Working out and not losing weight? Maybe.....
We've all been told how important it is to exercise 30 minutes a day to stay healthy, that's true but maybe we're leaving something out. I was one of those very active people running several miles a day and though I felt "fit" I never got down to the weight I truly wanted and developed a pain in my right knee that I can live without.
I've watched many people try the hottest new diet, hit the gym and lose 30 lbs just to gain it all back due to changes in their life and environment. Those same people will try to re-create what they did before, even hire a personal trainer and are never able to acheive the same results. So what's the secret? Why does it seem so hard for some and easy for others?
If you're really looking to shed some pounds you should find out what your daily caloric intake should be based on height, weight, age and gender. You want to stay under that number every day to lose weight. To maintain a healthy weight, staying at that number is fine. In this fast paced world most people have a cup of coffee and maybe a muffin to start the day but one "K" cup of coffee with creamer (ex. hazelnut) is 80 calories and one blueberry muffin is 426 calories. That's almost 1/4 of the daily caloric intake of a 1850 calorie diet.
Let's say for lunch you decide.."Hey, I'm healthy, I'll have some Subway today". A subway 6 inch Cold Cut Combo has 360 calories, not including toppings, one small bag of 1oz lays potato chips has 160 calories. And if you've been good all week you might decide to reward yourself with a Chocolate Chip cookie, that's another 220 calories. Doesn't sound too bad but by the middle of the day you have already eaten over half your caloric intake.
If you have just 1 cup of basic homeade chicken salad which is about 247 calories you might just meet your mark. However meeting your mark and being healthy are two different things. There are people who spend their days and nights at the gym to look like Models and Adonis' yet they may be suffering from Kidney troubles, Aches, Pains and several other Chronic Issues. Maintaining a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes(beans) will allow you to rarely exceed your daily caloric intake because they are all low calorie foods and each of these foods are full of vitamins, minerals and nutrients straight from Gods green earth!
Who says your 30 minutes a day has to be something as jarring and hard on your joints as running, trying to relive the good old days by getting on the basketball court after ten years or even weight training. When getting back into the "game" of being active, the best thing to do is what's natural for your body. Just walking for 45 minutes will burn 181 calories, swimming for 45 minutes burns 333 calories, doing Modern or Jazz Dance for 1 hour burns 255 calories and African Dance burns more than 400 calories an hour.
If you do all the right things at the gym and all the wrong things at the table you're setting yourself up to be disappointed. Maintaining a daily regimen high in saturated fats and processed foods can also create low acid in your stomach. The more strenuos the activity, the more acid your body creates. If you have low stomach acid, you may experience symptoms of acid reflux through out the day or during your workout.
