An Explanation and Solution For Slow Female Fat Loss

By Tom Venuto

Author of Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

You may have heard (or, heh, realized), that it's more difficult for women to lose fat than men. Immediately most people think it must be estrogen or hormonal issues. But perhaps the biggest factor is NOT hormones, but the simple fact that women are usually smaller and lighter than men.

When you have a smaller body, you have lower calorie needs. When you have lower calorie needs, your relative deficit (20%, 30% etc) gives you a smaller absolute deficit and therefore you lose fat more slowly than someone who is larger and can create a large deficit more easily.

For example, if my TDEE is 3300 calories a day (I’m 5' 8" and moderately to very active), then a 20% deficit is 660 calories, which brings me to 2640 calories a day. On paper, that will give me about 1.3 lbs of wt loss per week, rather painlessly, I might add.

If I bumped my calorie burn up or decreased my intake by another 340 a day, that's enough to give me a 2 lbs per week wt loss.

That's hardly a starvation diet (Ahhh, the joys of being a man). For smaller women, the math equation is very different.

If your total daily energy expenditure is only 1970 calories, even at a VERY high exercise level, then a 20% deficit for you is only 394 calories which would put you at 1576 calories a day for (on paper) only 8/10th of a lb of fat loss/wk.

If you pursued your plan to take a more aggressive calorie deficit of 30%, that puts you at a 591 calorie deficit which would now drop you down to only 1382 calories/day.

That's starting to get fairly low in calories. However, you would still have a fairly small calorie deficit. In fact, I would get to eat almost twice as many calories as you and I'd still get almost twice the weekly rate of fat loss!

What this all means is that women who are petite or have a small body size are going to lose fat more slowly than larger women and much more slowly than men, so you cannot compare yourself to them.

It's great to be inspired by our success stories, but if you're looking for someone to model yourself after, choose one of our success stories of someone your body size and wt, rather than the folks who started 100 lbs overweight and were therefore easily dropping 3 lbs a week.

ONE POUND a week of fat loss is much more in line with a realistic goal for someone of a smaller body size. Overweight people can lose it faster. The best thing you can do is to be extremely consistent with your nutrition over time.

Suggestion #1: Weigh and measure all your food any time you feel you are stuck at a plateau, just to be sure. When your calorie expenditure is on the low side, you don't have much margin for error.

Suggestion #2:  Take your body comp measurements with a grain of salt, especially if you are using Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) scales (they are a bit wonky) and remember that body comp testing is seldom perfect. Pay attention to your circumference measurements, how your clothes fit and how you look in the mirror and in photos as well.

Suggestion #3: You might actually want to take fewer refeeds - once a week instead of every 4th day, or even just once every 10-14 days, so you can get a larger weekly deficit.

Suggestion #4: You may want to take 2 or 3 of your long cardio sessions on the treadmill and switch them to intense intervals or ANY other type of activity that has potential to burn more than 362 calories for an hour's investment of time, or perhaps that equivalent calorie burn in less time. No need to add more days of cardio or more time - get the most out of the time you are already spending.

Suggestion #5: If you do intervals, don't make the workout too brief (ignore the advertisements for those "4 minute miracle" workouts, etc.), or you may burn fewer calories than you were before! In fact, you might even try the method where you do HIIT for 15-20 min, then continue for another 30-40 at slow to medium intensity. Increasing total calories burned should be your focus.

Dropping only ONE pound per week (or less) may seem excruciatingly slow, but it's actually the same type of thing I do. As a bodybuilder, I go from lean to extremely lean when I diet and I don't expect more than a pound a week during contest cuts.

You are in a similar situation, even if not competing. Even if you get a half a pound a week fat loss, if you get that progress every week, that’s what you’re looking for - steady progress – even if slow.

It's entirely possible that you HAVE been making progress, only very slowly. With the way water weight and glycogen levels can fluctuate (and lean mass may increase), a half a pound or pound fat loss in a week could have been easily masked... and therefore, missed. That's one of the drawbacks of going by the scale alone.

