Sometimes when you try to lose weight and exercise hard it can be frustrating if you don’t lose anything significant. One reason could be that regular exercise builds strong muscles, and muscle weighs more heavily than the flab it replaces. It takes time and effort to rebuild strong muscle and to stretch out and tone your entire body. Perhaps you could jog twice a week? If that is too strenuous I recommend you walk for half an hour every day instead. But it must be a brisk walk to keep your metabolic rate up.
But weight loss and a well toned body depend not only on regular exercise, but also on the quality and quantity of food you consume. Maybe its time to check with a dietician or nutritionist that your diet is a healthy one! Limiting the amount of fat in your diet, particularly saturated (animal) fat, found in red meats, diary produce such as full cream milk and cheese can make a difference. Substitute these proteins with poultry or fish which contain the more healthy, un-saturated fats. Cut down on sauces and sweet sugary foods, and remember that drinks can be high in calories too. Beware of fizzy drinks and sugary fruit drinks and limit your alcohol intake. Freshly squeezed pure fruit juice or water is a healthier option. Aim to drink 8 glasses of fluids (Inc tea and coffee) a day to cleanse your system and prevent de-hydration.
After the birth of a baby many women find it upsetting not being able to get back into shape as quickly as they’d hoped for. When there are other children to be fed “picking” in between meals is something many young Mums are unaware they do and looking back I realise I did when my children were small. A spoonful of food “just to test the temperature” or “one for me – now one for you”? These “pickings” soon mount up and you will be surprised by the extra calorie intake! It helps to write down everything you eat and drink during the day, one biscuit, a few crisps, a piece of chocolate, or a sugary drink with the children. It’s important to keep active, so take the smaller children out in the pushchair and set yourself a goal of walking to a park or shops just that bit further from home than usual.
Whatever your weight problem why not discuss your concerns with fitness professionals at the local health club? Have them do a Body stat analysis, which will tell the percentage of water, fat, bone and muscle in your body. They will be able to design an individual exercise programme to help you lose weight. There are many commercial weight loss preparations to be found in health food shops and chemists or detoxifying programmes which might help to “kick-start” your weight loss.
Alternatively contact your local slimming club, who will advise and support you week by week as you lose weight. You will need to be honest and keep a true record of everything you eat and drink. Discuss it with the group leader who will help motivate you.
Whatever your method aim to lose weight gradually. When weight loss is dramatic the skin which has been stretched to its limits by the excess weight does not have time to return gradually to its pre-stretched state. ((Rather like a rubber band or a balloon which has lost its elasticity when deflated). Younger skin will still contain plenty of collagen and elastin, the two skin components that help regain and maintain a healthy skin, but sadly this is not the case with mature people and excess skin can remain a problem after losing weight. You will need to be patient but can assist the tightening process by massaging your skin each day with a firming cream.
Why not visit a beauty salon? A professional massage will help promote a smoother skin. Enquire about the Salon’s machines, which stimulate and tone up both your saggy muscles and skin. Equipment such as Slendertone, use a faradic current – an electrical impulse – which causes the muscles to contract with the effect of firming and tightening the slack muscles and covering skin. Drink plenty of water to prevent your skin from dryness and dehydration and do plenty of exercise.
If you still have a problem losing weight after a few months I advise you talk to a trained dietician who can look in more detail at your individual diet and daily needs. Maybe your stubborn weight loss is linked to hormonal problems or a low metabolic rate and you need medication. Ask your GP for his advice. He may consider your problem to be obesity and a risk to your health and may prescribe pills or even suggest the possibility of fitting a gastric band or stapling the stomach to assist your weight loss.