Losing weight in a healthy way?
The best way to lose weight, in terms of health and efficiency, is to make gradual and steady changes in your daily habits and overall lifestyle. This does not mean magic pills like Hoodia Gordoni ( the Kalahari Desert wonder) that guarantee to help you lose weight quickly, or working out for hours the very first time you hit the gym. This means making smart and slow changes to how you eat and exercise so you can make a lasting difference in your life in terms of your weight. The following is useful information to help you do this:
The simple equation of energy
This part is easy to understand. Your body needs a certain amount of energy per day to function, and turns the food you eat into energy for daily activities. whatever is left over is stored as fat. So, if you take in more food and therefore more calories than your body needs in a day, you will gain weight.
Of course, this also works the other way. To lose weight, you must use MORE energy than your body takes in. To lose weight and therefore fat you must:
- eat fewer calories
- exercise more
Weight loss is best accomplished through monitoring your diet and physical activity.
Make small and steady changes.
Believe it or not, gradual calorie reductions can make a big difference. One less soda a week can lead to losing five pounds a year. Start with drinking one less soda than usual and you are already making an improvement.
You are better off making small changes, such as switching to diet sodas or a lower-fat milk, then a radical diet that restricts all foods you eat.
Weight loss should be considered in terms of changing your lifestyle habits for the long run. While you want to set smaller weight loss goals, for instance, to lose a certain amount in this many weeks, you want to also think of the future. You want to keep that weight off for the months and years to come.
Become more physically active
You might be surprised to learn that even if you ate the same way you do now, but just add in more exercise, you will almost certainly lose weight. You may not lose weight quickly, but you will notice some pounds drop.
You don't even have to go the gym! You can incorporate a simple 20-minute walk around the neighborhood, mall, or anywhere else for most days of the week and you will notice improvements.
Whenever you exercise more than your average amount, you burn more calories and stand to lose fat.
Take in fewer calories.
What is considered normal and what is overweight? An easy-to-calculate measurement called a BMI is used to determine this.
* If your BMI is over 25, you are considered overweight by medical standards.
* A BMI of 18.5-25 is healthy.
* A BMI over 30 is considered obese.
* A BMI over 40 is considered morbidly obese.