Don,

Walking's great exercise, but if you want to loose weight then unless your
going to walk really fast, include hills and do it for a long time you won't
be burning off enough calories, I'm not sure what your current state of
health is so it's difficult to know what to suggest.  Buy a heart rate
monitor and learn how to use it, try www.heartratemonitors.co.uk and "Heart
Monitor Training for the complete idiot" by John L. Parker, Jr.  Read the
book before you buy the heart rate monitor.

Using a heart rate monitor will allow to know when your exercising at the
right level to burn fat.  Do long slow cardio vascular exercise and include
short burst of speed work to up your metabolism.  Cycling's good, an hour
cycle 3-4 days a week at 70-75% of your max heart rate with some fast bursts
for a few minutes would be good. When doing cardiovascular exercise make
sure you exercise for at the very least 25-30 mins, otherwise you'll just be
using mostly carbohydrate reserves each time leaving you hungry but not much
slimmer.

Weights won't help you loose fat very much but they are beneficial in a
number of ways like slowing the aging process, better looks, strength,
better posture, low risk of back problems, less risk of injury.  Only weight
train every other day, your muscles need a day or two off to grow and heal,
you can do it every day but alternate legs and upper body, so for example,
legs Mon Wed & Fri and upper body, Tues Thurs & Sat, Have Sunday off.

Forget loosing weight / fat completely and aim for health and a life style
change that will keep you healthy, but doing this you'll find that you
maintain a really good weight.  Forget high protein/low carb.  Do don't need
that much protein and what your body can't use it has to store or eliminate
leaving you tired and ill, think about this, when does a human have the
highest need for protein? when they're a growing baby, check out how much
protein is in human milk, I think it's no more than 10%, probably more
around 5-7%.  Make the distinction between simple carbs (sugar, white flour
products, white rice) and complex carbs (brown rice, potatoes, beans, whole
grains), eat complex carbs, eat loads of salad and veggies as fresh and as
uncooked as possible.  Eat nuts, seeds, beans & lentils.  Stay clear of
alcohol, coffee, added sugar, simple carbs, processed foods, additives,
dairy products and meat, all these things produce toxins and acid in the
body which it has to eliminate, if it doesn't have the resources (fresh veg
and salads with vitamins, pure water and fibre) to eliminate it the it wraps
in it fat to protect you and stores it on your belly, it won't let go until
you give it what it needs to get rid of it.  This may be a bit of a radical
change for you but the benefits are infinite and well worth it.  I've been
living like this for a couple of years now, I feel great and I'll never go
back to my old ways.  All that animal protein just messes us up, these
people do quite well without it http://www.veganbodybuilding.org

All the best with it, sorry if it's a little more info than you wanted :o)

Nick.

Don

<snip>
...burning more calories puts a person in "starvation mode" and the body
starts converting things to fat
<snip>

First of all, I recommend that you cease concentrating on "weight" loss. As
the body burns fat and builds muscle, it is not uncommon to "gain" weight.
This is because muscle tissue weighs more than fat tissue. Though you may
weigh more, if you are losing the spare tyre of fat, you are better off.

Second, most diets only seem to work for a short period of time and then for
some reason the fat stops burning... why?  Well this is because as the body
burns fatty tissues a large volume of toxins and oxidants are released into
the blood stream.  Often more than the body can cope with; hence the brain
releases a hormone to tell the body to cease burning fat, as the body is in
dire straights.

To combat the increased volume of toxins and oxidants in the body, you
should supplement your diet with antioxidants and essential carbohydrate
monosaccharides.  Also, it is of utmost importance that you follow the
appropriate glycemic index for your body... talk to your doctor or
nutritionist.

Best regards and good health!
Anthony

Might I suggest you watch your waist size instead of
your weight. Exercise helps the loss of fat but it
increases muscle mass; therefore, the scales don't
tell the whole story. If you weren't over weight
as a young man use then use waist size of that
age as a goal. If your waist size is plus 40 you
are likely in trouble.