Let’s face it. Losing weight is not easy. However, as they say, if there is a will, there has to be a way. Today, motivation for weight loss seems to creep up on all of us through TV channels, magazines, blogs on the Internet and even social networking platforms. We want to look great, feel young and continue fitting into clothes that we once looked great in, but now have trouble buttoning up.
So, what do we resort to? Crash Diets. Extreme Exercise. The answer is in the negative for both the above-mentioned solutions. The idea is not to just lose weight, but do it in a healthy way. Losing all your weight suddenly can have adverse effects on your health, and we do not want that, do we? The body uses food to produce energy, when you start starving; your body is deprived of essential nutrients and vitamins that keep your mind and body active. It is important that you follow a disciplined approach to weight loss and make healthy eating and exercise a lifestyle choice as apposed to just a means to an end of losing weight quickly.
Weight loss has a number of health advantages, however they are dependent on weather you are going about it in the wrong way. You must remember that the body cannot handle sudden changes, so you have to work towards easing in the lifestyle changes that you make to achieve your weight loss goals. Do not think about diet pills and any more short cuts and read on to learn how simple and healthy techniques can go a long way in helping you reach and maintaining an ideal weight.
Food for Energy
When you start understanding how your body functions, it is going to be much simpler for you to adopt the changes you wish to make in your eating habits. Let’s start with understanding the role food plays in producing energy.
The human body needs food to produce energy, which you use to conduct every day activities and basic cell maintenance. However, the excess energy that is created, is stored as fat. So, if you are overeating more than what your body requires, you will gain weight. Another way to gain weight is if you eat a lot processed foods and fried treats. These are filler foods (high in calories, low in nutritional value), you end up eating more in between snacks as your body’s nutrient needs are unfulfilled, thus you are bound to put on more weight. When you decide to cut down on meat content, but treat yourself to a pastry after, you are not doing justice to your weight loss plan. You have to learn how to combine foods properly if you wish to make a difference.
Today, people are more prone to not eating well, with jobs that demand the life out of them and deadlines that prevent one from leaving the desk, it leaves a small window for leading a healthy life. Fish and chips, cheeseburgers and meals that are high in sugar are not healthy. Processed food and fried foods is only taking you one step away from losing weight. You may meet a calorie count of about 1800, but the lack of healthy content in your food is not serving you any good.
Start Losing Weight…Slowly and Steadily!
It is important that you have a strategy when it comes to weight loss. Speaking to experts in this regard can really help. Set a goal for yourself and work towards it in a dedicated manner. A nutritionist will analyze your body weight, your health and only then prescribe a diet and exercise regimen that can suit your weight loss goals without affecting your health.
However, it is extremely important that you use this advice wisely and work towards making these changes a lifestyle. Start slow, and keep at it with patience and you will indeed lose weight and achieve great health.
Exercise
Exercise does not necessarily mean hitting the gym six times a week and using the treadmill till you drop. All you need to do is increase your levels of activity so that excess fat can be burnt and you maintain your ideal weight.
Also, it is important to note that you cannot simply rely on exercise. Regular Exercise and a healthy diet go hand in hand. And when you achieve the perfect balance, you are gold!
The key word here is ‘lifestyle’. You have to change your unhealthy lifestyle and make regular exercise a norm to lose weight. A simple routine if followed regularly, can help tremendously.
A simple 30 minute walk around your building complex or park can burn the excess fat that would otherwise accumulate as fat. When you choose a fitness routine be sure that you pick something you can live by. Do not set unrealistic goals for yourself, as you will only end up wasting time, simply because you may decide to go to the gym, but if your gym is nowhere near where you live, you will find one excuse or another to let go of the exercise your body needs. Therefore, choose activities that can be dovetailed into your life keeping into consideration hours you spend at work, where you live etc. Pick an activity that is convenient and you enjoy doing. Also, using the car less and your feet more can really help.
Focus on Food
We’ve already established what a crash diet can do to your system. These diets may work in the short term, but once you revert to your regular lifestyle, you can forget about the weight that you had lost. It is disappointing and therefore, adopting a holistic and healthy diet is advisable.
You have to first convince yourself that there are no short cuts, and focus on a diet plan that is rich in vitamins and nutrients. Keep a food diary, you can easily create on your laptop. However, before you do this keep into consideration your lifestyle, your work hours and the amount of physical activity you encounter. It is important that you design a diet that you can take on for life. Because, in the long run, it’s not the number of calories that you eat, that is going to help you lose weight, but your overall lifestyle choices.
Focusing on the number of calories you eat, could only drive you crazy, though it is important to know how many calories your body needs, cutting down on this drastically is not the best way to lose weight. For women calorie intake should be about 1800 and for men it should be about 2600.
When you start following a healthy lifestyle that is pregnant with wholesome healthy eating and regular exercise, your body’s metabolic rate will increase and you will start burning excess fat even faster and will be able to maintain an ideal weight more easily.
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