Understand the calorie math I explained above and be patient, watching for slow and steady progress, paying special attention to the trend over time on your progress chart.

Keep after it - the persistence will pay, I promise!

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

PS. You can learn about more fat loss strategies (including the details about the carb cycling method) inside my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Learn more and see some of the inspiring before and after success stories at:
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle

10 Things You Need To Stop Doing if You Want to Lose Weight

Are you beginning to think that you can't lose weight? Does it feel like all of your diet efforts backfire and
cause weight gain? If you want to shed pounds, find out which common weight loss mistakes might be preventing you from getting the results that you want.

10 Things to Stop Doing if You Want to Lose Weight

Stop choosing the wrong diet.

How often have you chosen a diet because it worked for a friend? Perhaps you were inspired by a celebrity spokesperson? A diet might be perfect for someone else, but their needs, their lifestyle, and their food preferences could be completely different from yours.
Instead, ask yourself five important questions about your diet history, medical background, and sources of support. The answers will help you to identify your specific needs as a dieter and help you to choose the best weight loss plan for you.

Stop setting unrealistic goals.

Dieters are often highly motivated and full of excitement at the beginning of their weight loss program. It is often during this phase that they set unrealistic goals for weight loss. But unrealistic expectations can cause weight gain when lack of progress leads to lack of motivation.

Instead, take the time to sit down and set both short- and long-term goals. By setting up small, achievable steps on the way to your larger goal, you set yourself up for gradual success. Incremental steps will also help you to stay motivated through the entire weight loss process.

Stop using "lack of time" as an excuse.

One of the most common barriers to weight loss is the belief that you don't have enough time. One study
found that 41% of women cited "lack of time" as the reason that they didn't eat better and 73% of women said they didn't exercise because they didn't have the time. The bottom line is that if you want to lose weight, you have to find a way to carve out time for healthy activity.

Instead of giving up, get out an old-fashioned paper calendar. Find windows of time that are not consumed by absolute necessities. Then schedule time for healthy food preparation and exercise. Pen in these items and schedule everything else around them. Don't be afraid to put other priorities on the back burner or ask for help (see item #4) so that you can take the time you need to make your health a top priority.

Stop isolating yourself.

In a recent interview with Biggest Loser runner-up Hanna Curlee, she said that the most important thing she learned during her successful weight loss experience was to ask for help. "I was ashamed to ask for help," she said. "I could have called someone and reached out for help, but I thought I didn't have anyone." She realized later that she had friends and family who were willing and able to help her through her weight loss journey.

Instead of isolating yourself, learn how to get diet support from family and friends. Take the time to identify your needs for yourself and then approach others. That way, you'll be clear about defining specific ways in which they can help.

Stop underestimating your food intake.

Do you really count all of your calories? Remember that even tiny 25-calorie nibbles here and there throughout the day can add up. Snacks count, food from your dining partner's plate counts, and calories consumed during food preparation count.

Instead of relying on guesswork, use a food tracker like the one at CalorieCount.com. The website provides a great tool, and there is even a mobile app that will help you track every food that you consume. Make your entries more accurate by purchasing an inexpensive food scale. The tool will allow you to report the exact size of each portion you consume. Compare prices to find a scale that fits in your budget.

Stop believing that "healthy" foods will cause weight loss.

Several studies have shown that people are more likely to overeat foods that they perceive to be healthy. One study at the University of Michigan found that when a food was labeled "organic," dieters ate more of it. There may be health benefits to the food you are eating, but if you eat too much of it, it will cause weight gain.

Instead of reading product claims on packages, read nutritional facts labels. Start by assessing the serving size, then see how many calories and how much fat is in the product. You may find that your "healthy" snack is causing unhealthy weight gain.

Stop sitting all day.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, is a fancy term for all of the non-exercise movement that you
do every day. It can account for up to 15-30% of your total calorie burn. If you spend your day sitting at a desk or your evenings lying on the couch, the calories you burn from NEAT will be minimal.

