aining weight never seems like that much of a big deal—until you attempt to lose it. So how do you beat the bulge? Start with an exercise routine that’s adapted to your personal needs.

Accept the Challenge

Make losing or maintaining weight a competitive sport.

Your foe? A mere 3,500 calories.

	Your body will resist change, and it takes time to notice a difference.

Each pound you gain equals 3,500 calories, so to lose 5 pounds, you need to burn an additional 17,500 calories. When you consider that the average 40-year-old, 140-pound woman burns about 1400 calories a day, it’s easy to see why some people never lose those last 5 or 10 pounds.

Aim to lose 1-2 pounds a week. While realistic, this is no easy feat. To lose even 2 pounds a week, you’ll need to burn an additional 7,000 calories each week. That’s not feasible without a strict combo of diet and exercise.

Enlist an Exercise Buddy

Ask a friend or loved one to take the challenge with you. A daily walk before dinner can really help you forget about the stress of your day while bolstering your relationship. Besides, time flies when you’re having fun.

Workouts at Home

I’m a big fan of the at-home video. It’s a great solution for those who are on the go. Plus, it’s relatively cheap, and nobody’s around to care that your socks don’t match.

As a fitness trainer, I recommend Yoga, Pilates, and Mat-based exercises for beginners and advanced exercises alike. These exercises keep your core (the muscles between your breasts and your hips) strong. The exercises can also help you to lose weight and relax. Yoga and meditation have a way of making you feel centered and can also regulate your breathing.

I’m also a big fan of the “Don’t let the TV commercials go to waste” technique when I’m watching regular TV. I always do things such as a few leg lifts or buttock squeezes in between television commercials. Those three minutes really add up.

Stay Motivated!

Keep yourself motivated with strict personal goals. You’d be surprised at how much faster and farther you can run, or how much more effort you can put into a fitness class, or even how fun it can be to walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator when you make it a personal challenge.

Forced motivation works even on the seasoned athlete. Competition moves us, and once we reach one goal, it’s natural to want to challenge ourselves with a new one. If you’ve been taking three fitness classes a week, up that amount to four. Increase a daily walk from one mile to two.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Aren’t Always Worth It

Reducing your dessert intake can really help eliminate those extras pounds. Reduce alcohol and carbohydrates as well, and eat even more fruits and vegetables. “Power” foods include bananas (the carbs in fruit are easy to burn off), orange juice (lots of energy and vitamin C), as well as high-protein foods such as tofu. Make sure every single food item you put into your mouth is going to good use. Try having small desserts as rewards, so you don’t binge when you reach your boiling point. Everything in moderation!

Take It One Day at a Time

While you should keep long-term goals in the back of your mind, remember goals are easier to stick to when they seem short-term. Trick your body into thinking your daily diet and exercise plan is simply for that day. Every day, congratulate yourself for achieving your goal. Do it again the next day and the next. If you don’t do so well today, simply pay more attention to your workout and diet tomorrow.

Track & Log Your Progress

Everyone I know:

1. Underestimates how much he or she eats, and
2. Overestimates his or her workouts.

The best way to solve that problem? Keep track of everything you eat and how much you exercise. Sites such as www.fitday.com help you stay motivated with accurate reports. You plug in the foods you ate and your workouts, and the sites calculate both the calories eaten and the calories burned.

Patience & Persistence

Two important things to remember: your body will resist change, and it takes time to notice a difference. Losing 5 pounds in a healthy way may take more than six weeks of daily cardio exercise and calorie restrictions.

You may even gain weight (at first) as you increase your physical activity. When you tone your body and increase your cardio, muscles will slowly replace the fat in your body. The scale may tip in the other direction, your clothes may feel tighter, and your appetite may increase. During this critical time, many people give up exercising. If you persevere through this period, you will see a difference.

Recommended Plan

Every person is different when it comes to what burns the most calories and sculpts the troublesome areas the quickest. However, working out at least 4-5 times a week and varying your activities each time tends to produce the greatest changes.

Cycling, kickboxing, and running will all burn approximately 400-500 calories an hour and will sculpt your lower body relatively quickly. Swimming is another high-calorie burner that tones and slims your body simultaneously. Spending 10 minutes a day working your abdominal muscles will help your posture, support your back, and make you more conscious about overeating.

The Rest is Up To You

While it won’t be easy, the results will be more than worth the effort you put in. So, take it slowly, eat in moderation, and exercise regularly.