Me, she and Wii – A weight loss odyssey, week 8

March 13th, 2010

It’s been eight weeks now and I’ve lost 20 pounds and 3 inches around my waist. I finally got past my plateau. But even when I wasn’t losing pounds, I was still losing inches.

I’ve been doing more aerobic exercises with the Wii Fit such as boxing, advanced step, biking and running. I think this has helped me past the plateau, but I will return to a balance of strength and aerobic exercises this next week.

Exercising helps burn fat, but it also creates muscle. When my weight was staying the same, this meant that for every bit of fat I was burning, I was putting on muscle. More fat was burned than muscle created, but since muscle is denser than fat, I wasn’t losing weight, but was losing inches.

Exercise also benefits by helping to manage cholesterol. The American Heart Association has a very good description of the different kinds of cholesterol. Exercise, along with diet, helps lower the LDL, or bad cholesterol. At the same time, it helps raise HDL, or good cholesterol. According to my doc, exercise and weight loss are the primary ways to increase HDL.

Docs also watch the triglycerides, which is a form of fat made in the body. Usually, people with high triglycerides also have high LDL and low HDL.

Triglyceride is a form of fat made in the body. Elevated triglycerides can be due to overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and a diet very high in carbohydrates (60 percent of total calories or more). People with high triglycerides often have a high total cholesterol level, including a high LDL (bad) level and a low HDL (good) level. Many people with heart disease and/or diabetes also have high triglyceride levels. – AHA Website

Well, here’s to healthy eating and exercise.

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