Instead of being sedentary, increase your daily activity. If you have a desk job, get up every hour and walk to the restroom on a different floor, refill your water, run an errand on foot, or climb the stairs in your office building. If you like watching television at night, fold laundry or dust furniture instead of just lying on the couch.

Stop overestimating your exercise activity.

Many people who want to lose weight join a gym. But you actually have to go to the health club to burn calories. And your workout time is only the time you spend exercising. It should not include the time you spend in the locker room, parking your car, and chatting with friends.

Instead of using ballpark figures, invest in a heart rate monitor. There are quite a few models on the market, so compare prices to find one that fits your budget. A heart rate monitor not only lets you know how hard you are working, but most models will measure your "time in range" to let you know exactly how many minutes you can count as exercise.

Stop compensating for exercise by eating more.

It is normal for your appetite to increase when you begin to exercise. A common weight loss mistake is to indulge in extra snacks and treats as a reward for the workout. But eating those treats can cause weight gain.

Instead of overeating after your workout, plan to eat a healthy, low-calorie snack right after you exercise. Combine a lean protein with a carbohydrate to satisfy your hunger and replace nutrients lost during the workout. A glass of skim chocolate milk works well and tastes decadent enough to feel like a treat.

Stop expecting major results from minimal change.

It's easy to believe the advertising claims made by numerous weight loss pills, supplements, and fad diets. Too many of them claim that major weight loss is easy. But weight loss is hard. Don't let the difficulty of the process deter your best efforts.

Instead of getting frustrated, focus on small accomplishments as you lose weight. At each stage of the weight loss process, find an accomplishment to be proud of. Then focus on what you have gained. For example, if the scale isn't giving you the weight loss results that you want, then celebrate the fact that you ate a well-balanced diet during the day and remind yourself about the health benefits you gained from eating well. Your exercise plan may not be resulting in weight loss yet, but it may help you sleep better at night and feel better during the day. Look for and acknowledge the little perks along the way.

Lose Weight With The Fat Loss Factor

The Fat Loss Factor is a 12-week online weight loss program created by Dr. Charles Michael Allen and his wife Lori Allen.

One of the main featuers of the system is detoxification. Trying to lose weight by dieting and exercising without the removal of toxins is only part of the equation. Toxins is what causing stubborn fat cells to reside in our bodies.

Likewise, trying to lose weight just by detoxing is extremely healthy, but the fact of the matter still remains that you must not eat more than your caloric daily intake in order to lose weight. The Fat Loss Factor combines these problems into a resolution that you can download in just 3 minutes following Dr. Charles' presentation.

With the program you will get an entire bundle of bonuses that are simply too much for me to list here (I don't like it when my posts get too long).

Take the first step and watch this very entertaining and educational free video presentation by clicking HERE or on the button below.

5 Interesting Facts You Don't Know About Body Fat

We dissect the science of fat to help you pick the smartest strategies for losing it

Fat is the ultimate three-letter word, especially the kind that you spend so much time watching your diet and hitting the gym to keep at bay (or at least to keep off your butt). But beyond making you look less-than-svelte, fat can have significant physical and emotional implications. We talked to Shawn Talbott, Ph.D., a nutritional biochemist and author of The Secret of Vigor: How to Overcome Burnout, Restore Biochemical Balance, and Reclaim Your Natural Energy, to find out a few essential facts that might surprise you.

1. Fat Comes in Different Colors
More specifically, there are different types of fat that have different hues and functions, according to Talbott: white, brown, and beige. The white fat is what most people think of as fat—pale and useless. Useless in that it has a low metabolic rate so it doesn’t help you burn any calories the way muscle does, and it’s the predominant type of fat in the human body, encompassing more than 90 percent of it. In other words, it’s a storage unit for extra calories.

Brown fat is darker in color due to a rich blood supply and can actually burn calories rather than storing them—but only if you’re a rat (or other mammal); certain critters can activate brown fat to burn calories and generate heat to keep them warm in winter. Humans, sadly, have so little brown fat that it won’t help you burn calories or keep you warm.

