Are you sick and tired of being called over-sized, plump and fat and wearing plus-size dresses? Well, it’s not just you, there are many more in the queue. In fact, the eagerness to lose weight has somewhat become a worldwide problem. In every household, you will find at least one person who is battling with his or her old wardrobe. Before getting any tip on weight loss, do remember one thing – you should never fall for the ‘quick weight-loss schemes’ that claim to provide you with amazing results just in a month or in a week. Always remember – most of the weight-loss quick-fixes are nothing more than wastage of money. Therefore, it’s always wise to invest in something that is realistic and allows you to lose weight healthily. Here is a guide to help you with the same. Take a quick look:
Set realistic goals
Setting goals is very crucial as they help you concentrate your time, effort and energy on the relevant areas. In order to makeup the success level, your objectives should be:
Specific and short term
You need to be very specific about what you are going to do tomorrow or for a week. For example – you have to tell yourself that you are going to take a walk for 30 minutes, instead of telling that you are going to exercise. Being specific is the first step towards becoming healthy.
Traceable
You need to track each and every thing about your exercise regimen in a diary. When people see their goals getting visible, they are motivated from within. It’s human instinct.
Positive
You should set realistic goals or the one that are attainable. Any kind of negative vibe can spoil your entire regimen and might lead to depression. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a healthy rate of weight-loss for most people is 1 to 2 pounds per week. So, you should keep pace with it and understand the differences between realistic and unrealistic ones.
Very personal
You should try to maintain a healthy weight for impressing others, until and unless you are a supermodel. Jokes apart, your weight-loss goals should be for your betterment. If you learn to love yourself, the world itself will love you.
Calories
When you are talking about losing weight, you are actually counting on calories. The reason – calories are the pockets of energy found in food that influence your weight and you can control them for sure. About 3,500 of these calories makeup a pound and in order to lose weight, you need to cut off some from your daily diet. However, you should not trim it below 1,200 calories per day. Otherwise, you might have to suffer from deficiencies. Here is how you can keep a track of your calories intake:
- When you know the number of calories you intake everyday, you will be able to make better choices for healthy weight loss. Just take your total calorie intake in a notebook. You can also use online calories calculators.
- Eat smaller and frequent meals. This will help you in maintain your calorie intake throughout the day and you won’t feel hungry. Controlling hunger can help you a great deal.
- While buying food items or groceries, make sure to check the nutritional value given at the back side of the label.
- Limit your fat intake. You should not consume more than 20 to 35% fat when trying to lose weight – says the American Heart Association.
- Eat stuff that is rich in their fiber contents, like vegetables, legumes, whole grain and fruits. They act as filler and countless, in terms of calories.
Include cardio activities
Participating in a boot camp or a marathon to reduce weight is not a necessary step when it comes to weight loss. All you need to do is exercise regularly. Cardio exercises are considered to be the best in this regard. Take a look:
Running and walking
It is one of the best options for losing weight quickly. There are plenty of reasons behind the same. Firstly, it does not demand any kind of special equipment. Secondly, you can run as per your convenient time. Thirdly, it’s impactful and helps in strengthening of your connective tissues and bones. Fourthly, it’s good for your heart. And lastly, you can burn some serious calories simply by running. If not run, but you can also shed extra pounds just by walking everyday.
Bicycling
It is an excellent cardio exercise. It helps in increasing endurance and burning calories at the same time. The best part – you can do it both indoors and outdoors. So, you can easily make it a part of your daily life.
Swimming
Everybody knows the benefits offered by swimming. It is a full body workout. So, the more parts involved, the more calories you tend to burn. The best thing about swimming is – it does not injure you because water provides a support to your joints.
Strength training is also important
You can safeguard your muscles while reducing the fat by adding strength training to your month long weight-loss schedule, making you look lean and healthy. In the Journal Obesity, a study had been published in 2008 showing that the women on a low-calorie diet who performed resistance training lost the same amount of weight as women who did not, conserving their lean muscles. There are very less chances of gaining weight again, after your month long and rigorous effort, if you maintain your lean muscle mass, keeping your metabolism high. Always maintain the strength routine to maintain a healthy weight and look the best.
Crash dieting is a strict no
When you are on a weight loss regimen it is really important for you to stay absolutely focused. Setting short term and realistic goals can be helpful to ensure that you are actually able to lose weight. While losing extra weight is important, losing it in a healthy way is much more essential. So, opting for crash dieting is surely not the way to go, because it will harm your body at the end. The basic motto to lose weight should be to become more healthy and fit, whereas crash dieting can actually harm your health.
Discard some ”unhealthy” foods today
Eating healthy food that quenches the need of calorie and nourishment of the body but does not overload it is important. When you are trying to lose weight it is absolutely essential that you stop eating the foods that contain free calories. Cold drinks and chips are the foods that should be completely discarded from your platter. Stop banking on junk foods like, pizzas, burgers and all those spicy items sold in the food joint across the street. Staying away from desserts, sweets and chocolates is also important when you are on a weight loss mission. Cheese, butter and oil also add readily to the fat of your body. So, discard these items from your diet. If you cannot stop taking oil completely, shift to olive oil and use limited amount of it to prepare your dishes. Alcohol and even beer can add heavily to the fat of the body, so stay completely away from them.
Become active
While exercising regularly is vital for losing weight in a healthy way, staying active during the whole day can also be helpful to speed up the process. Take the stairs instead of the lift even if you are in a hurry and make it a point to leave your seat and walk around for 5 minutes after every 40 minutes of work. Stop using the car for going even to the nearest shopping mall; make it a point to take a quick walk whenever you can.
