The Best Ways To Lose Fat

Hi all:

I wanted to talk about something different today. Instead of talking about the process and how you will get to where you want to be, I want to talk about what happens when you get there…and notice I said when, not if. Positive thoughts and belief are truly the key to losing weight and staying fit.

So, let’s say that like me you’ve reached your target weight, whatever it might be. For myself, it was around 180-185. I’m at 182 today which isn’t bad when you consider I weighed 230 pounds in October. Now comes the interesting part…the changes that have taken place.

For me, there are several changes that I had not expected. First was the fact that none of my clothes fit. At all. You see, when I was overweight, because I carried my fat fairly evenly on my body, I bought extra large shirts, sweaters, etc, to fool others (and myself) into thinking I wasn’t as heavy as I really was. It actually worked pretty well! I had more than a few people ask me why I was trying to lose weight, since I wasn’t overweight to begin with. Who knew I’d be that successful in tricking others! But I couldn’t trick myself. At least not forever.

The problem for me now is that I’m not a real shopping lover. Plus, I don’t even know what fits anymore, what size I am or how tight my clothes should be! A coworker wants me to wear skin-tight clothes, but I think she has issues! Anyway, that’s the first change that I had to contend with when I got to where I am now. By the way, I’m not actually complaining! It’s a cool problem to have, don’t you think? Just wait till you have to deal with it, especially if you do really like to shop!

The next change that I had to deal with, that I hadn’t anticipated was the temperature. Yeah I know, it sounds weird. But for a long time, especially when I was working, I always found the average room temperature too hot. Any exertion on my part, and I mean any, and the sweat would be running down my face. Not the nicest thing to see, particularly when you are a barber and cutting people’s hair! Now, I often find the temperature too cold! I never realized just how much your body fat insulated your core and made you sweat! What a surprise! Now instead of turning the AC higher to cool down the room, and listening to my co-workers complain that it was too cold, I’m turning it down and they are saying it’s too hot! Sheesh, you can’t win!

Finally, and there are a lot of other changes I’ll talk about later but here’s just one more that I’m dealing with at the moment, sounds a bit fussy but it’s bugging me a bit. You see, I’m not one to wear jewelry. It gets in the way, it snags on stuff, etc. But for years I’ve been wearing my late Father’s wedding band in memory of him as well as a small silver ring that has some sentimental value. At one time, my Dad’s ring was so tight on me by the end of the day (apparently your hands swell as the day goes on, at least mine did) I had to soap my finger just to get it off. Well, guess what? Now I have to watch that it doesn’t shoot off across the room when I’m working! And I can’t wear my silver ring at all. It just won’t stay on. I know, a small problem, but it’s another of the changes I’m learning to deal with. And you will have to as well.

So now you’ve seen a few of the changes that are in store for you when you get to where you are going. Some cool, some irritating. But guess what? I wouldn’t dream of gaining the weight back and NOT having to deal with the changes! And that’s a fact.

Take care all and stay the course!

Dave.

Hi all:

I wanted to talk a bit about the old-fashioned body weight exercises. Too many times we’re told that we have to have all this equipment to work out effectively. You know, we need a bench and barbells and dumbbells and this and that, etc. But excess equipment just looks pretty and takes up space. Makes great hangers for clothes but is it really necessary? Do you actually use it all? I’d guess not.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve achieved my goals so far with minimal equipment. A slant board, some dumbbells, a chin up bar and a stationary bike. That’s it. And with just that and a change in my diet, I’ve dropped to my current weight of 184 pounds from 230. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

But I don’t do all of my exercise with even this much equipment. Some of the best exercises are done with just your body weight. And you know the ones, don’t you? They’re the exercises most of us learned in school. Push ups, pull ups, dips and crunches. Except for the pull ups, for which you need a secure bar, you don’t really need anything but your own body and some determination for these exercises.

The good old push up is a fantastic chest and arm exercise. Remember to keep your body straight as a board at all times when performing the push up. If you are just starting out, support your lower body with your knees instead of your toes. If you do the push up with your hands close together, you target your inner chest muscles. Hands further out targets your outer chest. This also works the arms, especially the triceps.

Pull ups target the arms. Doing a chin up with your hands curled under, palms facing toward you, is a great bicep work out. Palms facing out, away from you, works your lower arms and some upper arm muscle as well. If you hang from the bar, you can do leg raises, which is an incredible ab workout…and very tough when you first start out!

Dips are for the triceps. Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair, one that won’t tip forward, slide your legs straight out and support your body with your arms on the edge of the chair. Then dip down and back up. Intense burn on the triceps!

And finally crunches are crunches. No equipment needed. If you are wondering about cardio, buy a skipping rope, turn up the tunes and start skipping! It’s cheap and one of the best overall cardio work outs there is.

So there you have it. Cheap, easy and effective exercise with minimal equipment. All you need is a goal, some determination and the will to follow through. Try the body weight exercises. You may find that after all this time, it will feel like meeting old friends again!

Take care,
Dave.