Category Archives: Lose Weight Fast

If your previous attempts to lose weight have failed, its not because you failed. Its because whatever diets or regimens you tried have failed you. Theres no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution to obesity. And, contrary to popular opinion, obesity is not caused by simply eating too much or being lazy. Obesity has many causes.

Thats why so many people have been so successful with Idaho Weight Loss. Here, Allen Rader, MD, Michelle Freshwater, MD Brad Gilman, MD Mary Hafer, MD and Deb Mabbutt PA-C and staff have had some of the best weight loss success rates in the United States. With over 100 years of combined experience in medical weight loss, they have helped thousands of people from all walks of life and all over the country lose weight. And many have kept it off.

Our clients have lost over 590,000 pounds and counting . . .*

What makes our programs more effective than so many others is our knowledge of neurochemistry and our understanding of psychology, behavior, nutrition, metabolism, lifestyle, medical history and other considerations such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Instead of one-size-fits-all, our focus is on the unique needs of each individual person who comes to us for help.

The rest is here:
Home - Idaho Weight Loss

Hormonal and metabolic imbalances or even prescription medicine can interfere with your body's ability to lose weight. Our personalized approach to weight loss begins with a complete evaluation, where we review your health, diet history, body composition, blood panel and EKG to better understand your total health profile. We also consult with your primary care provider as needed to assure optimal overall health.

From there, we tailor a personalized weight loss plan that will work for your body. Unlike rapid weight loss and fad diets that help you lose weight fast - only to regain it later - our safe weight loss program takes a multidisciplinary, holistic approach to set you up for long-term success. You'll have frequent follow-ups that provide support, motivation and education, addressing the medical, emotional and physical aspects of your weight loss journey.

You can expect a positive, encouraging environment where we celebrate your successes and support you through any setbacks.

Read more here:
Medical Weight Loss | How to Lose Weight | Aurora Health Care

There are many ways to lose a lot of weight fast.

However, most of them will make you hungry and unsatisfied.

If you don't have iron willpower, then hunger will cause you to give up on these plans quickly.

The plan outlined here will:

The most important part is to cut back on sugars and starches (carbs).

These are the foods that stimulate secretion of insulin the most. If you didn't know already, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body.

When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time getting out of the fat stores and the body starts burning fats instead of carbs.

Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight (1, 2).

It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes more) in the first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.

This is a graph from a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight/obese women (3).

The low-carb group is eating until fullness, while the low-fat group is calorie restricted and hungry.

Cut the carbs, lower your insulin and you will start to eat less calories automatically and without hunger (4).

Put simply, lowering your insulin puts fat loss on "autopilot."

Each one of your meals should include a protein source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables. Constructing your meals in this way will automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.

Protein Sources:

The importance of eating plenty of protein can not be overstated.

This has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day (5, 6, 7).

High protein diets can also reduce obsessive thoughts about food by 60%, reduce desire for late-night snacking by half, and make you so full that you automatically eat 441 fewer calories per day... just by adding protein to your diet (8, 9).

When it comes to losing weight, protein is the king of nutrients. Period.

Low-Carb Vegetables:

Dont be afraid to load your plate with these low-carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without going over 20-50 net carbs per day.

A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy. There is no physiological need for grains in the diet.

Fat Sources:

Eat 2-3 meals per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.

Dont be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for failure. It will make you feel miserable and abandon the plan.

The best cooking fat to use is coconut oil. It is rich in fats called medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). These fats are more fulfilling than others and can boost metabolism slightly (10, 11).

There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new studies show that saturated fat doesnt raise your heart disease risk at all (12, 13).

To see how you can assemble your meals, check out this low carb meal plan and this list of 101 low carb recipes.

You don't need to exercise to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.

The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.

If you're new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice.

By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight (14, 15).

Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat (16).

If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing some easier cardio workouts like running, jogging, swimming or walking will suffice.

You can take one day "off" per week where you eat more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.

It is important to try to stick to healthier carb sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, etc.

But only this one higher carb day, if you start doing it more often than once per week then you're not going to see much success on this plan.

If you must have a cheat meal and eat something unhealthy, then do it on this day.

Be aware that cheat meals or carb refeeds are NOT necessary, but they can up-regulate some fat burning hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones (17, 18).

You will gain some weight during your re-feed day, but most of it will be water weight and you will lose it again in the next 1-2 days.

