Best way to lose weight?

     Ok this is a very very highly asked question and there are many ways to go around doing this. First I would  like to point out that the two beset ways to lose weight of course is to one exercise, and two eating right. Many people argue that one is better then the other but I believe that a really a combination of the two is the best way to go at it and realistically is the only way to live a healthy lifestyle. I was at about 205 pounds a year ago (am 5"8) and I was overly overweight so the first thing I had to do to get back in athletic shape was to first lose all that extra weight. I can tell you that following a healthy diet and exercising every day in a smart way does work and I am now currently 145 pounds. 

For this post I will mainly focus on what kind of exercise is best for losing weight and will talk about diets and eating right in another one. The first misconception I believe people have when trying to lose weight and exercising is that they can do it any number of ways such as walking or lifting weights. Ok these exercises do burn calories but not enough for you to lose a significant amount of weight. If you are seriously trying to lose a significant amount of weight, there really is only one way to do this and it is through cardio workouts. 

     Cardiovascular exercise ("Cardio" for short) is simply exercise that elevates your heartrate for an extended period of time and its more important for your general health than lifting weights. There is a lot of confusion about cardio, its really quite simple.  Lets start with the basics.  My definition of cardio is that it elevates your heart rate to 50%-85% of your maximum and keep it there for at least 20 minutes.   What is your maximum?  Depends on your goal, your age, and your health. A chart and information on heart rate can be found on this site: click here. There are many forms of cardio that can be done and really the best way to do it is to mix in different forms of cardio to make it more exciting and you will be less bored with your workouts and at the same time it will make your body work out different parts. 

If you are a just starting to do cardio it will be vary draining on you but be persistence and remember that it requires a the least 20 minutes of your heart beating above normal. If that means walking, jogging, cycling or swimming then do it. For advanced sports training, there are other types of cardiovascular workouts which involve high intensity interval training that will improve conditioning and endurance but I will talk about that in another post. For overweight or beginners dont be to bummed out that you can barely do 20 minutes of running and if you really cant then do it for as long as you possibly can then jog the rest of the way. DO NOT STOP. Work at it everyday and over time you will build your stamina and at the same time as your losing weight you will find it easier to go at it for longer amount of time and harder. 

There are many forms of cardio and I will briefly talk about a few.

-Biking-One of the best forms of cardio I believe for people who are currently out of shape and want to get back in shape. This is because you can get your hear rate up and for a long period of time with out putting to much stress on your lower body that exercises such as running would have on it. Stationary bikes work fine but after your body is well off enough to jog/run I would switch to doing that.

-Swimming-Also an excellent form of cardio especially for older, people who have injuries, and people who are overweight. This is because it puts less physical stress on your body. The only danger I would advice is that when swimming people often find it much harder to keep a steady pace which will push their heart rate up for at least 20 minutes and rests in between can decrease the heart rate a lote.

-Running-I believe that this is the top form of cardio but should be done carefully. If you are overweight I would advice to not start of with running but do some biking or swimming first. When you feel like you have built up enough stamina and your body is ready to then start jogging. Every important always remember to stretch out before running. Beginners should start off with jogging at a pace where there heart rate is elevated and after a few weeks you will start to realize that it will take a much harder pace to get your heart rate up as you get into better shape. Adjust your pace accordingly and make sure you are running for at least 20 minute.

-Other-There are many many other forms of cardio workouts and many lists can be found online but I have listed my top three which are easy to do and highly effective.