Weight loss, lean muscle mass & healthy living

Women like to hear the word "toned" and men like to hear "muscle mass". I tend to use the term "lean" muscle mass when training my female clients and talking to others curious about how to get rid of the tyres and flabby bits.

We have all gotten more worried about "loosing those few extra kilos" to look good rather than weight training and exercising to keep healthy and disease free. We stress and stress about our bodies. I get so frustrated when people go to HUGE efforts to detox, diet and stress to loose those flabby bits or kilos - where if they just watched what they ate, ate in moderation, exercised a few cardio sessions a week and did weight training they wouldn't be participating in the yo yo dieting/exercising life competition. Sounds soo easy dosen't it. Why do we struggle to achieve the goals we really want?

Making the effort to have toned muscles will mean you have strong muscles. Strong muscles are firmer – they look better – and they help avoid potentially debilitating bone and joint injuries. Doing strength training exercises can increase your lean body mass (the non-fat parts of your body), which raises your metabolic rate, so helping with weight management.

A kilo of muscle will burn 50 to 100 calories a day at rest whereas a kilo of fat will use up only about 5 to 7 calories a day. Muscle takes up less room than fat so you will look leaner and fitter, stronger posture and fabulous. The scales mght not tell you the weight you "want" to be as muscle weighs more than fat.... measure yourself and go by your clothes.