It is NOT necessary to count calories as long as you keep the carbs very low and stick to protein, fat and low-carb vegetables.

However, if you really want to, then use this calculator.

Enter your details, then pick the number from either the "Lose Weight" or the "Lose Weight Fast" section - depending on how fast you want to lose.

There are many great tools you can use to track the amount of calories you are eating. Here is a list of 5 calorie counters that are free and easy to use.

The main goal is to keep carbs under 20-50 grams per day and get the rest of your calories from protein and fat.

Here are 10 more tips to lose weight even faster:

Even more tips here: 30 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Naturally (Backed by Science).

You can expect to lose 5-10 pounds of weight (sometimes more) in the first week, then consistent weight loss after that.

I can personally lose 3-4 lbs per week for a few weeks when I do this strictly.

If you're new to dieting, then things will probably happen quickly. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you will lose it.

For the first few days, you might feel a bit strange. Your body has been burning carbs for all these years, it can take time for it to get used to burning fat instead.

It is called the "low carb flu" and is usually over within a few days. For me it takes 3. Adding some sodium to your diet can help with this, such as dissolving a bouillon cube in a cup of hot water and drinking it.

After that, most people report feeling very good, positive and energetic. At this point you will officially have become a "fat burning beast."

Despite the decades of anti-fat hysteria, the low-carb diet also improves your health in many other ways:

If you have a medical condition then talk to your doctor before making changes because this plan can reduce your need for medication.

By reducing carbs and lowering insulin levels, you change the hormonal environment and make your body and brain "want" to lose weight.

This leads to drastically reduced appetite and hunger, eliminating the main reason that most people fail with conventional weight loss methods.

This is proven to make you lose about 2-3 times as much weight as a typical low-fat, calorie restricted diet (46, 47, 48).

Another great benefit for the impatient folks is that the initial drop in water weight can lead to a big difference on the scale as early as the next morning.

Here are a few examples of low-carb meals that are simple, delicious and can be prepared in under 10 minutes: 7 Healthy Low-Carb Meals in 10 Minutes or Less.

On this plan, you can eat good food until fullness and still lose a ton of fat. Welcome to paradise.

More about how to lose weight:

View original post here:
How to Lose Weight Fast: 3 Simple Steps ... - healthline.com

This is one of those questions that gets asked a lot so I wanted to address it in this post.

I know that one of the things that excited me about starting the ketogenic diet in the beginning was reading about all these crazy weight loss success stories that some women seemed to experience. You know, the ones where they lose 14 pounds in the first three weeks and then continue to lose 4 pounds a week for the next 6 months and voila theyre at their ideal weight.

I loved the thought of getting into a fat burning state and just watching the excess pounds melt away.

In actuality, it took me about a year to lose 30 pounds. However it didnt take a year for me to start feeling and looking a great deal better, though. This actually happened in a matter of weeks.

The thing about losing weight on the keto diet is every woman is different. Those who have a lot of excess fat will find that it comes off more quickly. Those who have a lot of metabolic derangement or hormonal healing to do will find that it takes longer.

Your bodys main goal is always survival and health. It doesnt care about how it looks, it cares about how its functioning.

When you start eating keto with weight loss in mind, you kind of have to trust the process. What you are doing is feeding your body all the nutrients it needs to heal, build, release and do whatever it needs to do in order to move towards optimal health. Some women will experience this as a fairly drastic weight loss, and others will experience this as a slow weight loss.

If you have a great deal of healing and balancing to do internally, you may even experience a little weight gain in the beginning. (I know, few women want to hear this).

Embarking on a journey of health is a little like embarking on a journey of trust and faith. You give your body what it needs and you trust that it has the intrinsic knowledge (which it does), to do what is necessary.

The ketogenic diet is not a fad diet, its a lifestyle of health. And one of the most common things I hear from women who have embarked on this journey is that they learn so much about their bodies and their minds along the way.

With that being said, here are the most common weight loss patterns that I have heard women experience when eating keto:

Out of all the weight loss scenarios Ive heard of, the most common one by far is where women get despondent because they feel like they are not losing weight fast enough. And they are completely disregarding other things that are happening that indicate their health and well-being is increasing.For example, better sleep, more energy, clearer skin, higher libido, more regular and easier menstruation, and even inches lost.

With my journey, you know when I was happiest? It was when I stopped weighing or measuring myself at all and trusted my body and the keto process.

