How to Lose Weight as well as Keep It Off

No matter how cool your nature, when it comes to the battle of the bulge, you need to put up a good fight. In our eat-and-run, huge-portion-sized world, maintaining a healthy weight can be difficult, and healthy weight loss can be a real struggle. Add to it the abundance of fad diets and “quick-fix” plans which tempt as well as confuse us and ultimately do not work.

Weight management makes you look and feel better, besides influencing your future health. A healthy weight decreases your chances of developing serious health risks like heart disease or diabetes.

In case your last diet attempt wasn’t a success, or life has caused you to gain weight, don’t be discouraged. The key is to find a plan which works with the individual needs of your body so that you can avoid common diet pitfalls besides making lifestyle changes which can help you to find long-term, healthy weight loss success.

Get past those roadblocks to healthy weight loss

The reason why some weight loss programs fail

Healthy Weight Loss

Diets, especially the fad diets or “quick-fix” pills and plans, often fail because:

• You feel deprived – as diets that don’t allow certain types of food, like carbs, fat, and sugar. This is simply not practical, besides being unhealthy, as eliminating complete food groups will not allow for a healthy diet which creates imbalances in our bodies.
• You tend to “plateau” after losing a few pounds. A second component to healthy weight loss is exercise. Your body will adjust to a new way of eating, and only with increased physical activity the pounds will continue to melt away.
• You lose weight, but can’t keep it off as diets that only cut calories severely, restrict some foods, or rely on ready-made meals may work in the short term only. Once you meet your weight loss goal, there is no means of lifelong, healthy diet maintenance, making the pounds quickly come back.
• After your diet, you appear to put on weight more quickly – as restricting your food intake slows down your metabolism, making starvation or “fasting” diets are counterproductive.
• You break your diet and are too discouraged to try again – as you gave in to temptation and overindulged, doesn’t mean that all your hard work goes down the drain. Healthy eating is all about looking the big picture. An occasional splurge does not kill your efforts. Besides, diets that are too restrictive are conducive to cheating. Since, when you feel deprived, it’s quit easy to fall off the wagon.
• You tend to lose money faster than you lose weight – as special shakes, meals, and programs may be cost-prohibitive as well as less practical for long-term weight loss besides healthy weight maintenance.
• You feel isolated as well as unable to enjoy social situations which are revolving around food – as without some practical, healthy diet strategies, you tend to feel lost while dining out or attending events such as cocktail parties or weddings.
• The person on the commercial lost had 30 lbs in 2 months, but you haven’t – this is because diet companies tend to make a lot of grandiose promises, and most of these are simply not realistic. Besides, losing weight is not easy, so don’t get discouraged by setting unrealistic goals!

The reasons why some weight loss programs succeed

Though you will not find any “one size fits all” kind of a solution to lifelong, healthy weight loss, you may still try these tips:

• Lifestyle changes – Permanent weight loss is not a “quick-fix” diet result. Instead, weight loss is a permanent lifestyle change. You make a commitment to your health for life. Various popular diets can help you to jump-start your weight loss, but permanent changes in your lifestyle as well as food choices will work long term.
• Find a cheering section – Social support helps a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig as well as Weight Watchers use group support in order to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating. Seek out support, from family, friends, or a support group, in order to get the encouragement that you need.
• Commit to a plan and then stick to it – Experiment until you can find a good, long-term plan which helps you lose the weight as well as maintain that loss in a way that works for you.
• Always lose weight slowly – as losing weight too fast can take a toll on your nervous system, make you feel sluggish, drained, as well as sick. When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re losing mostly water and muscle and not fat. Lose 1 to 2 pounds a week in order to ensure healthy weight loss.
• Stay motivated besides keeping track – Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a smaller sized dress for the summer, generally don’t work besides goals like wanting to feel more confident or becoming healthier for the sake of your children. Keep a journal for food. Take your weight regularly. Find and use tools which help to keep you motivated. Stay focused. When frustration or temptation strikes, concentrate on the many benefits that you will reap from being healthier as well as leaner.

The bottom line for Weight loss

Your weight is a balancing act, having a simple equation. In case you eat more calories than what you burn, you gain weight. Gaining and losing weight (W) is drawn in a simple calculation of calories consumed (CC), minus calories burned (CB) through metabolism as well as physical activity.

W = CC – CB

In case you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. In case you eat fewer calories than you burn then you lose weight. In case you want to lose one pound of fat in a week, you need to eat nearly 500 calories less than your typical diet. As 3,500 calories equals nearly 1 pound of fat, in case you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you would lose approximately 1 pound a week. So you have to burn nearly 3,500 calories more than you take in, in order to lose 1 pound.

This does not mean that you have to eat less food, rather, you need to consume fewer calories, with smart choices. The key is choosing the “low density” foods, which refer to foods that allow you to eat larger portion sizes but are lower in calories. These foods, including many fruits as well as vegetables, contain more water and fibre. Start your meal with a low-density salad or soup in order to help fill you up, so that you eat less of your entrée.

Healthy weight loss has emotional and social components

Food is not used to satisfy hunger only. It is a common part of social interactions, besides a means of comfort and stress relief. How we eat is also partially dictated by how we were and how the people around us eat. In case your friends and relatives start putting on weight, you are more likely to do so as well.

