or 2 of these things, you could see some weight loss,… especially initially. But for most of us (me included), once that initial weight is lost, and you’ve hit a plateau or results just suddenly slowed…you have to really focus on these 3 things. In fact, at this point, if any 1 of these 3 things fell off my radar, I’d put on 5 lbs in 5 days… no joke!

 

If you’re struggling to shed fat or have hit a plateau, make sure you’re doing ALL 3 of the following consistently for at least 12 weeks:

 

1) Increase the intensity, frequency, and duration of your cardio workouts (to increase the du
ration, which could be as simple as hitting rewind a few times for the “turbo” section to extend it an extra 6 minutes, or repeat your favorite section)

2) Find out how many calories you’re currently consuming and what can be improved. It takes 3500 calories excess to gain a pound and likewise a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a lb.  So, over the course of 7 days, that’s 500 calorie deficit/day. If you’re metabolism is slow and you’re not eating much now, you’ll definitely have to hit the weights HARD to increase your metabolism, and start eating small frequent meals to get your metabolism up to a healthy pace (so you can eat MORE and still lose the weight).  Have you ever counted calories? Do you know what you’re currently eating?  One thing all of those infomercial success stories have done (& everyone else that’s had amazing success), is they’ve made sure they’re burning more calories than they’re consuming. They actually track their intake day by day. You can be THE healthiest eater on the planet AND workout, but if you’re not paying attention to calories (or if you’re metabolism is too slow), then you’re fighting an uphill battle. There has to be a caloric deficit for your body to go to existing fat stores for energy. I hope that makes sense.  If you’re unsure how many calories, one place to check is the “Daily Calorie Needs” Calculator on www.FreeDieting.com (over to the left on the home page).

 

3) Strength training intensely 2-3 times a week. This is TOUGH to fit in for most of us because it tends to be less enjoyable. But even if it’s just for 15-20 minutes, that’s fine, just make sure it’s intense. That means you have to use heavy weights; heavy enough that you can’t even finish the set. Once you’re able to finish the set, it’s time to pick up heavier weights. In order to make your body a fat-burning machine, you have to put muscle on your body. And yes, your muscle will increase in size slightly but your figure will decrease in size. But you can’t pay much attention to the scale until you’ve been doing all 3 for about 6-8 weeks, because you’ll be gaining muscle and losing fat… sometimes the net on the scale is a GAIN, even though you are smaller. Not only will you be smaller, and have a MUCH easier time maintaining it, but with the added muscle and new habits, you’ll be stronger, healthier and have a lot more energy to kick it up a notch with ALL your workouts.  The ChaLean Extreme, P90X, or Body Beast  program is a perfect way to ensure you’re getting results from your strength training.