Islander’s Analog life….

Losing weight is not a hard thing if you follow some basic principles.  I am not saying that it is easy, but rather if you are disciplined and follow some common sense advice, you should be able to lose many pounds in a matter of weeks.  Warning: don’t lose weight too fast.  This is not good at all health wise.  I believe the max safe is about  5 to 8 pounds per month (about 2 pounds per week)

The golden principles are : Diet and Exercise

First, you need to lower the calorie intake at the same time that you burn calories.  There are many effective diets out there, just pick the one that you think is the healthiest and easier for you to stick to.  Smaller portions and more fruits and vegetables are always a good idea.  Also, make sure you are not just doing a diet per say, but rather a lifestyle change.   Start eating healthy, and try to stick to it from now on.

Second, start burning more calories by doing cardio exercises. You should at least do cardio exercises 3 times a week a minimum of 20 to 30 minute.   If you want to loose weight faster, exercise 5 times a week for about 30 to 45 minutes.  Make sure you are capable of exercising, if in doubt, see your doctor.  You really don’t want to do more harm than good.

Get yourself a decent training machine.  I chose the Schwinn 438 Elliptical Trainer and I have never looked back.  My wife and I both love the machine and use it several times a week.  We have owned this one for about 2 years.  To quote my wife: “it was either get this machine or liposuction”.  There are many different brands and price ranges, I paid about $1,000.00 which is the higher range I guess.  I wanted to buy Schwinn due that I know the brand and I think they make good, reliable machines.

Also, make sure you add weights to your work out regimen.  The beauty of the weights is that it will transform the fat into muscle rapidly.  So you  might not loose weight per say, but you might loose some inches from your waist line.  If you don’t own weights, you can start doing push ups, make sure you start small and try to do some more every week.  It is a very rewarding exercise, even thought it is hard in the beginning.

Note:  In the beginning you will drop weight fast, probably because you are burning excess water, fat in your body (legs, arms, etc) and not in your abdomen (the hardest to loose)  In order to keep up with the weight lost, you probably should start increasing the intensity of your workouts and also try new things (new workout routines) and don’t hesitate to mix things up (try not to get bored by always doing the same thing)

Good Luck!