If you need to lose weight, you want to burn excess fat on your body and develop and tone muscle. Many exercises exist to reach your goal, but sometimes you may need extra help to get motivated to implement a weight-loss plan and stick with it. Set goals and rewards to ensure success, exercise with your friends and mix up your fitness regimen to keep it interesting.
Group Exercise
If you enjoy exercising with other people and following an instructor, join an aerobics, yoga or Pilates class at a local fitness facility. In this environment, you will meet other people who share your fitness goals. You may feel more comfortable exercising with friends and coworkers as well. Invite them to join you in your quest for weight loss and physical fitness by attending some of these classes with you.
Lift Weights
When trying to lose body fat and tone muscle, don't forget training with weights. Weight training builds essential lean body mass, which burns more calories and helps give you a lean, toned physique. Train with different types of weights to avoid a stale, monotonous workout routine. Implement weight-lifting machines, barbell weights and dumbbells in your strength training. Work your upper and lower body on opposite days for a total of at least four days a week.
Physical Progression
When your aerobic exercise and strength-training routines become effortless, it is time to kick them up a notch. If you have consistently trained with a specific weight amount for more than two weeks, bump up your weight in 5 lb. increments. If you have been walking on a treadmill for a specific amount of time at a particular speed, increase your time and intensity on the machine. The American Heart Association reports that a 150-lb. person walking for an hour at 3 mph burns 320 calories, while that same person could jog at 7 mph and burn 600 more calories.
Goals and Rewards
Set both short-term and long-term goals to gauge your progress as you embark on your weight-loss journey. Be sure that all goals are achievable to prevent frustration and keep you motivated. Write weight-loss goals by the week and month to keep you on track to your goal weight. Plan to reward yourself when you reach a weight-loss milestone, such as treating yourself to a spa treatment for every 10 lbs. you lose or purchasing a new outfit as existing clothes become baggy. Anything you do to reward yourself as you achieve short-term goals will keep you motivated to keep striving to meet your ultimate goal.
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