The third type of fat, beige fat, is in between white and brown in terms of its calorie-burning ability, which is actually very exciting. Why? Because researchers are looking into ways to shift white fat cells into more metabolically active beige ones via diet and exercise or supplements. In fact, there is preliminary evidence that certain hormones which are activated by exercise may convert white fat cells into beige ones, as well as some evidence that certain foods such as brown seaweed, licorice root, and hot peppers may have the ability to do this as well.

2. The Fat On Your Butt is Healthier than the Fat on Your Belly
It’s probably safe to say that no woman favors the fat on one body part over another, but it’s actually safer health-wise to be more of a pear than an apple, Talbott says. Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is much more responsive to the stress hormone cortisol compared to the fat on your thighs or butt, so when stress hits hard (and you don’t find a healthy way to handle it), any extra calories consumed are more likely to end up around your middle.

Belly fat is also much more inflammatory than fat located elsewhere in the body and can create its own inflammatory chemicals (as a tumor would). These chemicals travel to the brain and make you hungry and tired, so you’re more likely to overeat or eat junk food and not exercise, thus creating a vicious cycle and perpetuating the storage of more belly fat. The good news is that anything that helps you reduce inflammation helps reduce those signals to the brain. Talbott recommends fish oil (for the Omega 3’s) and probiotics, which you can take in pill form or get by eating yogurt with active cultures.

3. First You Burn Calories, Second You Burn Fat
The term “fat-burning” is thrown around willy-nilly in fitness circles, but as an expression of weight loss, it’s indirect. Before you “burn” fat, you burn calories, whether those calories come from stored carbohydrates (glycogen and blood sugar) or from stored body fat. The more calories you burn during each workout, the bigger deficit you will create and the more fat you will lose.

You can also create a calorie deficit by eating less. The trick, though, is time, since it’s hard for most people to put in the time needed to burn enough calories to make a weight-loss dent. Talbott (and many other experts) advocates high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to burn as many calories as possible in as short amount of time as possible. This method, which alternates between hard/easy efforts, can burn double the calories in the same amount of time spent exercising in a steady state.

4. Fat Affects Your Mood
Certainly there is no easier way to ruin your day than seeing you’ve gone up a few numbers on the scale, but having excess fat—especially around your belly—activates that inflammation/cortisol cycle, which studies show may be a factor in serious mood disorders like bipolar disorder. If you’re stuck in a stress/eat/gain/stress cycle, however, you’re likely to experience at least a perpetually low mood, even if you don’t have an actual clinical condition.

To help break the cycle, try eating a square of dark chocolate, suggests Talbott; there is just enough sugar to satisfy a stress-induced craving, but the healthy flavonoids help calm inflammation that leads to more stress. Low-fat dairy products like yogurt can have a similar effect—the combination of calcium and magnesium can help calm the stress response.

5. Even Skinny People Can Have Cellulite
The dreaded c-word is caused by fat trapped under the skin (known as subcutaneous fat). The overlying skin "dimples" are created by connective tissues that tie the skin to the underlying muscle, with fat trapped in between like a sandwich. You don’t need a lot of fat to cause a dimpling effect, so you can be in great shape and have low body fat but still have a little pocket of dimpled fat, for example, on your butt or the backs of your thighs.

Building muscle while losing fat (and the fat loss part is key—you have to have it to lose) can help minimize the appearance of cellulite; cellulite-specific creams and lotions can also help minimize the look of dimpled skin (though they can’t do anything about the trapped fat beneath).

Lose Weight With The Fat Loss Factor

The Fat Loss Factor is a 12-week online weight loss program created by Dr. Charles Michael Allen and his wife Lori Allen.

One of the main featuers of the system is detoxification. Trying to lose weight by dieting and exercising without the removal of toxins is only part of the equation. Toxins is what causing stubborn fat cells to reside in our bodies.

Likewise, trying to lose weight just by detoxing is extremely healthy, but the fact of the matter still remains that you must not eat more than your caloric daily intake in order to lose weight. The Fat Loss Factor combines these problems into a resolution that you can download in just 3 minutes following Dr. Charles' presentation.

