The first step to take, is to have clearly defined goals. More specifically, you should already be clear about how many pounds you are going to lose, and how much time you give yourself. Set realistic goals.
Then start working backwards to determine how you can achieve those goals. It's a simple numbers game at this stage. If you burn more calories than you take in, you are going to lose weight. Continue to work hard and keep the pounds at bay. Always remember that.
Make up a list of foods that you like to take. Do whatever you can to find out the calories for each type of food on your list. Add up the numbers and find out how much calories you are taking in each day. It also make more sense to take smaller meals, but in higher frequency. As an illustration, take 5 meals per day instead of 3 big meals.
Make sure that you include lots of fruits, vegetables, and poultry in your diet list.
Your diet is central to your entire weight loss program. Many want to lose weight successfully, but they don't know what a good weight loss diet looks like. How about a low GI diet? Such questions are swimming in their head, and they have no idea what they should do.
First, I must mention that to choose the right weight loss diet, there are several issues that you must consider. Don't just consider the amount of calories in your diet. There is more. Different people need different diets, and here's why.
We all need different energy levels each day. For example, some people do not exercise at all. Then there are those who exercise once in a while. Some exercise almost everyday. With different lifestyles come different diet plans. This is to cater to the diverse needs of various lifestyles.
You would be considered successful if you can work out what you need to eat to lose weight, while at the same time, stay healthy. Try to take in at least 2000 calories each day. So your diet plan cannot go way below this number. Taking less than that will affect your health adversely. In other words, it's not a good diet plan.
Instead, it would be wise to plan based on your own daily needs. If you are taking 2000 calories a day, try aiming for 1900 calories a day. Still, nothing beats a good workout to burn off all those unwanted calories. This way, your muscles get a good workout, and you lose weight too.
Something interesting is happening here.
There are only so much calories you can scrap off your diet. In other words, you would be better off trying to burn off fats than to just cut away the intake.
If you are looking for a way to lose fifteen pounds in two weeks, a high protein diet, a low carb diet, a fruit diet, a no fat diet, a blood type diet, a juice fast, a diet named after a place in Miami, a grapefruit diet, a cactus diet, a coffee and cigarette diet, a diet that includes sweets, a diet based on your body type, a diet based on an ancient religion or a diet based on your hair color, then this article is NOT for you.
Fad and crash diets, such as the ones described above are not only unhealthy but they also cause rebound weight gain. Also most diets, even though diet gurus write them, cause an initial weight loss but the ultimate result is that you gain all of the weight back the minute you go off the plan. If you don't gain it back within a couple of diets, you are likely to gain it all back plus a bit more within a year.
Crash diets dehydrate you, low calorie diets put your body into starvation mode so you plateau where you can't lose one more pound and high protein diets stress your kidneys and clog your arteries.
So how does one lose weight?
There is only one answer to this question.
You need to expend more calories than you are taking in. Restricting certain foods, eating so-called fat burning foods, or dehydrating yourself with special pills or teas does not do it. It is simple math. The only way is to eat a little less and exercise a little more. Here is the equation below:
Eating Less + Exercising More = Weight Loss.
This is not a magical formula, it is just logic. It is also not the fastest way to lose weight. As I have mentioned before, this is not an article about how to lose ten pounds in three days or 80 pounds in a month. It is about safe, healthy, smart weight loss.
In order to lose weight safely and without putting yourself at risk for such health hazards as dehydration, kidney failure, malnutrition, exhaustion, nervous dysfunction, tooth loss, dull hair, wrinkles, cellulite, sudden heart failure or stroke and lose the weight so that it stays off, you should lose no more than approximately one pounds every couple of days.
Although that might not sound like a large amount of weight to lose it actually is! If you lose 3 pounds a week that means you can achieve a weight loss of twelve pounds a month! If you only have twenty pounds to lose then your weight loss is not only quite rapid, but you have the extra guarantee that it will stay off because you have followed a sensible exercise plan that did not involve starving, exhausting or depriving yourself. If you are willing to drop your impatience and desire for immediate gratification and stick to an exercise plan and healthy eating habits, then a Mediterranean Diet is for you. Remember being slim is only good if you are able to enjoy it!
Do You Need to Lose Weight?
Fascination with Fat
If you want to lose weight, you first need to assess whether you need to actually lose weight or are simply a fashion victim. Unfortunately this society is fascinated with fat - who has it and who doesn't. As we are persuaded by so many images in the media that persuade us to believe that you can never be too thin, many of us are bad judges of our actual body weight.
If you are under the age of eighteen and reading this book, the first thing you need to do is consult with your parents about your plans to lose weight. Have them make an appointment with a physician so that he can indicate to you whether or not you are a candidate for weight loss.
If you are an adult, it is possible that you may not be overweight and are just trying to be, as Bridget Jones put it in Bridget Jones Diary "a stick insect with eyelashes." It is also very possible that you know you need to lose weight but have no idea where to start.
If you are obese and you know it, then you have to check with a physician first to see how your health is before you embark on any exercise program or plan. The same is also true if you have any kind of medical condition but especially a thyroid condition or heart condition. Some physicians may not recommend a weight loss program for those who are over 40 as due to genetics and hormonal changes some people naturally just round out or gain weight in a way that simply cannot be changed. If your doctor tells you your spreading hips are due to menopause or genetics, believe him! It is not clever to fool with Mother Nature.
Both Gen Wright & Roy Barker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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