Weight Loss Plan - Diet & Exercise

Most people dread hearing the words diet and exercise. These words conjure images of food restriction and hours worth of sweat in a gym. For most of us, diet and exercise are going to be the key to any weight loss plans that you may have for the future. If you desire the perfect body or if you are simply losing weight for health reasons, diet and exercise will be the most healthy route you can take to achieve your goal.

When you are developing an exercise plan as a part of your weight loss plan, it is important to utilize interval training. In interval training, you alternate periods of intense workout with periods of slower workout. This type of training is most commonly seen with joggers and runners. For example, a person may run for five minutes followed by one minute of walking. Because of the frenzied pace the intense portion of interval training maintains, the intense portion should not last any more than twenty minutes without a break.

After undergoing an interval workout, your heart rate and metabolism can remain elevated for hours. Even after your actual workout has ceased, your body will still be burning fat. During mundane activities, like taking a shower or washing the dishes, you will burn more calories than on average. According to most health care providers, interval workouts, as a part of your weight loss plan, should not be done more than three times a week. This allows your body to have a chance to rest and regenerate itself.

The second part of your weight loss plan is going to be your diet. Many people assume that, in order to diet, that one must reduce their caloric intake drastically. If you begin to starve yourself, your body will slow its metabolism down in order to conserve energy. This can have an effect on your body's metabolic processes. At this point is when most men and women begin to feel deprived, and this is when most people give into temptation.

This is why you need to consult your physician or a nutritionist before you begin a new diet as part of your weight loss plan. Those who are trained in this field can help you to develop a plan that will be effective in weigh loss without depriving your body of the nutrition it needs. The workout plan that you choose to undertake will be a factor that is taken into consideration when formulating your diet. If you choose a workout plan like interval training, your body will need a certain foods that are high in protein and other amino acids. Yo yo dieting and infrequent exercise can be harmful to your body. You will need to devise a weight loss plan that you can adhere too.