With the program you will get an entire bundle of bonuses that are simply too much for me to list here (I don't like it when my posts get too long).

Take the first step and watch this very entertaining and educational free video presentation by clicking HERE or on the button below.

Find Out 3 Surprising Reasons You Don't Lose Fat

The secret to melting off your middle? Approach your workout more like a man! Here's why

A man can learn a lot from observing women in a book club for five minutes. I would know because my wife is part of a one, and every time I spend a little time with those ladies I come away much wiser and more convinced that men and women could not be much more different—unless you’re talking about exercise.

You see, the exercise techniques that work best are universal to men and women. And yet most women wouldn’t dare approach the gym like a guy. How do I know? Because the 10 women at my wife’s book club told me so last night, and it’s the same thing I’ve heard for the last 10 years in the fitness industry. The reality is that training “like a man” will actually make you leaner, sexier, and have your friends dying to know your secret.

So forget gender differences for a moment. Here are three tips that are part of the foundation of my New York Times best-selling book, Man 2.0: Engineering the Alpha. They work well for men, but like most things in life, by following these simple rules, the end result will look even better on a woman.

Rule 1: Stick to the Basics

Everyone loves to create exercises that make working out more fun. And that’s fine; your workout should be enjoyable. But thinking that Bosu ball balancing acts or one-legged plié jumps while holding a kettlebell will get you fitter faster just isn’t accurate. If you want results, you have to stick with what we know works. And that’s classic, multi-muscle exercises like squats and deadlifts. These exercises work because they force you to use multiple muscle groups at once. And the more muscles you activate, the more fat you’ll slash.

These may seem like exercises for guys, but not all squats are done with a barbell loaded with lots of weight. (Although women shouldn't fear heavier weights; they don’t make you bulky.) Variations of these exercises are timeless and extremely effective. Grab a pair of dumbbells and try Bulgarian split squats. Your legs and butt will thank you.

Rule 2: Less Cardio

More women perform cardio as a means to lose weight than men. This is not a stereotype—it’s reality. That’s not to say men aren’t equally guilty. It's true cardio helps you burn calories… but so does eating. So that’s not the issue; you want to find the most efficient ways to burn calories and more importantly fat. And you want to build a body that makes it easier for you to enjoy the foods you love, right?

That’s why cardio isn’t the answer. Or, at least, it’s not the primary solution. Cardio will burn calories, and weight training is more likely to burn fat. If you’re going to do cardio, make it secondary to weight training. That means either doing cardio on separate days (if you have the time) or after a weight training workout. The best thing about lifting weights is that your body adapts to the new muscle mass you'll build, which means your metabolism will be higher, you'll burn more calories, and you'll change your hormones (like insulin) to be able to handle the foods you love.

Rule 3: More Intensity

I’ve spent enough time in the gym to know that making fitness social is a great idea. Few things are better than going to gym with friends or being part of group fitness, whether it’s bootcamp, Crossfit, or Zumba. What’s not okay is focusing on the social aspect more than the workout itself. Most guys go in with a “go big or go home” mentality. While this can lead to injuries, it's closer to the right mindset in terms of getting results.

When you go to the gym, you want to get in and get out. Longer workouts are not better workouts. Intense workouts are what works. Your heart rate should be elevated and you should be sweating and feeling your muscles work. Completely transforming your body does not take a lot of time—but it does take a lot of effort. If you want an idea of what all out effort feels like, try this simple two-exercise sequence. It's called a countdown. It might only take 10 minutes, but it might feel like the hardest workout you've ever performed. Use this as a baseline for how hard you should be pushing to get the body you want.

Countdown Workout

• Perform 10 reps of a kettlebell (or dumbbell) swing
• Without rest, do 10 reps of burpees
• Still without resting, do 9 reps of the swings
• Now do 9 reps of burpees

Continue this pattern until you do just 1 rep of each exercise, trying to rest as little as possible (or not at all) between moves.

