If you are overweight it is likely that you have tried to lose weight by some sort of diet. It may even be that you have tried more than one. The problem with many of these weight loss diets is that they are far too low in calories and cause the body to go into a state called ‘diet shock’.

Bad things happen when in this state – a series of metabolic hormonal responses occur as the body’s self preservation mode has been triggered so it puts the brakes on fat loss and hunkers down for what it perceives as a famine situation. Protective mechanisms are activated to slow the metabolism (the body’s engine) such as reduced energy levels, lower physical activity and an increased appetite.

You begin to self diagnose how you feel – low energy, hungry all the time, cannot stop thinking about food, not losing much fat for how little you are eating and you may have even reached a plateau and are not losing weight at all. If you return to normal eating you will likely gain back the weight you have lost very quickly and end up with some extra as well. These negative consequences are not the desired result for your dieting attempt.

But all you have done is triggered an ancient response that has allowed the human race to survive when times are tough and food was short. If you continue these dieting attempts you will be causing yourself metabolic damage which will make further weight loss nearly impossible and future weight gain easier.

It is better to take a more realistic approach – one that works. Good old fashioned healthy eating and proper exercise. Strength training exercise is vital when fat loss is desired as it keeps the metabolism running well. If you are not prepared to spend 2-3 sessions each week keeping your muscular system strong and healthy you will be in for very poor weight loss results.

Muscle cells are where fuel (calories) is burned for energy and if you have allowed your muscles to become flabby and weak they will have lower than normal energy requirements. If you have no energy it is very hard to be able to put some effort into your strength training exercise program which is what you need to do to make the necessary changes to your metabolism to boost it to burn more fat round the clock.

Low intensity long duration activities (like walking, cycling or swimming) will not work your muscles through their ranges of movement under a load so doing these things is not going to help you rebuild and re-tune your metabolism to burn fat faster and more efficiently.

You can still do these activities but keep them for after your strength training program and treat them as just part of an active lifestyle.

Support your exercise program with small natural whole food meals every 2-3 hours each with a portion of protein. These will also boost your metabolism and the combination of your healthy meals along with your strength training will mean you are on the right track to lose that excess fat weight that is slowing you down and making you feel and look less good than you should.