I realised that if I hadnt lost weight one week, it meant that my body was doing something else equally (if not more) important, and it was all good.

Its not all about the number on the scale far from it.

I highly encourage every woman these days to let go of weighing and measuring and instead focus on health, well-being and nourishing body, mind, and soul. When you do this, you can be sure that your body will happily reach the perfect weight for you at exactly the time its supposed to.

I hope this is helpful, as always Id love to hear any comments below!

Read the rest here:
How Quickly Can You Expect to Lose Weight When You Eat a ...

With every fitness enthusiast endorsing 'give yourself time to lose weight', the newest on the weight-loss bandwagon often tend to get confused. On one hand you have office to juggle and on the other, your home. Long workouts do not seem to cave their way into your schedule. Here we have curated a 9-minute fast paced workout. This will help you in two ways: losing weight and gaining time!

Video: 9-minute quick weight loss workout

10:19

Along with celebrity fitness expert and nutritionist, Neeraj Mehta, enhance your fitness journey. Make sure to keep a bottle of water and towel with you for this rigorous 9-minute workout. However, listen to your body and do not overexert yourself. Give yourself a break of minimum 5 minutes between two circuits. Here is how you can do the exercises: CIRCUIT 1

Jumping Jacks Stand erect with your feet parallel to each other and hands at an equal distance. Lift and jump on your toes and also land on toes. Simultaneously, let your hands come up to shoulder level. Repeat this for 20 jumps.

Modified Jumping Jacks Stand erect with your feet parallel to each other and hands at an equal distance. Extend your left hand and left leg at the same time. Repeat this with your right side. You do not need to jump. Repeat this for 20 sets (On each side).

Alternate Slide Stand erect. Extend your right left leg and folded arm. While extending your left side, go down in squat position and on your way up, straighten your leg. Repeat the same for your right side. Remember to keep your back straight. Do 10 sets of each side.

Standing Back Extension and Forward Stretch Stand with your back, arms and legs erect. Extend your arms upwards and stretch back. Slowly, take your arms ahead and go forward. Try and touch your hands to your toes. You will feel a stretch in the back of your hips and calf muscles. Do this for 20 seconds.

Modified Burpees Stand straight. Bend your knees and go forward with your hands (like an animal). Next, keep your knees, core and chest area on the ground. Stay there for 5-6 seconds and come back up with the help of your hands and lifting your knees, core, and chest off the ground. Repeat this 8-10 times.

Burpees Stand erect. Jump from our toes while extending your arms and go forward using your hands. Do not touch your knees to the ground, and go forward in a push-up position. Next, come back up using your hands. Repeat this 8-10 times.

V Sit Ups Lie down flat on your back. Next, raise both your hands parallel to each other over your head. Keep both your legs straight and on the floor. Pull your upper body towards your lower body, let your hands be straight and legs bent. When you bend your legs, your knees should touch your chest. Repeat this movement. (minimum 3 reps).

Modified V Sit Ups Lie down. Now, come up with your back straight and your knees bent. Your feet should be on the ground and parallel to each other. Repeat this for 2 reps. Modified Sun Salutation Stand straight. Extend your arms up and stretch back. Now move arms forward and stretch them towards your feet. Next, take your right leg forward and bend it. Further, bring your arms upward and close your hands together. Stretch your back. Let your right leg be perpendicular and your left leg stretch back and straight. Now, bring your arms forward and keep your hands on the ground and both your legs straight and on your toes. Stay there in a push-up position for 3 seconds. After this go forward and stretch your body in cobra position. Next bring your chin and chest up with your body in a V position. You will feel the stretch in your back. Now bring your right leg forward, bend it with your arms extended up. Come back in standing position. Repeat this with your left side. Do 5 sets of this.

Squat Hold

Stand straight with legs apart. Let your hips, feet and legs be parallel to each other. Hold your hands together and in front of your body. Keep your stomach muscles tight. Go down in sitting position. Extend your arms forward, parallel to eachother and keep your hands straight. Stay there for 10-15 seconds. Come up and straighten back.

Alternate Punches (Boxing) Stand straight. Keep your arms straight and hands fisted. Extend your right arm forward and simultaneously, your right leg on its side. Repeat this with your left side.

