Beware the late night infomercials, the ads in the back of your favorite magazine, even this very browser’s pop-up windows — losing weight is not easy. There’s no magic pill, no miracle diet, and no secret that only the thinnest celebrities and their personal trainers know. Losing weight is, at its essence, about doing the math. It’s about creating a calorie-deficit: a calorie-intake that is lower than calorie expenditure. Without reducing calories, or burning more calories, a healthy person will not lose weight.
How does one lose weight in a healthy, responsible manner?
Healthy dieters are those who slowly and steadily lose weight and change their body shape by following a sensible weight loss diet plan that includes regular physical exercise.
Physical activity, both to burn calories and increase muscle-fat ratio, is essential for responsible weight loss. According to weight loss surveys, successful dieters — those who have managed to lose 30 or more pounds and avoid weight regain for a year or more — exercise regularly.
Healthy weight loss also requires intelligent diet nutrition. A healthy body is an efficient body, and an efficient body is more capable of losing excess weight than a sluggish, unhealthy body.
But the benefits of a healthy, fit body are more than just looking good, feeling better and having more energy — statistics indicate that obesity can take up to nine years off a person’s life expectancy. To help you shed those unwanted pounds – and keep those years — we’ve included some basic diet and exercise guidelines below.
• Consume Fewer Calories It’s the most tried and true formula for losing weight: decrease the number of calories you consume while increasing your physical activity every day. Depending on how active you are, you may need between 1,500 – 2,500 calories a day. A safe plan is to eat 300 to 500 fewer calories a day to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.
• Practice Portion Control
Eat smaller amounts of food at each meal. You needn’t eat everything on your plate, even when eating out. Try eating small meals throughout the day rather than three large meals.
• Lose Weight Slowly
Aim to lose 1/2 to 2 pounds a week. By improving your eating and exercise habits, you’ll develop a healthier lifestyle that will help you to maintain your new weight over time. You’ll also lower your risk of contracting heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Popular fad diets may offer rapid weight loss, but in return, you’re likely to gain back even more pounds than you lost once you stop the diet. If you’re looking for ways to just slightly slim down for an event in the near future, explore ways to reduce bloat, which may be the real source of your extra inches.
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• Eat Less Fat and Sugar This will help lower the number of calories you eat each day and help your metabolism to normalize. Eat lean types of meat, poultry, and fish. Eat less sugar and fewer sweets (including soda and juice, which both pack a tremendous dose of sugar into every portion). Remember that carbohydrates turn into sugars. They’re one of the first items to cut back on when starting a diet. Drink less alcohol, another storehouse of empty calories.
• Eat a Wide Variety of Foods
Eat a wide variety of foods. This helps your body to get the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs to be healthy. Fresh vegetables, fruits, grain products and whole grains are your most potent source of nutrition.
• Get Support
It takes an enormous amount of discipline to start and continue a weight loss program. Ask your family and friends for support. Find a friend to embark on the new program with you.
• Treat Yourself We all feel tempted to cheat sometimes. It’s okay to treat yourself once in a while. In fact, it can even be helpful to eat a small amount of a favorite food. You’ll keep yourself from obsessing on it, building up a craving and overeating.
Regular physical activity is a vital component of effective weight loss and weight maintenance. It also can help prevent several diseases, increase your metabolism and improve your overall health. Studies show that even the most inactive people can gain measurable health benefits if they accumulate 30 minutes or more of physical activity per day.
Be wary of weight loss gimmicks and too-good-to-be-true offers. There is no magic ingredient that will melt away your fat. It cannot be emphasized enough — the most natural and effective way to lose weight is to eat healthily and exercise regularly.
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