Increase your weight...

...in the gym! That's right, one of the best ways to lose pounds from your body is to increase them in your workout. Scared you'll bulk-up? Have no fear; its not going to happen.

First, why is it important to lift heavier? Adding muscle is a sure way to increase your metabolism. After age 30 inactive individuals begin to lose muscle mass at a rate of 3 to 5 percent every 10 years resulting in weight gain. Weight lifting helps maintain the muscle you have. By incrementally increasing the weight you lift, you can also increase your muscle mass.

The idea that heavy lifting equals huge, bulking muscles comes from the images we see of female body-builders with biceps your husband would envy. Excluding natural female body-builders who have limits to their muscle growth, these women's results are possible because of synthetic testosterone. Testosterone is one of the key hormones necessary for building muscle. As a woman, you have 15 to 20 times less testosterone than a man which makes adding tons of muscle mass extremely unlikely.

So, what's a girl to do? Step away from the pink weights at the gym, they probably don't weigh much more than the purse you carry around all day. Here's a simple way to gage whether you are lifting heavy enough; perform 10-12 repetitions of and exercise, the last 2-3 repetitions should be a struggle so if you breeze through them its time to increase your weight.

Thanks for reading! Questions, comments and topic suggestions welcome below.