Plank Hold Start on your hands and knees on the ground. Your hands and knees should be shoulder-width apart. Lift your knees off the ground and push your feet back, bringing your body to full extension. Once you're there, make sure your feet are shoulder-width apart to start. Your arms should be bent with elbows on the ground. Stay there for 10-15 seconds.

Modified Plank The same as the above plank position. Except here, you have the liberty to keep your knees on the ground.

Spot run (Works on: Cardiovascular Endurance, Blood Circulation) Standing Forward Stretch (Works on: Stretching and strengthening lower back muscles) Modified Push-Ups

CIRCUIT 2: PILATES

The Hundred Straight Leg Lie down on your back. Bring both your legs up and keep them straight. Next, extend your arms and slowly move them up and down. You will feel pressure on your core.

The Hundred with Bent Knee Come in the same position as the hundred with straight leg. The only difference here is that you can bend your knees and repeat the same exercise.

The Hundred with 45 degree Leg Come in the same position as the hundred with straight leg. Let your legs be straight and move forward in the 45 degrees angle. Repeat the same exercise.

The Single Straight Leg Stretch Lie down on your back. Keep your right leg on the floor and bring your left leg up. Try and touch your head to your knee. Keep your back straight otherwise you can end up hurting it.

The Single Modified Leg Stretch The same as single straight leg stretch, except here you can bend your knees. Repeat the same drill.

The Side Kick Front n Back Go on your side and let your body be in one straight line. This means you should only be able to see your toes. Now with the help of your elbow, come up. You should be in a slanting position by now. Next, bring your leg up (the one above) and move it forward and back, like a kick. Repeat the same with your next side.

The Swan Neck Roll Lie down on your core area. Keep both your hands besides your chest. Slowly your torso, stretching your back and keep your neck straight. Turn your neck towards the right and bring it back to the centre. Now go down again and repeat the same with your left side.

The Swan Neck Roll (Modified) Repeat the same as the swan neck roll, except here, you do not need to lift your back entirely up. Stop mid-distance, or wherever your body feels comfortable and twist your neck.

Modified Roll Ups Sit with your back straight and your legs spread in a V shape. Join both your hands. Now move your hands clock-wise. When you take them forward, extend your back forward as well. When you bring your hands towards your chest, let your back also come to its original position.

Rolling Back on V Sit straight. Bend your knees and bring them closer to your chest. Now hold your knees with both your hands. Try and touch your nose to your knees. Now move back forth in a pendulum position.

Rolling Back (Modified) The same as rolling back on V. Except here, everytime you come forward, you need to stretch your legs and straighten them out.

The Spin Stretch Forward Sit with your back straight. Spread your legs forward and in V position. Now extend your arms and stretch them forward. Everytime you go forward, make sure to keep your back straight.

CIRCUIT 3: FITNESS FUSION

Spot run Stand straight on your place and jog lightly. Make sure to land on your toes. Modified Push-Ups A regular push-up will require you to go forward and let your body be parallel to the floor. In the modified version, everything remains the same, except you can keep your knees on the floor.

Wrestling Pushups Stand with back straight. Move forward on the floor with the help of your hands. Your body should be parallel to the floor. Go down. While coming up, your back should be concave. Come back in a V position. Repeat this circuit.

Free Squats Stand straight with legs apart. Let your hips, feet and legs be parallel to each other. Hold your hands together and in front of your body. Keep your stomach muscles tight. Go down in sitting position. Extend your arms forward, parallel to eachother and keep your hands straight. Go up and down. Make sure to keep your back straight.

Jump Squats The same as free squats. Except everytime you go down, you need to come up jumping on your toes. Make sure to land on your heels to avoid any kind of injury.

Crunches Together Lie down on the floor. Let both your legs be parallel to eachother. Now, bend your knees and come forward from your torso. Try and bring your knees closer to your chest. Keep your back straight.

Drop Kicks Stand straight. Now move forward and bring your right leg up. Make sure your leg remains straight and stretches to its maximum potential. Every time you move your leg forward, try and make a circle. Repeat this with your left leg.

Split Leg Stretch Stand straight. Gradually, stretch the leg on the side you're standing on. Simultaneously, keep stretching the back leg as well. The moment you are closer to the floor, use your hands to support your body to go into a full split. Once on the floor, or near it, bring your head closer to your knee. Repeat this for both sides.

Follow this link:
Video: 9-minute quick weight loss workout - Times of India

Weight, what?

