When you want to lose weight, often the first thought is to reduce the amount of food you eat. This may be one solution but it’s not exactly the best there is! In fact, if you reduce the amount you eat by too much this can become a dangerous option and negatively impact your health. So how does one lose weight not only effectively but safely?
Here are some points you should consider when trying to lose weight:
1. Avoid Crash Diets
A number of people think that cutting down on calories alone will shed their unwanted excess weight. Maybe this belief is encouraged with the food industry’s massive advertising campaigns promoting low-calorie food products and beverages. What people don’t realize is that this could be doing more damage than good. When calorie intake is dropped too far below the required levels, the body begins to digest fats. Sounds good doesn’t it? But it isn’t actually.
Burning fat requires a LOT of energy. When you cut your caloric intake significantly, your body does not have sufficient reserves of energy to facilitate the metabolism of fat. Consequently, your system will run at a very slow pace leading to increased fatigue, illness and a weakened immune system.
So, if not crash dieting, then what?
Low-calorie diets are also compensated for by the body burning muscle. People on this type of diet who revert back to their old eating habits end up gaining back some, if not all the weight they have shed. This would consist mainly of fats. And since fats have more volume per mass than muscle, they end up having the same weight as before but with more bulk. In losing weight, the key is to aim to lose excess body fats only.
However, try eating small meals at more frequent intervals. It’s about portion sizes. This way the body will not think that it is being starved and will not store food as fat.
2. Eat Proper-like
What IS eating properly? Real food. Veggies, meat, fruits, nuts, seeds etc. Less processed goods. You need to monitor what you are eating. Choosing a variety of foods is the best way to get the necessary nutrients from any diet. In deciding to have variety, keep in mind that it is healthier to eat food which has been roasted, steamed or broiled – NOT fried. Include a lot of fiber in the diet to ensure your metabolism does not get sluggish. Rehydrating frequently helps replenish lost fluids and keeps internal organs functioning well. Water, clear fluide and herbal teas are good for that.
3. Pump Up lean Muscle Mass
When muscles work, they burn calories. Interestingly they still burn fat while at rest! If you have excess fat you know it just hangs around making you uncomfortable, bulging in places it shouldn’t even be! Muscles on the other hand burn calories all day long. So there is significant benefit to converting your fat into muscle mass. When you build up your muscle mass you actually lose weight because muscle weighs more gram-for-gram than regular muscle
Therefore, the first goal of weight loss is to increase muscle mass. The more muscles, the less fat will be left. You don’t need to bench-press huge weights to convert fat to muscle. The easiest way to start is to simply do resistance exercises.
4. Get Into Aerobics
Aerobics are fantastic for the heart by providing increased cardiovascular endurance. Aerobics work to increase lean muscle mass while at the same time decreasing excess body fat. As a result the metabolic process becomes more efficient while the metabolic rate operates at a higher level – and is sustained. Just imagine: work hard enough and you can still be burning fat while you are driving along the freeway or even while watching television!
5. That Extra “Push”
A long long time ago I tried reverse psychology to lose weight. Knowing that most people who gave up smoking claimed they gained weight, I thought that if I took up smoking I would lose weight!
Wrong!! And an incredibly bad decision for my overall health. Fortunately I hated the whole smoking thing so I didn’t last more than a day or two! Funnily enough though, some people do believe that extra smokes and caffeine can actually help in losing weight. Flawed thinking folks. The increase in those two substances will cause more damage than it’s worth to try. If you want some extra support, try taking appropriate food supplements, getting a personal trainer or get your friends onboard.
6. About Diet Pills
Over-the-counter diet pills affect the amount of weight you lose as well as how long that weight is kept off. Please bear in mind the side-effects of these diet pills. We do not condone them at all and any diet pills consumed should be done with the full knowledge of your medical practitioner. Faithfully follow the instructions provided with the packaging.
Losing weight does not have to mean sacrifice and suffering. There will be consequences to changing your eating and exercise behaviors. Losing weight might actually mean opening up to a fuller and healthier life. There’s no need to feel bad about yourself, of not being happy with the way you look or not being able to do what you want to do.
Losing weight might involve a few little adjustments plus the discomforts that come with changes, but as the old saying goes, “no pain, no gain.”
Besides fat, what has one got to lose anyway?