Lose Weight With The Fat Loss Factor

The Fat Loss Factor is a 12-week online weight loss program created by Dr. Charles Michael Allen and his wife Lori Allen.

One of the main featuers of the system is detoxification. Trying to lose weight by dieting and exercising without the removal of toxins is only part of the equation. Toxins is what causing stubborn fat cells to reside in our bodies.

Likewise, trying to lose weight just by detoxing is extremely healthy, but the fact of the matter still remains that you must not eat more than your caloric daily intake in order to lose weight. The Fat Loss Factor combines these problems into a resolution that you can download in just 3 minutes following Dr. Charles' presentation.

With the program you will get an entire bundle of bonuses that are simply too much for me to list here (I don't like it when my posts get too long).

Take the first step and watch this very entertaining and educational free video presentation by clicking HERE or on the button below.

Spring Cleaning: How Many Calories Do You Burn Doing Chores?

There's a reason they call it housework! Here's how to burn serious calories during a cleaning session

While it still may not feel like spring, winter has, at least officially, come and gone. We're hoping for warmer weather any day now, and in the meantime, getting ready to celebrate the season.

Spring cleaning might not be the most exciting way to "celebrate," but consider the upsides: airing out the sheets and sweeping away the dust bunnies can help you manage seasonal allergies and keep germs at bay—not to mention burn a few extra calories.

Of course, just because you mopped the floors today doesn't mean you can skip your workout. But, if you've got spring cleaning on the agenda already, you might be surprised by how many calories you could burn. Check out the calorie counts for these common spring cleaning activities.

(All calorie counts are estimates based on a 150-pound person, and will vary with intensity, body composition and weight.)

1. Mopping: Take care of those dusty, dirty floors with an hour of mopping and you'll shed 153 calories.

2. Washing floors: If your floors require a little extra elbow grease, you can shed as many as 187 calories in just 30 minutes.

3. Scrubbing the tub: It might not take you as long as those floors, but some similar umph is required to ditch that soap scum. In 15 minutes, you'll burn more than 90 calories—and you might feel it in those arms, too!

4. Vacuuming: Depending on the size of your home, vacuuming could make a significant dent in your 10,000 recommended steps a day. In the process, you could burn 119 calories per 30 minutes.

5. Sweeping: A 30-minute dance with the broom will burn off 136 calories.

6. Washing the car: Winter road salt still covering your car? Skip the drive-thru and scrub it by hand to burn 153 calories.

7. Cleaning windows: Get the grime off the inside and the outside and let the springtime sun shine in. You'll burn 167 calories in 30 minutes.

8. Rearranging the closet: Ready to put away those sweaters and your heavy winter coat? Moving around some lighter options can burn about 85 calories.

9. Redecorating: Painting your bedroom a springy pale green? Knock off 167 calories in 30 minutes of indoor remodeling.

10. Moving: Got any furniture to move? You're in luck: You could burn another 100 calories in just 15 minutes, and even more if you have to move anything up and down stairs!

Lose Weight With The Fat Loss Factor

The Fat Loss Factor is a 12-week online weight loss program created by Dr. Charles Michael Allen and his wife Lori Allen.

One of the main featuers of the system is detoxification. Trying to lose weight by dieting and exercising without the removal of toxins is only part of the equation. Toxins is what causing stubborn fat cells to reside in our bodies.

Likewise, trying to lose weight just by detoxing is extremely healthy, but the fact of the matter still remains that you must not eat more than your caloric daily intake in order to lose weight. The Fat Loss Factor combines these problems into a resolution that you can download in just 3 minutes following Dr. Charles' presentation.

With the program you will get an entire bundle of bonuses that are simply too much for me to list here (I don't like it when my posts get too long).

Take the first step and watch this very entertaining and educational free video presentation by clicking HERE or on the button below.

5 Essential Fat Loss Rules If You Are Over 40

If you're at the point in your life where you've had enough of being unhappy with your body and have finally decided to take control of the situation, you're in a great position to start off... Learn more.

