For the Mind & Body

A pound of body fat equals about 3,500 calories.

Fat is stored fuel for our bodies.  Our body’s nature is to store energy for brief periods of starvation or sickness.  We need some body fat to operate healthily.   Too much fat is harmful and leads to various diseases including diabetes.  When your body runs out of room on the inside, between muscle fibers and organs, it has to store fat on the outside, under our skin.  We pack it on our hips, thighs, and the infamous belly fat.

How do you lose a pound of body fat?  It’s as basic as calories in and calories out.  Eating puts calories into our bodies and xercising depletes them.  Create a healthy blance and you maintain your weight.

Does this mean we should count our calories every day?  Maybe.  If you’re new to controlling your weight or are overweight, you should.  In time, you will know how many calories you can consume on a daily basis to maintain to your weight.

To lose weight, you need to eat less than you burn.  Sounds obvious, but we all know how hard this can be.

Daily Calorie Calculator

The counter above is fairly accurate for most people, you should use the sedentary setting, and then manually adjust for your exercises.

Once you know your daily estimate, you can understand how much fuel your body burns and how much you get to eat.  For those of us that really enjoy our food, we just have to exercise more and with more intensity.

Well, you didn’t gain the weight overnight, so you can’t lose the weight in a day.  Sorry to disappoint.   If you lose weight fast, you will often fail and in turn gain more back than you lost.  Why?

You probably lost water weight and muscle mass more than actual body fat lost.  So, your weaker, hungrier, and when your body and mind has had enough with the unrealistic diet, you bounce back heavier than before.  Muscle is a fat burning furnace.  Don’t lose it.

While I agree there are times we need to cut back, the awful word called dieting, begin with the basics.

Begin the new YOU with a new lifestyle of eating and exercising.   The basics are eating right most of the time, having unhealthy treats sometimes and when you do – have them in moderation.

Swap bad cooking habits with better cooking habits.  Swap bad food choices with better food choices.  If you haven’t exercised in your life, start today!  If you have been, do a little more and/or change what you are doing.

The key point to remember is, our bodies change and evolve slowly.  So, like fish in water, acclimate yourself as such.  Don’t start running 5 miles before you are accustomed to walking to the mailbox.  Don’t change your daily meals all at once. Do so a meal at a time, a day at a time, a week at a time.  Set realistic goals.  Goals that you can live on, not diet on.

Acclimation will enhance your chance for success and prevent drastic mood swings and upset digestion systems – those aren’t fun!

Make the change, start today, and welcome the better you!