Deciding to get healthier by losing weight can be one of the most important moments in your life. If you do it successfully, you can feel better and find out that you can participate in activities that you didn't even think were available to you. Losing those extra pounds is not easy. It requires a plan that includes cardiovascular exercise, strength training and dietary changes.
Interval Training
One of the most effective cardiovascular exercises you can do is interval sprinting. This will help you burn calories and get in much better condition for sports and other activities. Go to your local high school track and sprint 100 yards. As soon as you are finished, go back to the starting line and sprint 90 yards. Follow that up with sprints of 80 and 70 yards. Take a two-minute break and then repeat the set. Do one more double set of sprints before you leave the track. Do this four times per week to lose weight and extra pounds.
Strength Training
Lifting weights to get stronger will help your muscles and body get in better shape, and it will also help you burn calories to lose weight. Exercises like the bench press, arm curls, lunges and dead lifts can help you get in much better shape. However, if you are lifting free weights you will need a training partner to spot for you. If you are working out alone, you can do circuit training. This will allow you to work out your arms, shoulders, chest, abs, core muscles, back, glutes, hamstrings and calf muscles. If you don't have any equipment, do push-ups, pull-ups and ab crunches to get stronger and burn off calories and pounds. Do this three times per week.
Cardiovascular Exercise
In addition to doing interval sprinting, you can do additional cardiovascular exercise to lose weight. You can run, walk, swim or ride a bicycle. You don't have to sprint or go at full speed but you do need to exercise for 30 minutes or more to get the full effect of the exercise. Do this three times a week on the days that you are not doing sprint training.
Dietary Changes
You will have a much better chance of being successful on your weight-loss plan if you make changes to your diet. Cut out red meat and eat white-meat chicken and fish as your main sources of protein. Eat three portions of fresh vegetables and two portions of fresh fruit every day. Eat complex carbohydrates like brown rice and spaghetti to help give you the fuel to work your exercise programs. Cut out desserts and fast foods altogether.
Drinking Water
Make sure you drink at least 64 oz. of water every day. The water will help replenish the liquids that your body loses through the exercise process and it will also help benefit your organs. Do not drink sports drinks that are high in sugar and calories. Stay away from sugared sodas. Water is the best drink when you are trying to lose weight.
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