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The Winning Way To Fat Loss

If you watched the Katie Couric and Dr. Phil special a few months ago, you would know that America is getting fatter than ever! We have an increased availability of processed high fat foods in a super sizing world. 80% of the population still does not exercise regularly and we lead an increased sedentary lifestyle expending 500-800 calories less per day due to labor saving devices such as cars. Presented in this article are some key points on the winning ways to fat loss. But first, in order to lose weight we need to understand just exactly how a fat cell works. Understanding this will help you to understand the exercise prescription.

Anatomy of a Fat Cell: Fat cells like to get fat, that's their job and they are able to increase to 8 x their normal size. Women have 5x larger fat cells than men as well as a slower metabolism. It is generally accepted that you are born with a certain number of fat cells and that once you have a fat cell you can't get rid of it - it either inflates or deflates. Inside your fat cells you have "good" enzymes (hormone sensitive lipase) that take fat out of the fat cell and get used for energy and "bad" enzymes (lipoprotein lipase) they take fat circulating in the blood stream and store it for energy. If you workout and eat well, you have a lot of the "good" guys that are very effective at mobilizing any fat in your fat cells and sending it out to be used for energy. If you don't exercise and eat poorly you have lots of the "bad" guys that are very good at taking up the fat and storing it for energy. In order to lose body fat you have to build more of the good guys. Changing the internal biochemistry of a fat cell takes time and this is often why when someone initiates an exercise program they don't see results right away. In the beginning, their body is working against them. But if they stay persistent, the good guys will start learning to do their job better and eventually their body will start working for them!

Exercise Prescription: It's important to get fit so that your heart is healthy and you can work out at a higher intensity for a longer period of time. A harder workout at 75-80% of your heart rate will burn more fat and calories than a long workout at only 60% of your heart rate. In the past it has been a common misconception and many people still believe that in order to burn the most fat they need to stay at 60% of their heart rate. It comes down to how many calories you can burn during your session and you will burn far more calories with a higher intensity workout. A suggestion is to do some moderate workouts and some long and easy work-outs mixed in with the short and hard workouts. Structure 1-2 short and intense interval workouts 20 minutes in duration - these are the most important workouts. They should be about an 8 out of 10 on a scale of perceived exertion. Structure 1-2 moderate length intensity workouts (30-40 minutes) which should be a 6 or 7 out of 10 on a scale of perceived exertion. Structure 2-3 long and easy intensity workouts that are 45+ minutes which should be a 5 out of 10. Include a low intensity warm-up and cool-down with each workout to prevent injury and enhance performance and recovery.

Commit To A Life Long Goal: Healthy eating and exercise is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Remember, at the end of the day if you've eaten excess calories from any source, you will store those calories as fat. Bottom line: safe fat loss can often take years not months! You must be persistent and consistent and truly believe that you are worth making the changes necessary to becoming healthier. Here's a good analogy I like to use, it's called the flat tire analogy and it teaches you to not give up. If you had a flat tire what would you do? You would fix the flat tire and keep on going right! So don't turn around and go back home when you come to a bump in the road and get a flat tire, instead fix it and keep on going - you're worth it! Make exercise part of your life commitment. The first step is to focus on feeling good today...being happy and healthy and loving yourself now instead of saying that you'll be happy once you've lost a certain amount of weight. Here's to your Health!

If you have any health and fitness questions you would like answered please feel free to email jessica@stormfitness.com or call my office at 703-869-8376. Jessica is ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Certified and owner of Storm Fitness, LLC. For more information and helpful fitness tips, you can visit her website at www.stormfitness.com

Q: I am trying to get fit and lose weight but I really want to avoid getting injured since I seem to have a tendency to get injured whenever I start a new workout program. My question is what is better for me running or walking?

A: Running will burn more calories per minute, but you need to start walking before you can run. If you start running before you have a good walking foundation you will increase your chances of injury.