The University of
Maryland Medical Center calculates that you can expect to lose 1-1.5 lbs a week
safely, that's 6 lbs a month (18 lbs for 3 months). Realistically speaking, weight loss at this
pace can be discouraging but more important it is sustainable!
You can actually lose absolutely no
weight and lose inches. The way you do this is to eat enough, lift heavy
weights so you are gaining some muscle mass.
The reason this works is muscle is
more dense than fat. So, if you are losing fat and exercising you are
exchanging some fat for some muscle. You might not lose a lot of weight but you
are losing inches that way.
Muscle is more compact than fat,
therefore you can lose inches more quickly than weight. The results you would expect to see are loss
in clothes’ size.
Remember, at the beginning of any
weight loss/nutrition/exercise program, you can see dramatic weight loss (mostly
due to water loss) which will later plateau as your body goes into “starvation”
mode. This will subside and your weight
loss/inch loss will be back on track.
Burn
the calories in exercise and control your diet to use the fat stored there.
Your body adapts slowly, it fights against change! Give yourself 4-6 weeks for
REAL change to happen. That should be about 10 pounds.
To lose as many inches as possible, you need to
incorporate weight lifting with your cardio exercise. You can even burn up to
30 percent more calories when combining weight lifting and cardio circuit
training into one workout, according to the "Fitness Magazine"
website. Female & Fit incorporates
resistance, cardio, and high intensity interval training into each workout for
maximum caloric burn during and after the workout!
