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Weight loss versus fat loss

A lot of people say weight loss when they actually mean fat loss. Weight loss includes water & muscle mass. You definitely want to keep muscle mass especially as you age! You don't want to lose your muscle mass because that helps to keep your metabolism and body strong. So you want to make sure the exercise you're doing is focusing on fat loss. When you start to lose fat and keep your muscle mass it will give your metabolism a boost. This means your body is going to be more efficient at using and burning calories.  This becomes key as you age and want to prevent gaining fat.

Is Cardio Good for Weight loss?

One common misconception about losing weight is everyone thinks that they need to do cardio to lose weight. But if you want to keep your metabolism strong then you need to avoid stress. And when you over-exercise and over-train your body this causes stress and your metabolism can slow down. So a beginner may need to start with just 5 or 10 minutes of exercise and slowly work their way up. Most people do not need to exercise for more than 30 minutes, as it will put stress on their body. Click here for another article I did about cardio versus strength training!

These 3 exercises will go in order of importance. Especially if you are a beginner you should start with the first type of exercise.

1. Movement

If you want to lose more weight, start with just getting more movement in throughout the day. Harvard health discusses how when you don’t move, your muscles are not using glucose and this can cause health issues. When I'm talking about movement, I'm not talking about an exercise where your heart rate is up and your muscles are burning. Movement is just where you're walking at a slow pace, cleaning up your house, or going out to get the mail. If you stay active during the day it adds up to give your metabolism a boost and lets your body know that you're not a couch potato. So try to make it a goal to move every hour. You could go for a gentle walk after dinner or every morning. How could you just increase your steps and activity throughout the day?

2. Strength Training

There are 2 great ways to get some strength training in.  The first is to do yoga that focuses on building strength and the second is using hand weights doing traditional strength training with weights.

Yoga for strength

Find a yoga workout that focuses on building strength and is not just meant for relaxation or stretching. Gentle yoga is great to do and can be a great addition to your exercise program, but when you are looking to lose weight and burn fat you want to make sure that it includes strength training. So this means when you're doing the yoga class you should feel your muscles burning. This lets you know that your muscles are working.

Strength training with weights

You can add in some strength training with weights or bands. This doesn't have to be all hard-core CrossFit style, this is just strengthening your muscles no matter what your age is. Before you add weights, you should make sure that you can do the move correctly.  Then once you are ready you can then add the weights or band.  If you are new to strength training make sure you are getting the right instructions and doing each move correctly so you do not injure yourself. Click here to check out my five-day exercise challenge that includes strength training and yoga for beginners that will give you complete instruction on each exercise.  And you can do this in just 15 minutes a day!

3. HIIT

High intensity interval training can be great when you do it correctly.  HIIT includes a small interval of really hard work getting your heart rate up, working your muscles hard, and then taking a rest. This has been proven in studies to be a great way to boost your fat loss without overstressing your body. And the great thing is you don't need to do it for very long. But it's important to have a foundation of some other exercise first, especially if you're doing any strengthening moves in your HIIT workout you want to make sure that you can do those moves correctly and are comfortable with them first before moving on to something harder or faster like a HIIT workout.

So I encourage you to look at this as a progression. And see if you can start at the top with some movement then adding some yoga and strength training and then bumping it up with some HIIT workouts. It's important to listen to your body and notice how you're feeling.

Want a Healthy Metabolism?

Remember to keep your metabolism healthy you don't want to overstress the body with exercise. So if you're a complete beginner start small and work your way up. This will also help prevent you from getting super sore and just wanting to give up. So I encourage you to get started with my five-day exercise challenge today that is made for beginners and it will get you on your way to exercising for fat loss so you can reach your weight loss goals.