Your genes play a very important part in achieving your weight loss goal.  Understanding a little about how your genes affect your results will be very beneficial because every person has a unique difference how their genes affect weight loss.  Our metabolism is drastically different from one person to the next.  This is the major reason why a weight loss plan given to one person will not work for another; even the food that we eat will be digested differently.  Some people can eat more protein, while some will do better by eating more carbohydrates or fat.  The portion size might be larger between two people who actually weigh the same.  The actual size of our stomach, heart, and liver is different, our ability to handle stress is different, and the actual muscle cell size is different.  What works for one person most of the time will not work for the other because of these genetic differences.  Learning what works for you is part of your success.  Learning that more protein works better for you than carbohydrates or if carbohydrates work better than protein will improve your weight loss.  Not eating protein when your body wants protein is a plan heading for low energy, weight gain, and stress.  Eating too much protein when your body wants carbohydrates leads to the same result.  The amount of energy you have when you eat and how long it last will tell you if you're eating an appropriate meal for your body. Listen to your body when you eat and adjust.  Experiment with different food combinations and your body will tell you when you have the best meals for you.  Do not follow a plan that works for someone else it will not work for you 99% of the time.

Weight training is an excellent way to increase your metabolism.  When you weight train you increase strength and muscle density.  Stronger muscles burn more calories per day than muscles that are weaker.  A stronger body will burn 10% more calories per day leading to more weight loss even while you are sleeping.  You will get more out of your workouts by varying your weight training program each time you work out.  Try to create 5 different workouts and switch them each time you train.  You will have your greatest gains in strength this way  The major focus should be on becoming as strong as you possibly can.  The faster your metabolism works the easier it is to keep your weight off, and you can get away with splurging a little.

 

Processed and junk foods contribute to more people being overweight than whole foods.  Processed foods are mainly packaged foods and fast foods.  Most processed food are carbohydrates from which the natural fiber and nutrients have been removed.  An example would be a loaf of bread.  The fiber and nutrients are removed from the natural product then nutrients are added back using a method called enriched, this is the difference between white bread and whole wheat bread.  These foods break down quicker to sugar and fat.  All carbohydrates are rated based on how fast they are digested.  This rating system is called the glycemic index.  The glycemic index rates foods on a scale from low to high; a  lower rated food digests slower, and the higher rated foods digest faster.  The faster food breaks down, the quicker it enters your blood stream.  Why is this important?  When a carbohydrate is digested, it is broken down into a form of sugar called glucose.  Even if you eat a green leafy vegetable the final stage of digestion is glucose.  The glucose will pass from your stomach into your blood stream; and there it is referred to as blood sugar.  Your body monitors how much glucose is in your blood, because to much glucose will cause you to go into a coma.  The body uses a hormone called insulin to lower your blood sugar when it gets too high.  When your blood sugar reaches a certain level your pancreas will release insulin to lower the glucose in your blood sugar by removing it.  So what does the insulin do with the glucose?  This is the point where your weight problem starts.  The insulin will first store as much glucose as it can into the muscle cells and liver to be stored in a form called glycogen, then it breaks down the rest and restructures it as fatty acids and stores it in your fat cells.  This storage of fat shows up as weight gain on your hips, stomach, butt, back, and any other places on your body.  The key to controlling the fat storage is to keep your blood sugar at a constant level through out the day.  This is achieved by eating frequent small meals during the day.  You probably have heard this before, now you understand why.  Eating mainly whole foods, low glycemic complex carbohydrates, and drinking lots of water will turn your body into a fat burning machine.        

 

A daily dose of moderate cardio training to boost your metabolism will speed up your weight loss.  I highly recommend that over the long run 30 minutes of cardio is better than an hour of cardio.  Having an effective cardio program is essential to your weight loss success.  You have to burn 3500 calories just to lose one pound of weight.  This means you have to burn 500 calories per day.  If you ever have noticed how many calories you burn on the treadmill for 45 minutes you probably already realized that burning 500 calories per day from exercise is very difficult to do.  But, I must also mention that if your weight is 200 pounds and above this is a lot easier to do than for for someone who weighs under 200 pounds.  Having a very efficient cardio program consist of having a goal to elevate your metabolism additional hours after your workout instead of counting how many calories you burn in a hour workout.  When you do cardio you elevate your metabolism, and it stays elevated for a few minutes to several hours depending on the intensity of the workout.  A variety of cardio programs consisting of  moderate to intense interval training of 20 minutes or shorter, mixed in with moderate 20 to 30 minutes of continuous conditioning, and longer periods of cardio is your best strategy for long term health.  Long durations of daily cardio training lead to over training and stagnating  weight loss.  You might start out losing weight but as the weeks and months go by your weight loss stops, and so does your energy.  A cardio program that is 20 - 30 minutes or less will keep your metabolism healthy and produce more long term weight loss because you will not over train your body.