Trying to lose weight can be a frustrating and difficult process for some and this question raises some really important issues about weight loss and exercise in general. Of course, the time and type of exercise you are doing makes a big difference to whether or not it is too much for you. Taking regular exercise is important and everyone should try to get some activity in on a daily basis. Problems only tend to come when you don t allow the body time to recover from a series of particularly hard or long training sessions.

A basic principle of exercise is that it is a stress, which the body must react and adapt to. That is why getting

good recovery between training sessions is important, as this is when the body actually changes. You should allow a minimum of 24 hours before repeating the same type of training session.

However, there are some possible dangers with excessive exercise, particularly for women who often perform large amounts of aerobic exercise (such as running) to try and lose weight. Unfortunately this strategy is the same as crash dieting you can get some short-term results, but long-term it is bad for your health and difficult to sustain. Too much aerobic exercise also causes the metabolism to slow down as the body tries to preserve the muscle mass it has to use for fuel. You can help prevent this

by adding in a weight training routine to your weekly programme, research has shown this to help maintain muscle during a weight loss campaign.

Repetitive patterns of exercise can also lead to muscle imbalances and problems with mobility, so it is a good idea to dedicate a couple of your training sessions to work on improving this through stretching or lower impact exercise such as pilates or yoga.

With all the activity you are doing it is unusual for you not be noticing any changes in your body at all, this points to two possible reasons. Firstly, changing your body shape requires a large amount of attention to eating right. A good place to start with this is a nutritional

therapist (find one at bant.org.uk) who can do several tests to find out if you are eating the right type of food for your body. Although only around 3% of overweight people have thyroid (the gland in the body that produces the hormones that regulate your metabolism) problems, it is also possible that this might be a problem. You can get this checked out with a nutritional therapist or by talking to your GP.

There is a lot of pressure in society now to conform to a certain type of body or weight. It is important to remember that being underweight is just as harmful as being overweight and that it is easy to become obsessed with what is simply

a number on the scales. Try to focus on more real issues like dropping a jeans size instead, while getting a balance between rest and exercise, and you will be well on your way to feeling healthier and happier.

Graeme Marsh MSc MES is director of Aegis Training Ltd and one of the U.K’s top fitness experts. He holds a Masters degree in the Science of Sports coaching and is certified as a personal trainer through ACSM and NASM. Graeme is also an AAHFRP Medical Exercise Specialist dealing with exercise for post-rehabilitation. He is a sought after writer and personal trainer currently based at his own private studio in the city of London. [http://www.aegistraining.co.uk]http://www.aegistraining.co.uk, http://www.strongerandfitter.blogspot.com