Getting Fit After 30

Lose Weight Fast with the Revolutionary New Home Workout Program!

How many times have we heard or seen that or something similar before? It seems like there's always someone new touting their revolutionary workout or diet that's going to shave off the pounds and have you looking like a magazine model in weeks or months. The truth of the matter is that unless you are already close, it's just not going to happen.

It's not a lost cause. No matter who you are, you can still get fit and lose some pounds as long as you have the discipline and mindset to do it. Actually, losing pounds is very misleading. Think of it as more of an expression when people say it rather than a goal. What you really want to do is burn fat and build muscle. For most people, when you are over thirty it will get harder with each passing year, but there are ways you can make getting fit a bit easier on yourself.

There are 4 (not easy) steps to achieving your goal of fitness. The first thing you have to do is understand your body. We are all different and what works for one person might not work for the next. You have to understand your body shape and characteristics. If you don't have chiseled features or a curvy body already they may never come and that's alright. But regardless of the results, you should at least improve your current condition. Don't aim to be something you're not. You only set yourself up for disappointment. Don't concern yourself with what other people are doing either, unless you are solely interested in the exercise. It doesn't matter how many reps or how much weight someone else is doing. It only matters that you concentrate on yourself and see improvement.

Learn to listen to your body too! It is very important to notice when your body is giving you those signs like aching knees, inflamed achilles or abnormal pains. Take care of yourself and don't push things to the point of injury.

Step 2 is often the hardest for most people. It was near impossible for me while I was living in Toronto, but since I have moved to Buenos Aires I find it much easier to eat better. Yes of course, step 2 is diet. Well a little more than just diet. It's about an eating regime. If you want to lose the weight and put on some muscle then you have to have some control over your eating habits. For me that was next to impossible back home as I was always into beer and wings at the pub and a junk food addict most other times. I originally carried this bad habit to Argentina where I regularly ate the sugary Flynn Paffs, drank Coke and had plenty of beer and wine.

If you want to take control of your health you seriously need to reevaluate your eating habits. I have almost entirely cut out junk food (you have to live a little) and have eliminated pop entirely. My heart and my teethe are a whole lot happier for it too! Now I stick to meat and veggies with lunch time pastas for energy. I am also eating less per sitting and more frequently. I used to overeat often. It took a while for me to realize that the body needs time to realize it is full so it's important to rest during the meal. Eat what you think is a good portion and then stop for 15 minutes. Enjoy some conversation and go back to the food if you feel hungry later.

Eating more natural, non processed food is important for your overall health, but for weight loss in people over 30 it is equally important to eat 4 or 5 times a day. Have a couple snacks in between meal times. If you eat more frequently your body's metabolism speeds up and consequently you burn more calories.

Step 3 involves drinking water. Plenty of water. Drinking lots of water helps prevent your body from hoarding it due to fear of dehydration. It is an essential element and your body knows that so be good to it and keep the supplies up. If you can hack it, try to drink cold water. Not so cold that you get that brain freeze that everyone hates, but cold enough that you can tolerate it. I have hear people say that drinking warm water is best for you body to absorb it, but I believe that your body, the miraculous machine that it is, can quite easily heat water to the right temperature. The heating process is an additional calorie burner as well. It's not a huge deal, but you burn 1 calorie for every 1 degree Celsius that your body heats 100ml of water. So to put it in perspective, if you drink 1 litre of water at 7°C, your body will heat it to 37°C. That is a difference of 30°C. Multiply that by 10 (there are 1000ml in a litre) and you get 300 calories burned by drinking 1litre of cold water.

Disclaimer - Don't go drinking ice cold water whenever you can just to try and lose weight. If you are drinking cold water, it must be tolerable and you need to listen to your body if it is giving you warning signs like pain.

Step 4 is exercise. They key to exercising when you are older is to build up muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. It's a simple fact. Depending on who you are and how you work out there can be several ways to build muscle. My two favourites are just hitting the gym and lifting weights and the new (for me) method of boot camp.

Since being in Buenos Aires I have put on a lot of weight. I was eating and drinking my way to freedom and everyone noticed. From my friends back home to friends here, I was told more than once that I put on a lot of weight. In June I started playing soccer and found it very difficult to run at all. It helped me to curtail the weight gain, but I certainly wasn't losing any. I was debating on going the running route, but I hate running when it's not part of a game and I also believe that running is much better for keeping weight off than taking it off. What was required here was a routine to build muscle and burn calories at the same time. In September, I joined Boot Camp Buenos Aires and began going twice a week. My intention was to just do it once a week, but I really started to like the challenge and the gains so it wasn't long before I was going 3 times a week. Boot camp works like a bit like military training in theory. You have a trainer who puts together a program for you which generally consists of body weight exercises for strength and running for cardio. They body weight and cardio are intermixed to give you an intensive workout that keeps your heart and muscles going at a high intensity. With the added benefit of someone looking over you and telling you what to do as motivation, you end up working out even harder than normal. Check back for a later post on some specifics on types of exercises and routines. With 2 and a half months of boot camp I am now down 3 notches on my belt.

When you choose the working out in a gym routine it is important to remember that you can change things up and make your workout regiment a lot more interesting these days. What I found worked really well in the past was getting away from the main stream exercises and doing more power lifting routines. It seemed to target more muscles and just gave me a better all around workout. Whatever you choose though, don't forget to work on core strength. It is vital for overall body strength and essential in most sports. The good sports anyways:)

Yoga is huge right now and I know many people who swear by it. They achieve great results and are in the prime of their lives at 40 years old or more. It can definitely have some incredible results. I tried it years ago when I was in reasonably good shape and found it quite challenging. It is definitely a great workout for overall body strength and peace of mind. I would highly recommend at least trying it.

There are many other great forms of exercise out there that are interesting and good at building muscle and burning calories too. There is skipping, Jukari Fit to Fly, pole dancing and the P90x. Yes the P90x people do make the 90 day claim, but take it with a grain of salt. I have friends who have done it and love it. They notice the changes in the short life of the program, but it won't make you look like the magazine. You have to realize that not everyone is built the same and only 90 days is never enough for a lifetime. The key to the exercise step is finding what suits your abilities and staying away from anything that makes outrageous claims. Even the P90x program claims a difference in your health and appearance. They don't claim miracles will happen.