Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women

The Battle of the Belly: Part 2

Weight loss vs. fat loss
Last week I shared some tips for portion control/ consuming less, to win the battle of the bulge. This week I'd like to share some tips for exercise / expending more calories.  When attempting weight loss what is often overlooked, by women especially, is that it's not just about weight loss, is about fat loss. When we focus just on the scale, we may be misguided. With some diets, like the Atkins diet, there is significant dehydration- dehydration can measure as a weight loss, but is it not "fat" loss.

Our Fat burning furnace
Over the years, we lose muscle mass.  In fact, every year after the mid 30's women will lose a 1/3 -1/2 pound of muscle and replace it, yes replace it, with fat! The kicker is, muscle weighs more and burns more calories than fat. So as we age the efficiency of our fat burning furnace decreases. Combine with is declining activity and well, you can do the math. Although hormonal transitions and aging do have an impact, we can limit this fat gain with resistance or strength training and obtaining hormonal balance.

Measure your success
So before you jump head first into a new fad diet, do a New Year inventory. Take your measurements. Optimal health and body shaping does not always equate with a numerical decline on the scale. And building muscle through optimal exercise can really augment your efforts.

To get the most out of your workout time, see the Xxtra fitness nutritional line that I use and recommend.

To see if you are making the best exercise choices to impact your weight, metabolism, body fat and strength, take this quiz from Shape Magazine.

To a shapelier, in shape you.

Lori