Katie Dolan knew it was time to change her life when her doctor recommended gastric surgery

A SUPERMARKET worker who binged on fast food every day has shown off her incredible nine stone weight loss and she claims its transformed her sex life.

Katie Dolan, 26, from Cornwall, wouldnt let her boyfriend see her naked because of her body hangups.

Mercury Press

As she became unhappy in her career, Katie began binge eating for comfort and could gorge herself on up to three takeaways daily.

Worryingly, she ballooned to an unhealthy 23 stone as she could put away 8,000 calories in just 24 hours.

Katie remembered what life was like at 24 stone, remarking: I was too lazy to exercise and I never cooked.

Gary and I would eat takeaway curries, Chinese or pizzas every single night.

I was a proper secret eater and some days I would have three takeaways a dayI was spending a fortune on food.

Not only did her weight begin to pose a threat on Katies health, it also affected her relationship with her boyfriend Gary Ballard.

Mercury Press

Mercury Press

Mercury Press

She recalled:The bigger I got, the more my confidence suffered.

I was so self-conscious all the time and I started to develop pretty serious anxiety. I just wanted to hide myself away.

It put a real strain on our relationship and meant I couldnt trust him because of my own insecurities.

I never ever got undressed in front of him and when it came to being intimate the lights would have to be off and I would keep most my clothes on. It created a real barrier between us.

Mercury Press

Mercury Press

Mercury Press

As Katies weight peaked, a medical professional asked her to consider getting a gastric band to help her shift some pounds.

Determined to get fit without surgery, the supermarket worker made it her mission to turn her life around.

She said:I told the doctor then and there that I was determined to prove I could do it myself. It was a real turning point for me. I completely changed the way I was living my life.

Mercury Press

Mercury Press

Katie joined Weight Watchers and learned to prepare meals for herself.

She was involved in a car crash one month into her weight loss journey, but she didnt let this stand in her way.

Not only has she managed to shift an impressive nine stone, her change in diet has also improved her body confidence.

She said: My relationship with Gary is so much better. He is amazing. He has been by my side every step of the way supporting me.

Before I was too lazy to do anything but now, we go out all the time.

We are so much closer than we have ever been. I trust him completely and we can be a lot more intimate. It is amazing.

Katie isnt the only super-slimmer to show off her dramatic transformation.

One fashion fan revealed how she lost seven stone to fit into her dream dress by giving up junk food.

And read up on the A-Z of dieting to find the regime that could work wonders on your health.

Original post:
Super-slimmer whose 23st bulk ruined her sex life shows off dramatic NINE STONE weight loss after ditching her ... - The Sun

It's important to note, right away, that this research is in its infancyif you were looking for an excuse to go wild on a plate of pasta tonight, this ain't it (but there are some healthy options, just in case). The research is largely based on two independent studies on mice which showed that a high-fat, zero-carb pure ketogenic diet made mice live longer and age slower. The drawback, of course, is that humans aren't mice, and the diets necessary for the study would be extremely difficult, if not dangerous to achieve for a normal person (one of the studies, at the University of California, Davis, put the mice on a 90 percent fat diet). Basically, the researchers realized that carbs are actually great, and giving them up totally sucks.

The biggest problem with the [ketogenic] diet is that it is difficult to maintain as a lifestyle, Dr. Eric Verdin, the lead researcher of a newer study, published Tuesday, told the Guardian. "Its an antisocial diet. You can hardly eat anything that most of us like.

(Want a great diet without sacrificing delicious foods? The Men's Health Metashred Diet will help you lose fat fast with an eating plan that's incredibly easy to follow.)

That's where the pill comes in. Ketogenic diets are difficult for humans both because not eating carbs sucks, and because high-fat diets can cause havoc on the body by increasing LDL, or "bad cholesterol" levels. (Mice aren't as susceptible to LDL, so they can pig out on the greasy stuff to their tiny hearts' content.)

Verdin's study at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California found that one of the biggest benefits of the diet was a "ketone body" called BHB, which the mice's bodies produced during ketosis. As the Guardian notes, Verdin has been researching BHB for years, and found in 2013 that it had the potential to either protect cells from or reduce the microscopic wear and tear that accumulates as bodies get older, lengthening lifespans and helping people feel healthy much later in their lives. To get around the minefields of LDL and bread-free diets, Verdin is now trying to develop a compound, taken as a supplement, that would help the body generate BHB and reap its benefits without making people deluge themselves in fat.