A healthy dieter needs to consider how and when to eat. Eat when you are hungry, and not reach for a snack while watching TV. Do not eat when you’re stressed or bored, or to reward yourself. Pay attention to how much of sleep you are able to get. Lack of sleep has a direct link to hunger and overeating.

Recognize your emotional triggers to make it easy for you to make changes. Once you come to realize your own personal challenges to the weight loss, you can work towards gradually changing the habits as well as mental attitudes which have sabotaged your efforts in the past.

Healthy weight loss due to mindful eating

We live in a world which is fast paced. Here eating has become secondary. Counter this by paying attention to what you eat. Enjoy each bite. Choose foods which are both nourishing and enjoyable. This helps you achieve healthy weight loss as well as maintenance. When our minds tend to be tuned out during mealtime, the digestive process may be 30% to 40% less effective, which can contribute to digestive distress, like gas, bloating as well as bowel irregularities.

Mindful Eating tips to achieve Healthy Weight Loss

• Pay attention while you are eating. Be aware of the environment around you. Eat slowly, and try to savour each bite. Enjoy the smells and textures of your food. In case your mind wanders, just gently remind yourself. Return to focusing on your food and how it tastes as well as feels in your mouth.
• Avoid any kind of distractions while you eat. Do not eat while working, watching TV, reading, working on a computer, or driving.
• Try to mix things up in order to force yourself to focus on the experience of eating. Use chopsticks rather than a fork, or use your utensils with the help of your non-dominant hand.
• Chew your food thoroughly. Chew each bite 30 times before you swallow it.
• Stop eating before you are truly full. Avoid the temptation of cleaning your plate. Yes, there are children starving in Africa, but your packing on the pounds will not help them.
• Serve a smaller portion to yourself. Use small plates, bowls and cups to make your portions appear larger. Leave the table as soon as you finish. The longer that you sit at the table, the more you will be eating. In case you are hungry later, have a small healthy snack.
• Plan your meals as well as snacks ahead of time. Never eat out of large bags or boxes. You will eat in moderation in case you have thought out healthy meals and snacks in advance. Buy or you may even create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or in containers. Only eat when you are actually hungry.

Have healthy weight loss your way

Tips on eating as well as drinking

Healthy Eating & Drinking

• Focus on fruits as well as vegetables. The high water and fibre content in various fruits and vegetables makes them ideal for healthy snacking besides incorporation into meals. Add vegetables to your favourite main courses, which are made from lean meats and whole grains, in order to make your dish be more nutritious. Vitamins and nutrients found in fruits and vegetables can help your overall health and vitality.
• Upgrade your carbohydrates, by switching from simple to complex carbohydrates. Eat fewer products like white bread and white rice. Eat more whole grains such as whole wheat bread, whole grain, brown rice, millet, quinoa a swell as barley. They give long-term energy, and have high-fibre content making you feel full longer.
• Experiment with protein as they keep you full longer than carbohydrates. Besides, animal protein tends to come with high amounts of fat. So find out how much and what type of protein is the right amount for your body. Choose lean and high quality protein or vegetarian options such as beans and nuts.
• Drink more water as you can easily reduce your daily calorie intake by replacing soda, alcohol or coffee with water. Thirst can be confused with hunger, so by drinking water, you may avoid consuming the extra calories, besides helping you break down food more easily.
• Take a multivitamin as it will help you be sure that there are no nutrient gaps in your diet. But it does not substitute for eating a healthy well balanced diet.

Lifestyle tips

Fitness And Exercise

• Get plenty of exercise as exercise is a dieter’s best friend. Besides burning calories, it can actually improve your resting metabolism. Even three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day are as good as one 30-minute workout. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or park your vehicle in the back of the parking lot. Every little bit helps.
• Get proper sleep as people with improper sleep have a much higher risk of obesity. Exhaustion makes you feel hungrier, as well as impair your judgment. Aim for nearly 8 hours of good sleep in a night.
• Turn off the TV as you actually burn less calories watching television than you do sleeping! In case you simply can’t miss your favourite shows, get a little workout in while watching. Do easy exercises such as squats, sit-ups, jogging in place, or use resistance bands or hand weights.
• Cook your own meals at home as it allows you to control both portion size as well as what goes in to the food. Restaurant and packaged foods generally contain lots of sodium, fat, as well as calories than food cooked at home, besides, the portions sizes tend to be larger.
• Make sure to shop while you are not hungry. Create a shopping list and stick to it. Store all tempting foods in cabinets or drawers to keep them out of your sight.
• Eat early and eat often by starting your day with a healthy breakfast which can jumpstart your metabolism. It will keep you from binging later through the day. Likewise, have healthful snacks like fruits, veggies and protein-packed almonds. Eat six small, healthful meals throughout the day, rather than the standard three large ones. This can help keep your metabolism going as well as ward off snack attacks.

Weight loss programs and proper diets

Weight Loss Program

Though a personalized plan may work better for you in the long run, many people tend to find success with well-known diet programs like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. In case the popular commercial weight loss plans aren’t quite your type, some of them may provide the backbone of the program which does work for you. Though it may take some experimenting in order to find the right diet for your body, it is important to feel satisfied so that you can stick with it on a long-term basis. In case one diet program doesn’t work, try another one, as there are many weight loss programs available.