The number one resolution people make every year is to lose weight. As a result, weight loss is a billion-dollar a year industry. The reason: everyone is looking for the quick fix when it comes to losing weight and never appreciating the fact that losing weight takes time. It’s a surefire and costly path to failure. Everyone wants to burn body fat yet few people truly understand how our bodies do that. What better gift than by sharing with you just how that happens.

Stored body fat is the last thing our bodies will use as fuel. The whole reason we store extra calories is to have a back up or reserve of energy. The only way body fat can be effectively used as fuel is if blood sugar is stable (consistent, balanced nutrition) and the body is using more fuel (physical activity) than is being supplied. Plain and simple, but this phenomenon is what keeps most people from burning fat. A perfect example of this misunderstanding is the individual who claims to eat very little and still does not lose any weight. The reason is because they have unstable blood sugar, and/or they exercise at the same level of intensity all the time. Remember that the two most important factors when it comes to burning fat are stable blood sugar and regular, consistent physical activity. Let's examine these two factors more closely.

Blood sugar levels are directly affected by meal frequency and food choices. Eating small, balanced meals/snacks every 2-3 hours is one way to help stabilize blood sugar. Small frequent feedings force your body to adapt to having food, which will keep blood sugar fairly stable. This makes it less likely for your meals to be stored as fat. What you eat also plays a big part in blood sugar levels. Most people are totally unaware as to what blood sugar is or what it does in your body. For example, juice increases blood sugar quickly, forcing it to skyrocket as opposed to vegetables, which burn at a much slower rate. Avoiding foods containing large amounts of sugar such as soda, juice, candy, ice cream, table sugar, and other refined foods is a great start. Unstable blood sugar is something that can do serious damage to your body in addition to increasing body fat levels, such as hormonal discrepancies and Type II Diabetes. An easy way to stay on track is to ask yourself before every meal or snack "what will I be doing for the next few hours?" If you are going to be at work and not that active then your body doesn't need a lot of calories. Don't forget that any extra calories that don't get used will be stored as fat!

Activity level is the other major factor that prevents a lot of people from making any progress. Most would agree that they need to exercise more, but they’re confused on how or what to do. Exercise, more specifically physical activity, is anything beyond normal day-to-day physical activity (walking from your car to the office door doesn’t count) and is absolutely necessary. It doesn’t need to be time consuming and it doesn’t need to be technical.  It just needs to be consistent and effective. Take a really hard look at your past and if exercise hasn’t worked, it’s not the exercise at fault.

So what does this all mean? Eat small, balanced meals or snacks and stay active! Not exactly earth shattering news or perhaps what you knew already, but just imagine what that means if over the course of a few weeks or months if you were able to stick to it. One last point: the human body is only capable of metabolizing 1-2 pounds of fat per week. This information is exactly what stands between most people and their success in the business of weight loss — they expect too much, too soon for so little effort. Nothing fancy, just smart and dedicated work with no gimmicks. Share the knowledge!