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Lose Weight Like A Man

4/30/2013

If you want to lose weight, then you need to think like a man!

Yes, I'm serious. When it comes to weight-loss, men seem to have a better grasp on this than the ladies. And no, genetics is not the only advantage a man has over a woman when it comes to losing weight.

First secret is that a man loves to eat! He doesn't care about wimpy salads or watching what he eats. When he's hungry, he eats! Period.

Men aren't "label readers." They don't try to watch their calories. They don't seek anything that says "low fat" or "light" or anything that women would be attracted to. Actually, men seek to consume lots of calories -- such as over 1,800 a day!

If you're a woman that's finding weight-loss difficult, you may be consuming less calories than you need. It's not unusual to hear a female client say how she doesn't like eating a lot. She's afraid that food would make her fat. The LACK of food is what makes you fat. Under-eating could encourage your body to burn your muscles for fuel and keep the fat instead.

Men, on the other hand, don't usually have a problem with eating. If anything, their problem would be eating TOO MUCH. Men love food! Sometimes they love it too much. But since they aren't afraid of food, it's easy to help them adjust their eating so they won't consume too much. It's harder to get a woman to eat a little more.

The second secret is that a man eats to perform. When he's about to hit the gym, he drinks a protein shake or eats a hearty meal. And after he's done working out, he eats for recovery!

Typically, a woman's so-called performance meal is an apple, or a salad, or a granola bar with coffee. She may hit two cardio classes and then hit the treadmill with nothing more than a piece of fruit in her belly. Then after all the hard work, she goes home to eat...well...maybe nothing.

Women are typically VERY concerned with how many calories they burn. Of all the people who have asked me about the amount of calories burned in any class, NONE of them were men. Women want to burn calories! That's fine. But you still need to consume enough calories to perform well in your exercises. So if you only consumed 800 calories for one day and burned 1,000 calories in your exercises, then your body is going to tab your muscles for needed calories.

The third secret is that a man wants to gain muscle. Yes, he wants the fat gone, but he knows that by building more muscle, he could lose the fat.

Women typically focus on cardio classes to cut the fat. Even though cardio does help lose fat, strength training is perhaps the BEST guarantee to slimming down.

Muscles need lots of calories to survive. Fat provides muscles with the needed calories. So, the more muscle you have, the less fat you'll have as the fat is "sacrificing" itself so your muscles could function.

Now you CAN work your muscles in a cardio class such as cycling, kickboxing, step, dance, etc. All cardio classes involve muscle work. However, to make those classes help you gain muscle, you need to engage your muscles more. Kick or punch harder in kickboxing. Increase the resistance on the stationary bike in cycling. Squat a little lower for your dance classes. Jump a little higher for your step classes. Don't just move. Work!

When you lift weights, don't be afraid to go heavy. No, you don't need to lift a tank, but if your weight is lighter than your purse, then you're lifting too light. Don't be afraid to work like an athlete! Losing fat involves hard work. You won't lose it by walking on the treadmill and eating salads all day.

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