Imagine this: you just got back from your doctor, only to be told that you really need to lose weight for a better life. If you’re like most people that are new to the weight loss world, you might think that more is better, even when you’re starting out.

This couldn’t be further from the truth, actually. in fact, trying to  rush into a fitness program before your body is actually ready is a great way to injure yourself in ways that are going to take a lot of recovery time and even slow you down in a big way. The best thing that you can do for yourself is to make sure that you ease your way into a workout program that’s right for you.

If you find it hard to go easy instead of hardcore, it’s not completely your fault. Indeed, the rise of late night infomercials promising amazing results if you just push as hard as you can — regardless of whether or not your body is ready for it — are to blame as well. If you go night after night of seeing people transform their bodies with a very rigorous exercise plan, you’re going to want those results. That’s the problem — and that’s why people push their bodies to such unhealthy limits in the first place.

When you overtrain, you end up sending signals to the body to increase hormones designed to store body fat, not release it. Why? In a nutshell, your body feels that if you’re under that much stress all the time, you must be under attack. Fight or flight is a reaction left over even from the earliest levels of human development. You can’t overturn it. If your body feels that it needs to lock down fat stores, it’s definitely going to do that.

You and your doctor should work out an exercise program that is very easy on your joints. Swimming, walking on grass and light rides on a bicycle are all great exercises that will gradually help you lose weight without putting too much stress on your body — check them out for yourself today!