More the
muscle, less the fat
Most
people who start out exercising find that their weighing
scale actually shows an increase in the first
month or two,
says Anup Deb Nath
WHEN most of us want to lose
weight all we bother about are the numbers flashed by the
weighing scale. Though these figures are important, they
are in no way the only indication of your having lost
weight or, lets say, lost what we want to lose.
A few
common shocks that most people who start out exercising
are that often in the first month or two of starting to
exercise, they find that their weighing scale actually
shows an increase. The second one is that despite the
scales showing your weight lower you have actually gained
in inches.
Both these are rather
scary situations and make people want to stop exercising
altogether. These events take place due to certain
reasons and it is best that you should know what you are
doing wrong or right so that you can remedy it, if
needed.
Weight gain in the first
few weeks or even months of exercising is due to the
gaining of muscle, which is heavier, and the loss of the
lighter fat. This should not alarm you, as muscle is far
better than fat, and it should not really matter what the
scale shows. Go by how you look and feel as well as by
measuring yourself in inches.
A loss in weight but a
gain in inches is often exactly the opposite reason to
gaining weight while losing inches. Incorrect or severe
dieting along with exercising can often have the tendency
of making you lose precious muscles while keeping or
gaining the lighter-in-weight fat. This will show you as
weighing less on the scale but will have more inches
gathered on you.
The correct way to a
fitter you is by combining exercise and diet the correct
way and gaining a body that is well toned and fit with
minimum fat on it. To help you reach this goal we are
listing some easy steps below.
The first and often most
important point is to monitor how much you eat.
Eating a large meal and justifying it by saying that we
are working out doesnt really help much. Try to
balance it out with the idea that you must burn more than
you eat. Keep this in mind and you will never overeat.
What you eat is
the second point to successful fat loss. The type of food
we eat should be high in protein and complex
carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins etc and low in fat.
Protein is essential to maintain the muscle you have as
well as to grow more muscle. Protein is what makes up
most of the cells in our body and this is largely
responsible for the growth, repair as well as building
muscle in the body.
Complex carbohydrates
are ideal for the body as they prevent the pancreas from
releasing an excessive amount of insulin. Insulin is what
leads to the storage of fat and binge eating as well as
low blood sugar.
Fibre helps the body
store less fat by preventing high blood sugar levels and
reduces the insulin levels in the body. Vitamins and
minerals apart from many other functions are involved in
the fat burning process. Eating food which is rich
vitamins and minerals will help you in reducing fat and
gaining muscle.
Eating low fat is
essential; fat contains 9 calories per gram. Protein and
carbohydrate on the other hand contain only 4 calories
per gram, making them a far better substitute for those
on a diet.
Increase your
metabolic rate: Your metabolic rate is your
bodys calorie burning clock. The speed of this
clock can be increased by a couple of simple steps like
small, frequent meals and exercise. Small, nutritionally
healthy meals eaten from 4 to 6 times during the course
of the day are more beneficial than eating two big meals.
Exercise is the other way to increase your bodys
metabolic rate. Not only does the metabolic rate increase
during exercise but this effect lasts for a couple of
hours after the exercise as well.
Increase your muscle
content: Muscle is what gives our body that lean,
toned look we are all trying to achieve. Apart from this
it gives us bulk and the curves where you want them along
with the benefit of strength. Fat on the other hand gives
our body a lumpy, not so appealing shape. While
exercising our endeavour should be on maintaining
whatever muscle we may already have and also in trying to
build up more. Muscles help burn fat and, therefore, the
more muscle you have the less fat you will accumulate.
Regular aerobic
exercise: The large part of the energy that we use
when we do any form of cardiovascular exercise is
obtained by burning stored fat in the body. By regularly
doing aerobic exercises we can increase the rate at which
our body burns stored fat. This of course means regular
exercising keeping your target heart rate in mind.
Commitment: The
most important of all the points is to start something
and then stay with it. Miracles will not happen overnight
and it does take time to improve what years of misuse and
neglect has done to your body.
With these few points
you will find it easier working out to get yourself the
body you have always wanted.
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