My Mushings

The key to permanently losing weight is simple: burn more calories than you consume! That’s all there is to it! If your body is burning 2000 calories a day, you simply need to burn MORE than that in order for your body to start burning off your bodyfat. Considering your body is burning calories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week just to maintain it’s essential functions, that’s not a whole lot. But before we get into anything too complicated, lets take a step back and take a look at some of the basics for maintaining a healthy body.

Now, these are some of the most important, but unfortunately most overlooked aspects of losing weight and getting into shape. Water: Yes, that’s right, water. You should be drinking at least a gallon of water a day. Don’t feel silly carrying around a full jug of water in the gym, it’s extremely beneficial. Your body carries out thousands of processes using water, so you want to make sure that you’re getting enough of it. It flushes out toxins, carries vitamins and nutrients throughout the blood, and also helps to reduce water retention. So drink up!

Vitamins: Taking your vitamins everyday is hands down the most important part of being healthy. A large majority of people do not get the amounts of vitamins and minerals they need, and getting all of the recommended amounts from food alone would result in eating a ridiculous amount. So, instead of cramming down plate after plate of food, just take a daily multi vitamin instead!

Sleep: Just like most people don’t get enough vitamins and minerals, a large majority of people don’t get enough sleep either. Many people do not understand the benefits from constantly getting a solid 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Not only will you be energized throughout the day, but if you are lifting weights, sleep is essential to adding muscle. During sleep, your body releases growth hormones that aid your body in repairing muscles used during your workouts. So sip down a cup of warm milk (also a good source of protein)

In order to successfully lose weight quickly and permanently, you need to get your diet in check. Weight loss is almost impossible without some adjustments to your diet. No need to fret. A diet isn’t an ordeal to survive, it’s a way to achieve that body you’ve always dreamed of. A diet is simply what you eat day in, day out. A diet isn’t a temporary fix to a permanent problem. To successfully lose weight, you’ll need to alter the way you eat. It’s no wonder people who go on quick-fix diets often gain all the weight back (sometimes more). As harsh as it sounds, you need to change your relationship with food. But don’t worry, with time, there are plenty of healthy foods out there that taste great and will still aid you in losing weight. And besides, after a while you’ll really start to notice how much better you feel with a steady supply of nutrient rich foods going into your body.

Now that we know what kinds of food to eat, the next logical question is “how much”? A simple rule of thumb for healthy weight loss is 10-12x your bodyweight in calories. So someone weighing 180 lbs would need to eat between 1800 and 2160 calories a day in order to lose weight. This ensures your body gets the nutrition it needs to stay healthy, but also taps into your fat stores to get you in the shape you want!
Cardiovascular exercise, or “cardio”, as most people tend to call it, is a great way to burn some extra calories and lose weight. You see, anything that gets your heart rate elevated will cause your body to burn calories at a higher rate. The more calories you burn throughout the day, the more fat your body is capable of burning off and therefore the more weight you can lose.

It’s not wonder marathon runners, swimmers, and most professional sports players are so slim and fit! They don’t go a day without doing some kind of cardiovascular exercise for an extended period of time. In addition to the physical benefits of cardio (aka: WEIGHT LOSS) there are many mental benefits. Obviously losing weight and looking better will do wonders for your phsyche, but it’s also been proven that exercise in general releases serontonin, a powerful hormone that may be the closest thing to a “natural” antidepression. It makes you feel great! It’s easy to spot too, after you get done working out or doing a long jog, you’ll instantly feel uplifted and just plain happy!

So throw on those running shoes and hit the pavement! Here are some fun ways to get cardio trainng: running, walking, bicycling, hiking, rock climbing, running stairs.

These fun activities will more than suffice to burn extra calories, which is your overall goal in the battle of the bulge. In addition to the calories that you’ll burn while doing cardio, an added benefit is that your body will burn more calories throughout the day. An intense cardio session can cause your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories) to stay elevated for up to a day and a half! So while your sitting down watching TV, cooking dinner, or even sleeping, your body is burning calories faster and destroying the fat you’ve been dying to get rid of!