If you're at the point in your life where you've had enough of being unhappy with your body and have finally decided to take control of the situation, you're in a great position to start off on the right foot - by learning the essential principles of fat loss for those over 40.

Some individuals feel quite intimidated aiming for fat loss at an older age, wondering if they're too old to make significant changes to their body or if it's even worth it - would they ever look as good as they'd like?

This isn't the case at all. If you need proof, check out some of the senior bodybuilder's or fitness competitors who are competing and look absolutely fantastic. While you may be slightly older, this does not mean your body will not respond to a proper training program and fat loss diet.

In fact, by taking action now, you will be doing so much for your future as far as maintaining healthy bones, muscles, and range of motion is concerned. If you neglected to get back into shape at this point, as you hit your 50's and 60's, you'll find you rapidly start to lose your range of motion, much faster than if you get active now.

All of this said, there are some import things to keep in mind as you design your plan for maximal fat loss. Here are the main things to know.

1. Total Calorie Intake For Fat Loss

The first thing you must take into consideration when the goal is fat loss as an older adult is your total calorie intake. Since you may have already lost a small amount of muscle mass, your metabolism could be running slightly slower than normal.

This just means you'll need to adjust your calories slightly downward for the time being until the metabolic rate is back up again and you're able to consume more calories. A good starting place is about 12 calories per pound of bodyweight a day. Eat at this intake for a few weeks and see what type of results you experience.

If you're not losing weight, move it down by about 10-15%. If you are getting good results, maintain that intake, or if you're losing too quickly (say more than 2 pounds a week), bump it up by about 10-15% to slow the rate of weight loss down.

If you are a very active individual already (you have an active job for example), you may find that this intake is simply not enough, so then you'll have to go higher even yet. The important thing is counting calories for a two to three week period and then adjusting based on real world results.

2. Specific Nutrient Composition

Moving on to the specific nutrients that make up your diet, older adults may want to boost protein intake slightly more than someone who is a bit younger. The reason for this being that will help to boost the metabolism just a bit more, improving your results.

Also, this higher level of protein will prevent any further muscle mass loss from occurring, safeguarding you against this.

Take in at least 1.2 grams of protein per pound a day, if not slightly more. Get this from lean sources such as chicken, fish, egg whites, lean red meat, and low-fat dairy products.

3. Additional Nutrients To Be Aware Of

After you've figured out your calorie, protein, carb, and fat intake, then there are a few additional nutrients to look out for. The first one is calcium. Many older adults stop consuming as many dairy products in their diet, which will really come back to get them down the road.

Since you're going to be at an increased risk of osteoporosis as you age, supplying enough calcium through your diet will help to prevent this and keep your bones protected.

Dietary fiber is another nutrient you'll want to be sure you're getting enough of. This will help to keep the digestive system regulated, promoting regular bowel movements, as well as help to prevent digestive related disorders and cancer as you grow older.

Since fruit and vegetable consumption sometimes declines, your current dietary fiber intake could be lacking. Pay attention to this and try and get more fiber in whenever possible.

Finally, you may want to pay a bit more attention to your sodium intake than you typically do, particularly if you're suffering from high blood pressure. If you commonly eat convenience types of foods, there's a very good chance you're currently getting too much sodium in your diet, so taking steps to reduce this will be important.

Again, increasing your fruit and vegetable intake will help with this, as well as supply you plenty of potassium which is a nutrient that helps to balance out the sodium in the body.

4. Resistance Training Is A Must

On the exercise side of the equation, now is the time to really start resistance training. This is what is going to promote the development of lean body mass and help make up for any lean tissue you might have lost already.

Resistance training is also going to help strengthen the bones and increase your ability to perform usual activities throughout the day easier. Keep in mind you don't have to be on an incredibly intensive weight lifting program five days a week to see results - 3 days of training, one or two exercises for each body part can be more than enough to start showing increases in strength as well as body composition benefits.

5. Find A Form Of Cardio That You Enjoy - Factor In Your Joints

Finally, you should really focus on finding a form of cardio activity that you enjoy. Don't force yourself to do something that you hate as chances are you'll just stop doing it.

