vania pettifog: 3 essentials for weight loss success

weight loss success If you?re doing something?anything?to improve your health and fitness this year, I salute you. It?s so easy to let ourselves slide . . . to get really good at not looking below the neck when we see ourselves in the mirror.

Getting back in shape isn?t easy, despite the pixie-dust solutions plenty of people want to sell you. Which is why I want to make sure that your hard work pays off and gets you the results you want.

So here are my three best (and dead simple) tips to ensure success:

1. Choose a weight loss diet that provides enough calories and protein

You might think that the whole point of any diet is to slash calories to the bone in order to shed fat fast. But it doesn?t work that way.

Yes, you have to reduce calories in order to burn fat. But there?s a sweet spot you need to find. Cut too few calories, and your fat loss will be agonizingly slow. (Actually not a bad thing if you are quite patient.)

Cut too many, and the consequences to your metabolism are devastating. (A good chunk of my brand-new free webinar is devoted to this very point. Go to the bottom of this post to learn how you can view it.)

And unfortunately, women are much more likely to err on the side of eating too little.

Another term for ?very low calorie? diets? Starvation!

What about protein? Women in general tend not to consume enough of this macronutrient, even though it?s essential for making sure that what you lose during a diet is fat rather than muscle tissue.

No, you don?t have to be a big-time carnivore (although it helps). You can also get high-quality protein from dairy products, eggs, and soy and good-quality protein from legumes and other plant foods.

2. Follow a food plan that teaches you healthy eating habits

Sounds like a no-brainer, but many popular weight loss diets are based on the notion of following a ridiculous and unsustainable way of eating for a limited time.

I?m talking about plans that cut out whole food groups (e.g., carbohydrates or fats), make you drink your meals, involve intermittent fasting, or in other ways force you to eat (or not eat) in a way that nobody can maintain for long.

Here?s what?s wrong with that: the minute you drop the weight (presuming you do), you?re likely to return to the old eating habits that got you into trouble in the first place.

Why wouldn?t you?

The diet you?ve been following has taught you nothing about how to eat right under normal circumstances?how to make healthy, calorie-controlled choices day after day in a normal food environment.

A good fat-loss plan teaches you new ways of eating that you can maintain for a lifetime: what to choose (most of the time) and in what quantities. During your time on the fat-loss diet, you master new eating skills so that once you?ve gotten to your ideal weight, you can make a seamless transition into maintenance.

3. Form an exercise habit?don?t use diet alone to get lean

Not long ago I read a research report that said only about 17 percent of dieters were also exercising. Here are three reasons why exercise is truly essential:

It protects your lean mass (i.e., your muscle) while you?re dieting. This matters because the amount of muscle you have helps determine your metabolic rate. Lose muscle, and your metabolism slows down?simple as that.

It burns calories. If you?re exercising?whether by taking a daily walk or working out at a gym?you lose fat more quickly simply because you?re expending energy through movement.

It will help you maintain your fat loss. Very few people who lose weight actually keep it off. There are many reasons (including the fact that they didn?t learn a new way of eating), but one of the biggies is not having an exercise habit.

A couple of U.S. scientists have spent decades studying successful ?losers??people who have lost, on average, more than 50 pounds and kept it off for several years. One of their key strategies is following a daily exercise routine.

If you?d like to learn more about how to avoid devastating diet mistakes, view my free webinar. Don?t wait?it?s online for a limited time. Find out how just below this post.

Comments or questions? Drop me a note!

Mary is a weight-loss and body-transformation coach for women and an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist. Her online Body-Transformation Bootcamp teaches effective, no-BS strategies for fat loss and fitness, geared especially for the over-40 female. You can find Mary at PrimeFitnessforWomen and on Facebook.

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