"Im excited about this, and its hard not to be after what weve seen that it does. These are pretty profound effects, Verdin told The Guardian about the original study. His research is ongoing, but the initial results are certainly a fresh look at narrowing down the exact chemicals and bodily processes that help us live healthier livesand then making pills out of them.

More here:
Researchers Are Developing a Pill That Helps You Lose Weight and Lets You Still Eat Carbs - Men's Health

Where in the world has Jordin Sparks been? The American Idol winner is making headlines again as one of the Miss America 2018 judges, and fans can't get over how great the 27-year-old looks!

The singer previously talked to Life & Style about her 55-pound weight loss and how she's managed to keep it off. I was carrying a five-year-old. Its insane, she shared in 2013. Fall 2010 through March, that's kind of when I lost the first 30 pounds. By March of [2012], I [had] lost 50. And then I maintained it for the rest of the year.

Jordin in 2007 (left) vs. 2017. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

She added, I was in the gym all day long. When I got up I would hike, then I would go to the trainer. At night, I would go to my Latin dance fitness class." But Jordin hasn't just become a pro at healthy eating. Back in 2015, she gave Life & Style her five steps to getting over a breakup after splitting from fellow musician Jason Derulo.

No. 1: "Make sure your core people are around you. My mom and my dad were my rock." No. 2: "Find some good music that you can sing along to and sing it at the top of your lungs! I have a really, really great one 'I Don't F--k With You' by Big Sean." No. 3: "My mom told me to do a personal video every single day to see how far I've come. She even showed one of her old ones... Its amazing because I look back at the videos and see the difference."

No. 4: Its so cathartic and therapeutic to write your thoughts down because then theyre not all jumbled up in your head." And No. 5: "Stay busy! I think that really helped me at the time. I had a lot to do and for those moments that I would focus on something else, I didnt have to think about that or what was happening or what was being said!"

Given that the brunette beauty is now happier than ever with boyfriend Dana Isaiah, we'll take any advice she has to offer. Keep up the good work, girl!

EXCLUSIVE: We Talked With an Expert About Whether You Can Actually Lose Weight With the Apple Cider Vinegar Diet or Bone Broth Detox

Zach Galifianakis Shows off His 50-Pound Weight Loss "Being Light's Fun!"

Nikki Reed Has Abs Weeks After Giving Birth and We're Sprinting to the Gym

Visit link:
Jordin Sparks Has Managed to Maintain Her Impressive 55-Pound Weight Loss! - Life & Style Weekly

Maybe not.

If you've grit your teeth through a workout despite being sick, tired, or injured, or even just tend to plan your entire life around your workouts, youve more than likely stepped into that Twilight zone of when too much of a good thing becomes counterproductive.

This is how to tell if you've crossed the lineand why you should scale it back, stat.

Check out some of the weirdest weight-loss trends through history:

Too much here can be difficult to measure and is largely dependent on the individual, says Nathan Jones, a physical therapist at Atlas Physical Therapy in South Carolina. An elite-level athlete whos used to working out a ton is better equipped to handle the stress than the typical gym-goer, says Jones.

ButJC Deen, a personal trainer based in Nashville, says that indicators that you might be overdoing it at the gym can include: feeling tired all the time, having a hard time sleeping, being unable to go as hard as usual in your workouts, experiencing a loss of interest in working out, and generally feeling irritable.

Anything that's bad for your body and overall health is going to be bad for your weight-loss goals. First of all, over-training can lead to an increase in the stress hormone cortisol, which can tank your metabolism and mood, and even cause you to store more fat.

Plus, the idea that you can erase that dinner of lasagna and chocolate molten lava cake by working it off at the gym is misguided and inaccurate.[Women who overexercise] typically feel that exercising is a way to maintain their shape, and if they cut back, they will regress, gain weight, and not be able to eat as much as before, says Deen.This concept of working out to earn your food intake is something he sees often among the clients he works with.

However, areview of studies in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, for example, shows that exercises impact on weight loss is often modest. (We've all heard that weight loss is 80 percent diet, 20 percent exercise, and that's actually pretty accurate.)