You may want to look into the types of cardio that are less stressful on your joints such as swimming, using the elliptical trainer, or joining a kickboxing class that doesn't have much impact. If you're suffering from knee, back, or other joint pain, this is going to be a very smart move to ensure that you're able to continue being active for the years ahead.

Conclusion

So, keep these points in mind. It is never to late to start making improvements in your diet, lose the body fat that has found its way onto your body over the years, and start feeling better about yourself. Staying active is the single biggest influence on your maintaining good health in your later years.

Lose Weight With The Fat Loss Factor

The Fat Loss Factor is a 12-week online weight loss program created by Dr. Charles Michael Allen and his wife Lori Allen.

One of the main featuers of the system is detoxification. Trying to lose weight by dieting and exercising without the removal of toxins is only part of the equation. Toxins is what causing stubborn fat cells to reside in our bodies.

Likewise, trying to lose weight just by detoxing is extremely healthy, but the fact of the matter still remains that you must not eat more than your caloric daily intake in order to lose weight. The Fat Loss Factor combines these problems into a resolution that you can download in just 3 minutes following Dr. Charles' presentation.

With the program you will get an entire bundle of bonuses that are simply too much for me to list here (I don't like it when my posts get too long).

Take the first step and watch this very entertaining and educational free video presentation by clicking HERE or on the button below.

8 Reasons Why You Keep Falling Off the Diet Wagon

Clearly, we have an obesity problem in America and many other countries across our planet. Yet, I propose
that we do not have a weight loss problem today. In case you're confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics:

According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all 'weight losers' have regained the lost weight, and often gained back a little extra.

According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent.

For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%. This means that lots and lots of people have lost weight. But not many have kept it off. Therefore, we don't have a weight loss problem, we have a weight-relapse problem; we have a "not sticking with it" problem, wouldn't you agree?

In fact, the fall and subsequent weight-regain usually doesn't take years. Many people have abandoned their new year's resolutions within weeks. By the time the Super Bowl party rolls around, the diet is ancient history!

If this is true, then shouldn't we put more of our attention onto figuring out why you haven't been sticking with your program, and what you should do about it? That's why I put together this new list (below) of the top 8 reasons why you always fall off the wagon.

Rather than worrying about the minutiae of your diet plan, like whether you should be on low carb or high carb, Mediterranean or Okinawan, vegetarian or meat eater, I propose that if you simply focus on these 8 issues, you'll start getting more lasting results.

How? By being able to stick with whichever plan you decided was best for you! After all, even if you have the best nutrition program in the world - on paper - it doesn't do you much good if you can't stick with it in practice!

1. No focus: you didn't set goals, you didn't put your goals in writing, and or you didn't keep your goals in mind daily (by reading them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

2. No priorities: you may have set a goal, but you didn't put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

4. No Accountability: you didn't keep score for your own accountability - with a progress chart, weight record, measurements, food journal, training journal, and you didn't set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results to someone else)

5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations. You expected 10 pounds a week or 5 pounds a week or 3 pounds a week, so the first week you lost "only" 1 or 2 pounds or hit a plateau, you gave up.

6. No planning: you winged it. You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn't plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn't have a menu on paper, you didn't make time (so instead you made excuses, like "I'm too busy")

7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, "I want it now" route instead of the moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn't suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

So there you have it - 8 mistakes that cause most people to fall off the wagon! Have you been making any of these mistakes? If so, the solutions are clear and simple: focus, prioritize, get support, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

Tom Venuto is a fat loss expert, lifetime natural (steroid-free) bodybuilder, independent nutrition researcher and freelance writer. Tom is the author of the best selling e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat-Burning Secrets of The World's Best Bodybuilders & Fitness Models( e-book) and The Body Fat Solution (Hardcover, Avery/Penguin Books). Learn how to maximize your fat loss, naturally by visiting Tom At BurnTheFat

Take Your First Step ->

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

• Name:
• Email:
• 2 subscribers
• We respect your privacy
• Email Marketingby GetResponse