Healthy Living succeeds in losing weight

If you’re heard of regimens such as ramen diet, cabbage soup, Atkins diet, South Beach diet, or workouts such as Zumba, or ten minute abs, then you are probably one of many people whom have tried many cure-alls for losing weight. And though some people manage to initially take off some weight, at the end of the program they gain even more than they had at the start of the program. This week Healthy Living becomes successful in losing weight. Marleni Cuellar reports.

Marleni Cuellar, Reporting

Ed Williams is a health & fitness enthusiast. As a former body builder, personal trainer and now health and fitness coach, he makes it his practice to educate everyone he meets about living a healthier lifestyle. One area that he finds people most misinformed is in how to be successful in losing weight. He shares five of the most common myths

Ed Williams, Health & Fitness Coach

“A lot of people feel that exercising in the morning is much better than the evening and the reason is because you’ve been through a fast in the night. So that’s why we call it breakfast. So supposedly, you’re exercising on an empty stomach. There are many benefits to exercising in the morning but that’s not one of them. That is myth. Exercising on an empty stomach will not force your body to burn fat as a matter of fact it will do just the opposite.”

What happens then, Williams says, is that there is insufficient fuel in the body.

Ed Williams

“Our body has this survival instinct. When there is evidence or suggestion of starvation of hard times the body holds on to its fat because that is probably what is going to keep you alive when you have absolutely nothing to eat. Your body fat.”

In fact, this practice may actually accelerate the aging process.

Ed Williams

“The aging process is the process of losing muscle and gaining fat; that’s why when we’re young we have good posture but as we get old we start going down.”

The second myth Williams regularly encounters is the age old question get in more cardio or pump some more iron.

Ed Williams

“This obviously is good for your cardiovascular system it promotes a health cardiovascular system but it tips the balance over on the side of signaling your body to saving fat for that activity as oppose to burning fat. But this is storage. We condition our body by our lifestyle, if we tell our body ok this is what I’m going to be doing. Then the body will prepare for it, it will make sure you have the fuel to get it done.  Resistance is very important…dumbells, barbells or body weight. You want to incorporate with your cardio, resistance training…run hard. Jump off the treadmill, do a couple squat press, kettle bell swings and lunges and then you’re back on the treadmill and you run. Jogging is good for the heart but not for fat burning, so If you want to, you have to do what we call intervals.”

The key is finding the right balance between cardio & resistance training.

Ed Williams

“Myth number three if you exercise hard enough you can eat anything you want. At forty I have to admit there is a little bit of truth there. But it’s impractical. You see the formula for weight loss is simple. You have to burn more calories than you consume. But that becomes very impractical if you are consuming ten thousand calories, you don’t have enough calories in a day to enough calories. So it’s impractical.”

Williams encourages people to eat with the mindset of nourishing the body.

Ed Williams

“Exercise is only thirty percent, nutrition and lifestyle accounts for seventy. So thirty percent can never defeat seventy percent. There will always – so that’s why it’s impractical.”

The next myth focuses specifically on jogging.

Ed Williams

“Jogging has its benefits , especially if you like to think then jogging is good thinking time and is also good for a healthy cardiovascular system but for the most part if you want to burn fat. If you want to tone and feel good in clothes and like what you see in the mirror then you’ll have to do more than just jogging. Any exercise is better than no exercise. That’s the next one, number five myth. Exercise is a waste of time unless you do it often. To get the most out of it you have to be consistent. You can be consistent weekly, if you do it once a week. That’s consistent, so you will get results. Now if you do it once a month, that’s consistency but it’s not enough. If you have a goal, you work on it until you make it. You don’t want to lose five pounds in a year. If you want to lose five months in a month then you have to step up the time per week.”

Which is why highs basic recommendation is to fit in exercise at least four times a week.