Have you ever lived this?  You wake up one day, step on the scale, and realize you’ve gained 10 pounds in the past year.  And you think to yourself, “how did this happen?  I haven’t changed my eating habits.  Maybe I need to exercise more.”  So you start walking or running a few times per week.

Or maybe you lost a good bit of weight a couple years ago, but are finding those pounds again.  Super frustrating, right?!  Why can’t the weight just stay off?

This kind of creeping weight gain is often a catalyst to start a massive cardio effort in order to lose those extra pounds.  But the weight might not come off despite your efforts.  If you’ve ever found yourself in either of these scenarios, you may blame it on a slow metabolism.

Well, the bad news is you might have slowed your metabolism with previous weight loss.  Let me show you how the amount of muscle mass you have effects your metabolism.

Key Points:

• Losing weight means losing muscle mass if you’re not strength training and eating the right amount of protein to maintain muscle.
• Creeping weight gain may be a result of lost muscle.  Plus, we naturally lose muscle as we age.  This is one of the many reasons why resistance training is so important after 30 years old.
• Gaining muscle mass is the only way to naturally increase your metabolism.
• Strength training should be a part of any weight loss program to help preserve muscle.

Summary

The top goals of my clients are first, to lose weight, followed closely by getting more toned muscle.  Well, it’s hard to have toned muscles when you lose muscle mass.  Whether you’re beginning an exercise program or currently trying to lose weight, reframe your thinking to fat loss and strength training.  Calorie restriction and cardio will surely help you lose weight.  But in the long run, you won’t get defined muscles and you’ll soon regain the weight you lost.  Choose the longer, harder path!