Another 2015 paper from the University of Alabama suggests that using exercise to create a calorie deficit is not as simple as calculating your calories in versus calories out.That's because simple math doesn't account for the fact that the body is dynamic. Basically, just because you burned 300 calories on your morning run doesn't mean you can eat an extra 300 calories at happy houreven if you're still within your calorie goals for the day.Metabolism is complex and our bodies burn calories in many ways, of which exercise contributes just a small part. And using exercise to offset or justify high-calorie foods just hurts your long-term motivation.

That said, exercise is a part of the weight-loss equation, just not the main part, which is where rest days come into play. It can be super easy to overdo it on exercise and under-do it on rest days. The urge to be extreme in fitness seems to be woven into the stretchy-spandex fabric of our culture: No one glorifies not exercising. In fact, working so hard that you puke sometimes seems to be encouraged.

But rest is necessary for you to continue seeing results. According to a study in theJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research, "full training recovery is essential to optimal performance." When you get to the point of being unable to properly recover from your sessions and youre not making progress, youre just putting more wear and tear on your body than necessary, Deen says.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) defines a rest day as a non-training day, which means that youre not doing anything to physically challenge your body and you hopefully spend time away from the gym. Sure, you can take it as permission to sit on your tush and watch Netflix all day, but experts often recommend doing light activity, or active recovery, to help you recover faster. Some examples include a brisk walk or moderate hike, mobility work, yoga, or technique work at the gym.

Your rest days should be pre-established. Rest days are oftentimes baked into thoughtful workout programs. For example, you may work out hard four days per week, take two active rest days (think: yoga or walking), and one day completely off to relax. If all youre doing is running day in and day out, theres a good chance youre going to develop some nagging pain in spots around your hips, knees, and ankles, says Jones, who sees these problems often in his clinic.

More isnt better because we can only recover from so much, and doing anything above and beyond what we can recover from oftentimes just leads us to regress or hurt ourselves, says Deen.

Original post:
This Is How Your Workouts Could Be Sabotaging Your Weight Loss - Women's Health

Let our news meet your inbox.

Im overweight. Just typing that conjures up a package of less-than-pleasant feelings and concerns. Am I at risk of diabetes? Is there a physical inactivityrelated disease lurking around the corner?

As I change my lifestyle, the last thing I want to do is learn all the scary details about just how bad my health has become. It feels like opening the mailbox when you know theres a pile of bills waiting for you. Yet, after many years of working with the American Council on Exercise, I understand the necessity of evaluating where I am today so I can measure my progress and evaluate growth on my healthy-living journey. I choose to let this determination surmount any intimidation or fear I feel, and Im ready to take my baseline. And I'm doing it by following these five steps:

The important first step in any attempt at lifestyle change involves knowing where you currently stand. To change, you have to know what youre changing.

Many people, especially those of us who are overweight or obese, tend to underestimate how poorly were eating or overestimate how much were moving on a daily basis. As you will see, I certainly did.

So, before moving forward, I had to take an honest look at my own habits. I had to ask myself, what am I really eating? How am I really moving my body?

Before diving into this project, I created a 14-day food and exercise journal. Thats enough time to balance out some highs and lows and give a good representation of how I typically eat.

I started with total calories, comparing my actual caloric intake to my goal intake of 2,500 calories per day. In my first two weeks, from a calorie standpoint, I didnt do too bad. In fact, I was either below or within 100 calories of my target on nine of the 13 days. The most calories I ate was on day 5, with 2,865 calories.

The one day I didnt count calories on was day seven for one simple reason: life got in the way. I recorded my breakfast and lunch, but then went out to dinner after being snowed in for three days. Dining out can make it very difficult to know exactly what you consume. How much complimentary bread did I really eat? What exactly is in that sauce? What about the drinks? How big are the portion sizes of the meal?

Eating at restaurants is an important social element in most of our lives and I knew that there was no way I would be staying out of restaurants for the next 12 months. Most people wouldnt. After I realized I couldnt really estimate how much I ate that night, I decided Id better devise a plan to eat more intelligently when I go out in the future.

In my first two weeks, from a calorie standpoint, I didnt do too badly. I was either below or within 100 calories of my target on nine of the 13 days. The most calories I ate were on day five, with 2,865 calories.

Next I looked at my carbohydrate, fat and protein (collectively known as macronutrients) consumption.

Now, Im no nutritionist, but I feel bad news on the horizon. If my carbohydrate and protein percentages were low, that can only mean one thing I was consuming too much fat.

