Want to lose weight?

I've recently had an "Ah ha!" moment. I have discovered that the way I was eating and exercising actually SLOWED my metabolism.

I was mortified! Here I have been trying to lose weight for the last couple of years and have had almost NO success, then I discover I am not only doing it wrong, but I am sabotaging my efforts!

Sigh... Well, at least I can change things.

Here is what I was doing wrong--for those of you out there doing the same thing. I figured, if I cut my calorie count down as far as I could, and not starve, I would lose weight. So most days I would actually eat a thousand calories or less. But not always. Just often enough to totally freak my body out. It decided to hold on to it's fat for dear life! This way of eating slows your metabolic rate.

The second mistake I made was with exercise. I would get on my treadmill daily, hoping to up my miles, to run longer and to lengthen my endurance. That had to burn fat, Right? WRONG!

No, when you do not eat enough calories in the right food groups, it won't matter how much you work out. Your body will hang on to it's food stores until hell freezes over!

So, I did a little researching and found a method that I have implemented that supposedly works wonders to restore a balanced metabolism. It is the 6/9 rule. Give yourself a good warm up, then run as fast as you can for six seconds, then slow down to a slow jog, or walk for nine seconds, then run for six again. Alternate until you can go no more. You only need to to this for fifteen to twenty minutes at the most. So far, I can only go for ten. The thing is, it tricks your body and will raise your metabolic rate. I can already tell it's working. Plus, I'm not as tired and have more energy because I'm eating more.

Let me tell you where I went wrong with food. In the morning I would eat just a banana, or an egg, or a yogurt and that's it. For lunch I would usually eat no more than 3oo or so calories. With a 500-600 calorie dinner, that still gave me less than a thousand a day. I thought it was genius. My body thought it was bull crap. Guess who won?

Well, the tables have turned! Now I'm on top! Woo Hoo!