Weight Loss Made Simple Part 2 of 2. (Click here to read part 1 – Priorities of Nutrition.)

 

First and foremost, it’s vital that you are training on a regular basis. Any training at all, regardless of time, type or duration is better than none at all. Find a type of training you can stick with that is practical to do, something you enjoy doing and that can be incorporated into your schedule on a regular consistent basis. Even if you can’t manage the ideal frequency and duration of workouts per week, any workout is better than no workout at all. Do the best you can with what you have available and build from there.

 

To go on a diet without a complete exercise program including weights, cardio and a crystal clear goal is not only ineffective, it’s a prescription for disaster. When you go on a calorie restricted diet and you don’t do any weight training, you will almost always lose lean body mass. Weight training is the only way to keep your muscle while you’re dieting for fat loss.

Many people, especially women, are hesitant to lifting weights. The actual fact however, is that weight training is significantly more important than cardio or other forms of aerobic training. Most people only associate weight training with building muscle and increasing strength, but few realise the impact weight training has on fat loss. Weight training increases your lean body mass and that increase is what speeds up your metabolic rate so you burn more calories at rest (your basal metabolic rate).

It’s a common misconception that if you have a lot of weight to lose, you should lose the fat with cardio first before starting a weight-training program. Actually, the opposite is true; weight training always accelerates fat loss, although it happens primarily through an indirect mechanism. Muscle is metabolically active tissue that burns fat, and lifting weights builds muscle, therefore weight training must be a part of every fat loss program. This doesn’t mean you need to look like or train like a bodybuilder, unless that’s your goal. It simply means that weight training is equally as important as aerobic training even when your goal is fat loss. Aerobics by itself doesn’t cut it.

Suggested links:

 

In order to stimulate muscle growth (or muscle retention in a calorie deficit), you must be lifting weights that are heavy enough and be aiming to always improve on your previous workout. If you do what your body can already handle, then it has no reason and no stimulus to adapt and develop. If you do something new and challenging that your body isn’t used to, then it gets a strong signal to grow so it can handle the challenge better next time.

“If you do what you’ve always done, then you’ll get what you always got. If you want something different, then do something different .”

For muscle strength and power, select a weight that you can only complete 4 – 6 reps. For muscle size and hypertrophy, select a weight for around 6 – 12 reps. Finally for endurance goals, set your weight at 15 – 20 reps.

Select weights that challenge you on a session to session or week to week basis, and this will result in a gradual increase in strength and size. Make sure you record the weights, sets and reps you do for each exercise during the workout. Then next week, look back on your previous scores and aim to increase the number of reps on each set by at least one. If you get to the top of your rep ranges on the set, then increase the weight by 5 – 10% and start again to build the reps back up with the heavier weight.

Suggested links:

 

 

To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit, and there are two ways you can do this. Either decrease your caloric intake from food (calorie restriction), increase the amount of calories you burn (exercising), or both together. I always recommend both together as it’s healthier, more efficient and a more permanent way is to burn the fat. Don’t starve the fat with very low calorie diets, but burn it off with exercise and feed your body with good nutrition. Dieting or severe calorie cutting without exercise is not an effective strategy.

It’s always better to eat more and exercise more than it is to eat less without exercise. I see a lot of people slash their calories to starvation levels and exercise little or not at all. This then slows the metabolism, decreases lean body mass and invokes the starvation response. On the other hand, exercise allows you to create the calorie deficit and burn fat while increasing the metabolism.

A decrease in calorie intake, if extreme and or prolonged, slows down the metabolism while an increase in activity can actually speed up your metabolism. Again, you want to find an enjoyable, practical and flexible type of cardio that allows you to sustain a high heart rate of 70 – 80% MHR for a significant portion of time. There are endless options for this so get out there and find one that you enjoy doing regularly. Turn your body into a fat burning furnace!

Suggested links:

 

 

Once you have established these fundamentals of nutrition and training, it is time to review and assess your current situation. Look at your own health and lifestyle habits as they are now, and be honest with yourself. Is your nutrition balanced, healthy, stable and sustainable? Is your training program structured, planned and productive? What about your every day lifestyle? Alcohol? Smoking? Sleep patterns? Stress levels?

What one major obstacle is halting your progress overall? What is preventing you from reaching your goal? Common obstacles people come up against include:

Suggested links:

 

 

We have met the enemy and the enemy is ourself. If you’re at a sticking point in your progress, then there’s almost always one major aspect in your path. The good news is that 95% of the time, it’s something we can control and deal with. As soon as you identify and remove the obstacles in your life, your progress starts to build momentum and your body will start changing so fast that it’s actually scary.

Once you’ve found what obstacles and limiting beliefs are holding you back, you can give these areas in your life some much needed attention and alteration. This is done by applying my priorities of nutrition and training to that area of your life. After you’ve made the main thing the main thing, only then move on to number two, and number three and so on. Set priorities, put them in order and be sure the vital few pieces are in place before worrying about the trivial many.

 

I’m one of very few in the industry who will tell you losing fat is not easy! The reason no one else will tell you this is because “quick, easy, overnight and effortless” are easier to sell. “Hard work, blood, sweat and tears” – hard work scares people away.

“If you’re scared by hard work, then this is not for you.”

The title is “Weight loss made simple”, and yes losing fat is simple but it’s definitely not easy – there’s a big difference.

“Simple” means that something is uncomplicated. “Easy” implies that something can be achieved with little or no effort. Losing fat is mostly just a matter of exercising more and eating a little less. Nothing complicated there. But easy? Not a chance. Despite what most advertisements for diets and nutrition products would lead you to believe, there is no such thing as “quick and easy fat loss.”

Hard work is the only way anyone ever accomplishes anything! Nothing good ever comes easy. The good news is that everything you correctly invest into your health and fitness, you get back ten fold for the rest of your life. Everything worth having in life has a price attached to it and hard work is the price we must all pay for success.

We are what we repeatedly do every day. Therefore the excellence that we strive for every day, giving 100% of ourselves for it, commitment, all out effort, it’s not an accident. Its not luck, or genetics or circumstance that defines lasting success, it’s repeated hard earned efforts into lasting results.

Rapid gains results in rapid loss. We see it everywhere. Lottery winners quickly lose their money and end up worse off. Fad diet extremists on the biggest loser challenges gain all their fat back plus extra.

Slow steady repeated action is what sticks. Whether it be helpful or hurtful actions, they will lead to lasting positive or negative consequences.

Focus on your daily choices and daily actions. Whatever you were doing is what you are and what you do next is what you will become. As you strive for excellence and success, it’s not an accident. You earned it.

In the end, there are no short cuts. The person who works the hardest, the longest, who gets up every time they fail, stays consistent, persistent and true to their goal, will always get the best results.

 

 

Weight Loss Made Simple

Be Patient, Persistent, Consistent

Work Hard, Expect Results.

Good Luck!

What Now?

Try the 7 Day Kickstart Course - FREE

“Hi there, Welcome to George Health and congratulations on making the choice to improve your physique and your life! My name is George, this is my website, and my objective is very simple:”

“To Guide You Through A Complete Physique and Lifestyle Transformation, That Gives You Health, Happiness and Quality of Life.”

“What does that mean? Give me just 7 Days, and I’ll teach you how to fire up your metabolism, melt away stubborn fat, build muscle and transform your whole physique into the shape you’ve always wanted.

With George Health at your disposal, along with free articles, videos and social media support, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals and getting to where you want to be in life much quicker!”

George Minors – Weight Loss Made Simple

www.GeorgeHealth.com

Start my 7 Day Transformation Kickstart Course