I came close a few times, but never actually got down to the goal of only 20 percent of my diet being from fat. Prior to doing this exercise, I never would have guessed that my diet was this high in fat.

While I knew that what I was eating before I started this journey didnt align with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, I was surprised to learn that I was almost exactly on target with my total caloric consumption, but I was eating 36 more grams of fat each day than I should be. This may not sound like much, but 36 grams of fat equals 324 calories of extra fat each day.

As you can see, its vital to know your current habits before trying to establish new ones because what youre doing every day may not be what you think youre doing. Prior to this exercise, I had no idea what it would take to have fat be only 20 percent of my total calories. Now I know that its not necessarily the amount of food Im eating, but the types of food I choose. If I can find a way to replace some fat with protein and carbohydrate while keeping my total calorie intake steady, I will be well on my way to meeting my initial goals.

I learned some big lessons during these 14 days, the most important of which was that I was more than capable of eating well one day at a time. Consistency was my problem. I needed to develop some tools and skills to turn one or two good days per week into three or four, eventually leading to me making the right nutrition choices the majority of the time.

When it comes to exercise, the conversation is much simpler. The Physical Activity Guidelines recommend you perform at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, as well as two or three muscle-strengthening activities each week that are moderate or high intensity and involve all major muscles groups. In other words, I need to do at least five 30-minute cardio bouts and two full-body resistance-training sessions. Thats seven workouts a week. In order to give myself a day off each week, I will either have to double up one day and do both cardio and strength or extend those cardio sessions to at least 38 minutes each, which would cut the number of workouts down to four.

During this two-week baseline period, I performed about 60 minutes of cardio each week, falling far short of my goal. I also performed three sessions over the two weeks where I did core-strengthening work and flexibility training, along with a few strengthening exercises.

The week before beginning this project, I visited my doctor, who ordered some blood work so we could establish a baseline against which to compare any future progress.

The results of my physical exam were not ideal, which wasnt surprising. My body mass index (BMI) was 37, which put me in the Grade II Obesity category, and my blood pressure was at the low end of the prehypertension category. When it came to my bloodwork, there were four areas of concern. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL (high-density lipoprotein, also referred to as the good cholesterol), and HDL risk factor. All were elevated except my HDL, which was too low.

In addition, my hemoglobin A1c levela test commonly used to screen for diabetes was slightly higher than it should be. There was also concern about elevated enzyme levels that might indicate that I have fatty liver one of the many risks associated with abdominal obesity that have been a concern for me in the past.

The next day, I had 90-minute session with my personal trainer. My trainer took skinfold measurements, which revealed that my body-fat percentage is 26.9%. Anything above 25% is considered obese. The trainer also took a series of circumference measurements at the hips, waist, abdomen, biceps, chest and thigh.

Finally, I completed a series of physiological assessments that measure muscular endurance and involve simply doing as many repetitions as you can with good form. These tests came with some ups and downs. I scored good and excellent for push-ups and squats, respectively, but I was in the poor category for curl-ups and the 1-mile walk test.

Knowing where you stand is essential for two reasons. First, you cant know what changes you need to make to your diet or exercise regimen to improve your health and overall well-being if you cant honestly assess what youve done to become overweight in the first place.

Second, having a way to measure success is key. If the bathroom scale is your only means of tracking progress, frustration is almost certain. After a few months, you may find that youve hit a frustrating weight-loss plateau. But if you know that your clothes fit differently, that your waist circumference has gone down by three centimeters, or you can do six more push-ups than you could at baseline, then you can find small victories to help keep you motivated.

Your Video Begins in: 00:00

I went to bed on January 31, 2017, knowing that I would start changing my life first thing the next morning and I meant it this time! Without exception, everyone I told about this project looked at me like I was a bit nuts, including my wife, my friends and my doctor. Its a huge challenge, especially for someone who has made very few genuine efforts to lose weight before, but Im ready. Wish me luck and join me.

Im proud that NBC BETTER invited me to share my journey every two weeks with you through the completion of The Lifestyle Project and beyond,and now I want to hear from you.

Have questions about my journey? Ask me on Twitter from noon to 1 p.m. EST Thursday, September 7.

Want more tips like these? NBC News BETTER is obsessed with finding easier, healthier and smarter ways to live. Sign up for our newsletter.

Let our news meet your inbox.

Go here to read the rest:
5 Steps to Kicking Off an Effective Weight-Loss Plan - NBCNews.com