There are many advertisements for pills, patches, tips and exercises which promise to allow you to achieve a significant weight loss in a very short time. Unfortunately, most if not all of these advertisements are misleading. You need a balance, a combination of strategies which is specifically right for you.
Keep in mind the fact that your body hates change. If you change slowly, you can fool your body into believing that no change is taking place. I’ll return to this later.
But first you need to work out your particular needs. What is it that you actually want to achieve? Is it:
(1) A general weight loss,
(2) A specific weight loss, e.g. around your thighs, waist, neck, etc.
(3) A reshape of your body or
(4) Both Fat Loss and Body Reshape?
A general weight loss will have many benefits. Your overall health will improve first of all. There’ll be less breathlessness. You’ll perhaps be able to bend over and do up your own shoelaces again! Your clothes will grow and there won’t be such a struggle to do up that skirt or trousers. Maybe you’ll even be able to run for that bus again.
However, it will mean that those places that look better if they are little rounded, boobs for females or face for males may well suffer.
So maybe a specific weight loss will be better? That seems to fill the bill, so to speak. You lose weight around your waist, but keep those attractive bits on your chest. Or you lose the belly, but don’t lose your chubby cheeks.
The draw back with this is that it is very difficult to find a diet program that will actually achieve selective thinning!
Well, what about a reshape of your body? This sounds like the ideal plan. You do some specific exercises which will build up your muscles in those areas you want them larger; legs, arms, abs, etc. Sure enough, your muscles will strengthen and you will see an improvement in your body shape. You’ll be thinner and look more attractive.
But, of course, you’ll have to continue your fitness regime for ever, because as soon as you stop, muscles will get slack and your tummy, etc will start to sag. You really don’t want to be working out that hard for the rest of your life. And if even if you do want to, you probably won’t be able to!
So it looks like the final option is the one to take, diet and exercise combined. Now this is the natural one for the human body. How many pictures of fat cave men and women have you seen?
I know, it’s all a propaganda program on behalf of the cave people. Draw only the thin ones and future generations will think we had the solution to their obese society. Or they were so short of paints that they drew thin people because it saves on paint! Somehow, I don’t think so.
Just think of their daily routine. All the men get up in the morning and they’re out all day running after deer, etc. Or running away from lions. All the women are either carrying heavy objects around for cooking or preparing food, or they’re running after the children!
Later the women are running away from the men… Or is it the other way round?!
Food is not very plentiful and they have to make the most of whatever they manage to find, whether it’s the vegetation or meat.
The natural way to stay in good, healthy shape then is to eat sensibly and to exercise.
A variety of foods, sensibly cooked is needed. Proteins, fats (yes, fats are essential!) and carbohydrates carefully organised and rotated actually will help you to burn calories so that your intake does not exceed your output.
Put this alongside a well organised body training regime and you have the essentials for good health and long life. You’ll look and feel better and after you’ve achieved your ideal weight and shape, it only takes a little effort and wise management to stay in shape for ever.
Now to make sure you stay in shape for ever, we must return to the fact that the body hates change which I mentioned earlier. You must trick your body into thinking no changes are taking place by changing little by little.
