You know the cycle, many of you can relate to the constant struggle of going on crash diets, losing a lot of weight just to turn around and gain it all back the minute you stop your crash diet and go back to eating the way you did before.
There are a lot of problems that occur when a person continues on this cycle. Firstly, every time you gain weight, your body grows new fat cells. Basically, this means that your body grows new homes for fat to hide out and store. The more fat cells you have, the more fat will store in them. The harder it will be to coax the fat out to burn off through calorie restriction and exercise like you used to be able to do.
This is why each time you lose weight it becomes harder and harder to do so. It becomes more difficult due to the fact there are more fat cells that have been developed and the fat has gone there to hide making it much harder through your effort of diet and exercise to coax the fat out of their warm little cells and have them burnt off.
The other downside to always being a slave to the battle of losing and gaining weight is the the fact that the elasticity and collagen in your skin takes a beating. In short, the more you gain and lose weight the harder it becomes for your skin to snap back to shape and look toned and tight. Each time you lose weight and then gain and then lose again, you damage the collagen and the elastin in your skin and it will be much more difficult, if not impossible for your skin to tone up again. Eventually you will damage this process to the point that it will not snap back anymore and you will be left with saggy, untoned skin no matter how hard you work at losing weight or even when you do lose weight.
How do you stop this from happening?
Stop Crash Dieting
The more you crash diet, the more likely you are to gain the weight back as soon as the “Diet” is over. Instead you need to make a commitment to a sensible healthy eating LIFESTYLE that may not give you results as quickly as you would get with a crash diet but it will make you much more successful at sticking to it for life! Something that is sensible for you to keep up with, stick too and adopt as your new lifestyle. A plan with about 80% of the time sticking to your plan and 20% of the time enjoying the things you like to eat and drink with the full intention and commitment of getting back on your plan quickly after. Chose a professional to help you with this. I can certainly help any of you interested in learning how to stop this process and teach you how to eat healthy for a lifetime.
Add Strength Training and Flexibility Training
The best form of exercise to lose weight and gain lean muscle that will burn fat at rest and keep your skin toned and tight is weight training. Cardio is important but do not overdue it. Too much cardio will also tear down the collagen in your skin and without adding some weight training to your program you will end up with saggy skin. The best combination is 70% strength training, weight training 20% flexibilty like yoga to make sure you stretch those muscles and keep them pliable so they stay toned and 10% cardio to keep your heart healthy and your circulation healthy. Most strength and weight training is also providing cardio vascular benefits. Weight training and flexibility is the fountain of youth!!!
Live in Balance
Stop the cycle of thinking it is ok to go on vacation and gain 10 pounds because you know you will lose it when you get home. THIS is the thinking that will cause you to develop more and more fat cells and make it harder and harder to lose weight each time and will also be detrimental to the tone of your skin
Ask for Help
If your not sure how to start a healthy living lifestyle, ask a professional. Look up some nutrition experts and ask for help. Learning how to eat healthy for life is the only way to avoid these extreme up and down cycles of weight loss, weight gain and yo yo dieting.
It is NEVER too late to learn!!! Find some healthy friends that enjoy a healthy lifestyle and support your efforts. Friends that live a healthy lifestyle in balance are usually very happy to share that and teach you what they do.
You can make these changes today!!! Stop the cycle and gain control of your weight and your life!!
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