If you are planning on walking, lying and playing on the beach this summer – and looking as good as your potential will allow, then you need to be training for it now!
In fact, you should have already started.
Most Americans gain weight over the winter and get a little (or a lot) out of shape, because they neglected their exercise and nutrition during the colder months when comfort foods beckon. If you are part of the majority that does this, you really can’t put off getting “back in the saddle,” or perhaps you are learning for the first time how to exercise correctly and make good food choices when eating.
To burn off a pound of fat, you need to burn 3500 calories more than you consume. That averages 500 calories per day to lose a pound in a week. Most professionals recommend losing 1-2 lbs per week – closer to 1 pound for women. Losing faster than 1-2 pounds can cause multiple problems if you don’t know how to manage it. First, you will almost always lose some muscle along with the fat and that will slow down your metabolism, because muscles needs calories – LOTS of them – just to maintain themselves. Secondly, restricting your caloric intake too strictly will slow your metabolism down as it strives to do more with less. This type of diet is also unsustainable and nearly always leads to regaining the weight when you can no longer continue to eat that way.
I have trained women who were stalled in their weight loss even though they were severely restricting their calories. One woman was eating a vegetarian diet and only getting 900 calories per day… and she was stuck at her weight and had no strength. I INCREASED her calories by 500 and made some modifications in what, how and when she was eating. She then began losing 1 1/2 lbs per week consistently which continued for months until she reached her goal.
Last year, she had a baby and when she returned to training with me, she had gained a lot of weight. She began losing weight so quickly that I increased her caloric intake 3 times. I had seen the effect of it when her strength began to level off . . . and then started to regress. In stages, I eventually added 700 calories back to her diet. Her strength returned and she resumed losing only fat. She ended up losing a total of 48 lbs over 3 1/2 months! She was 5lbs lighter than she was the previous year when she had reached her goal weight. Trust me, she looked spectacular!
The point of all that is this . . . IT TAKES TIME TO LOSE FAT. Starting too close to the warmer months doesn’t always allow the time needed to remove the fat and sculpt the muscle below. Starting now gets you ready when you peel down to summer clothes.
The other factor which matters when you prepare for summer is building muscle. Guys will build muscle a lot faster than women – it has more than a little to do with the fact that men have 20 times the testosterone that women do! Women CAN build muscle, but it’s much more difficult and usually shows up in the form of much tighter and stronger muscles. When women are eating wisely and exercising correctly, they can shape their bodies much like a sculptor does with clay, but this is much more difficult and takes time. Attempting to train yourself without proper guidance from an experienced professional usually results in dismal failure. Take it from someone who knows, has been there and has the experience to help you reach your goals in a detailed program designed specifically for you and your needs.
I can help get you there. I’ve done the same for countless other women (and men). I received my certification at the school which is the Gold Standard for trainers, and I graduated at the top of my class. I KNOW what to do and how to train people according to their needs. I will help you, but we need to act now BEFORE the warm weather arrives and you start “putting it out there.” Get it in the best shape possible first and be proud of what you accomplished!
Dave – Your Harford County, Maryland Personal Fitness Trainer
Results are what you’ll get when you train with me. I’m conveniently located in Forest Hill near the center of Harford County, Maryland. Clients come to me from Fallston, Jarrettsville, Bel Air, Forest Hill and Baltimore. I’ve got the experience, the ability, the knowledge and the success stories of my students to testify that my training is result driven and result based. Visit my webpage for more information.
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