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Permalink Reply by Jason on January 28, 2009 at 9:32am

Cardio is key here! Get at least 3 30 minute sessions a week. Lifting weights is also a great way to shed fat(and build muscle of course!). If you want more details, or have any more questions, shoot me a message!

Jason

Permalink Reply by Clayton Juhl on April 19, 2009 at 5:20pm

I've learned to watch how much I eat. I try to portion out my meals. I get in to really bad habits at times thinking that I have to eat until I feel full. Usually when I do this 20 min. later I'm miserable and I figure out that I could have stopped at the first plate. Eventually my body gets used to this regimine and I continue to eat that much at each meal, and of course I can't let my kids throw away their food that's wasteful right. I've recently became conscious of how much I'm eating and cut back on the amount I eat and stop at plate one. I realize I might feel a little hungry, but I know I've had plenty of food to keep me healthy. If you do this for a couple of weeks I've found my body to adjust to it and now I actually feel very satisfied with less food. I'm not saying starve yourself just don't overeat. Eat 5 -6 times a day meaning have you a good breakfast, eat you a snack (Fruit or granola bar or something not loaded with calories) between breakfast and lunch, eat a sensible lunch, have you another snack between lunch and dinner, and then a sensible dinner. This keeps you from being starved by the time you reach the next meal every day and overeating. One last tip don't eat anything less than 3 hours before bedtime. I read in an article that it takes 3 hours to digest your food, and of course when you go to sleep with a full belly your metabolism slows down and starts storing that food you just ate as fat. So if you go to bed at 10 p.m. don't eat anything after 7 p.m. Well I hope this helps I know if you try this you will feel like you're starving the first couple of weeks, but trust me your body will adjust and you will actually begin to feel satisfied on the lesser amount of food you have been allowing yourself to have. I've seen a reduction in my waist line just over the last couple of weeks and now I feel full at every meal.

Permalink Reply by Jim Mollet on April 20, 2009 at 7:46pm

Clayton-Just read your post. Good suggestions, I would suggest along with portion control you try slowing down your time allotted to eat. I know in our lifestyle (firefighters) we tend to eat faster than the normal person due to the fact that we never know when that alarm is going to go off and we'll get called away from our food. It takes approximately 15 minutes for your brain and stomach to make the connection that you are eating. If you finish eating within this time frame, chances are you are still hungry and continue to eat. Subsequently overeating and you become uncomfortably stuffed. Another suggestion is to have a large glass of water prior to eating-water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Hope that helps!?
Take care and stay safe!

Lt. JAM-GFD

Permalink Reply by Jim Mollet on April 20, 2009 at 8:09pm

Rick-I don't believe in "spot reduction", it is too difficult, and frankly doesn't work. I do agree with Jason; cardio or aerobic exercise is key. For someone who is interested in moderate reduction in body fat, 3 to 4 days a week may be all the body requires to achieve these goals. However, for the individual interested in making noticeable reduction in body-fat, then, 5 to 6 days per week of 45 to 60 minute aerobic conditioning may be necessary. The deciding factor of how much cardio activity is required to reach your goal, comes from how your body reacts to the amount and frequency of aerobic exercise you perform during your program. To maximize efficient fat-burning metabolism, your activities should involve as many muscle groups as possible. The more muscle mass required to perform, the more energy required to feed that exercise. Some other suggestions I can make are make sure you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Water suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies show a decrease in water will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water can actually reduce fat deposits. Another reason to drink water is so that the kidneys function properly. When the kidneys don't function properly, some of the work load is taken over by the liver. The liver's primary function is to metabolize stored fat into useable energy. If the liver has to help the kidneys it doesn't do its job. As a result, less fat is metabolized. More fat remains stored and weight/fat loss stops. Sorry got a little carried away and technical there. If you would like more info. drop me a line.

Take care and stay safe!!!

Lt. JAM-GFD