Did you know that too much exercise could be counter-productive to losing weight? Yes if you are doing too much exercise or not the right kind of exercise. What! I hear you say, “Am I doing it all wrong”.
So let’s start with too much exercise.
Well exercise produces those nasties in the body called free radicals, if unchecked these can start to cause damage within the body. So eating a diet high in antioxidants will help to neutralize the free radicals. Where do you find antioxidants, in good old fashioned fruits and veggies. Your body needs lots of good nutrition to feel able to let go of the fat, so if it is using all its energy to repair the damage done by exercise, you are not going to lose weight.
Now for the right kind of exercise.
The best kind of exercise to burn up calories and fat is cardio. And short bursts of exercise like Tabata, a session lasts around 20 minutes. But although it’s great to exercise every day you should only be doing 3 cardio sessions a week, the other days could be walking, moderate cycling, yoga, pilates or swimming. This way your body has time to recover.
Not having the right foods after exercise is often a problem. People often say to me “I do a work out and I’m really hungry on the way home, so I have a packet of crisps or a burger”. So being organized and having a healthy snack or a nutritious shake ready for after a gym session is super important.
Of course you are never going to lose weight if you are putting in more calories than you use up. So what you eat and portion size are really important.
It is amazing how many calories you can survive on as I found out at a recent visit to The Body Camp in Ibiza where we were on 1,200 calories a day, mind you the food was incredibly nutritious with loads of fresh juices, seeds and no sugar.
Sugar is a big no no for me as it gives loads of calories but no nutrition to the body.
Everyone is agreed that 80% of weight loss is what you eat, so eating clean is a big part of the answer to losing weight.
Check out our diet and lifestyle coaching page for more information or call me for a free initial consultation.
