Sedentary Lifestyle

You answered:
"I used to be able to eat anything I wanted. But then when I got older I gained weight."
"I have never gotten very much exercise."

Here's what you need to know:

Sedentary lifestyle and weight gain with age

You do have a good metabolism

But on the bright side, you naturally have a fairly high metabolism. Otherwise you would have been heavy all your life.

OK. Now, the first thing you should do is make a goal for the kind of body you want to have.

And then you should think about getting more activity in your life. You might have to build up to it gradually.

Get some exercise -- but start easy

Some things you can do for sure -- the easy things. What's easy? Well, the place to start is with some mild cardio exercise to get your blood flowing a little.

Walking is a good place to start after a sedentary lifestyle. You could walk on a treadmill. You can walk at the mall.

Or you could actually take a walk outside and go somewhere. Walking outside is best. You get exercise. You get fresh air. It clears your head out.

In modern times we are indoors too much and it is not healthy. Walking outdoors on a regular basis can make a remarkable change in you.

Weight training is for everybody

So what's the other easy thing to do? It would have to be weight training. You know -- lifting weights. Easy? Yes, easy. Because you can pick any weight that is right for you.

Afraid of weights? Use a machine. There are machines for every body part. They're safe. And easy. And fast.

No matter how strong or how weak you are, there is a weight in the gym that is right for you. You really can lose weight with weight training.

Persistence pays off

The gym? That's right -- you'll get the best results working out at a gym.

Here's why: You might have a hard time sticking with an exercise program. After all, you've had a sedentary lifestyle with little exercise and it might take some getting used to.

If you exercise at home it's too easy to get distracted. The phone rings. Your favorite rerun is on TV. It's easy to give up, raid the refrigerator and take a nap.

But once you get to the gym you are going to do something. Nobody just walks into the gym and stands there.

If you don't want to exercise

Now, you might decide not to exercise. If you do you have to realize that you are making it much harder for yourself.

It is 10 times harder to lose weight just by dieting than it is by diet and exercise. So make sure you know what you are doing.

But whether you exercise or not, you can improve your eating habits a great deal.

Diets for weight loss

If you really want to do it right there are some recommended diets you can use. You just have to pick the one based on the number of calories you need each day.

If you don't know how many calories you burn up, you can start with 10 calories per pound of body weight, or 5 calories per kilogram of body weight. Then see how you do.

If you are not losing fast enough cut it back 100-200 calories per day and try again. If you are losing too fast then add 100-200 calories per day.

Protein and metabolism

If you really want to lose weight you have to get some protein on a regular basis. That means that whenever you eat anything you need to make sure it includes some protein.

Why? Because protein speeds up your metabolism. Fat and carbohydrate don't speed up your metabolism.

Healthy food means healthy weight loss

Of course you have to avoid the foods that make you fat. These are the calorie dense foods -- low in nutrition but high in calories.

And make sure you get some good dietary fats. The good fats signal the body that it can let go of the bad fat it has stored. And that will help you lose weight.

Follow these tips and you'll see the difference. You'll be able to lose those extra pounds and keep them off!

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