Health & Fitness Tools

You Do Not Have To Work Hard To Get In Shape

24th January, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

The solution is really simple if you think about it. Staying at a healthy weight does not require a lot of work, or some fad diet and exercise plan that is being advertised on late night television and promises to show a person how to lose weight fast at home in a week, but it Is rather a matter of following a simple guideline in everything that a person does in terms of eating and exercising. The key is not to overdo anything. If being fit and trim is what someone wants, then this is all they really have to learn how to do.
When a person looks at their body in the mirror, they are not always pleased with what they see. After deciding they are not in the shape they want, many of us decide to take drastic measures. A lot of people are in denial that they are overweight until they look at the results of the scale. That realization starts them looking or a quick fix. They decide that the extra weight they are carrying must disappear overnight. Many of these people take extreme measures towards dieting. They are determined to do whatever it takes to make the mirror image look like it should. The thrill of a crash diet usually wears off quickly and is frequently discarded after a short time. That is why many of these programs fail.
Our body images are very important to us. The way that a person looks as portrayed by the media is something that many people strive for. Many of us strive to fit into the clothes that we wore back in our teenage years. Our body shape cannot be determined by a simple scale though. The amount of fat on their body is the issue. People are putting extra stress on their cardiac system if they have too high a percentage of fat. On the other end, a person without enough fat will also put their body at risk. It does not matter if a person is to fat or does not have enough fat, neither is healthy and needs to be addressed. It is a number that everyone who is trying to get healthy should take the time to know.
It is possible to measure your body fat in a variety of ways. Fitness personnel at many health spas are often equipped to handle this. It is also possible for a person to do it by themselves. The normal amount of body fat for an individual who is fit and trim is about five percent. For people who need to stay in shape to make a living it is possible that the percentage will be less. Anything below 3% is generally unhealthy. Too low a body fat percentage can be very dangerous.
A person should not try to lose all of their fat at once, but rather should break it down to manageable portions. Deciding how much you want your percentage to change can make it hard to set goals for yourself. Personal trainers could be very helpful when it comes to this. When you work out however you are probably building muscle as you lose the fat. The added muscle make the use of body fat percentage more difficult. Instead of using the body fat percentage to decide how well you are progressing, stick with the older method of using the scale to let your know.
The key is to not expect it to happen overnight because although people want to know how to lose weight fast, the reality of weight loss is a person will find much more success in the long run if they concentrate on doing the right things and making the changes in their lifestyle that will allow them to gradually reduce their body fat and then to help them maintain it once they get to where they need.