Anyone who seriously wishes to lose weight has to face a few home truths before they start, so let's get straight to the point.
To lose excess weight and keep it off you have to change your lifestyle. Not drastically, perhaps, but you have to make fundamental changes in your diet and incorporate exercise, or increased exercise, into your routine. This is not as difficult as it sounds, as I shall explain below.
In fact the basics are quite simple. If you are increasing your weight it's because your body is taking in more calories than it can burn up while you pursue your present lifestyle. To lose weight, you have to increase your energy output and burn up those excess calories before they are stored in your body fat, or reduce the amount of calories you consume by changing your diet. To keep your equilibrium you should ideally do both.
Start right now. Weigh yourself and write down the figure in your diary or a notebook. What weight do you wish to achieve? Write that down too. And by what date? Write that down. Be realistic. Don't try and achieve an impossible or highly unlikely target. It's far better to have a more modest ambition that has a good chance of success.
Identify which foods you presently eat regularly that are harmful and have led you to being overweight. You have to be honest with yourself. If there are more than just one or two, list them in the order in which you wish to eliminate them from your diet.
Work out how you can increase the exercise you do on a daily or weekly basis. It may be that you can devote some time every day to walking for 20 or 30 minutes. Perhaps you can walk all or part of the way to work one or two days a week. You don't have to start by going to a gym five times a week for a couple of hours at a time.
Remember your body is used to its present diet and routine. Any radical change will be a shock to the system. If you suddenly halve the calories in your diet or double the physical demands on your body then it won't be long before your body tells you one way or another that it's too much, and your weight loss plans will flounder.
If part of your diet consists of junk food, start by cutting down on the main constituent of that junk food. It may take three or four weeks before you manage to cut it out altogether. At the same time replace it with fiber or some other kind of healthy substitute.
Be patient. It will be worth it. Regularly visualise what life will be like when you have achieved your aims. Review your progress from time to time. Once you have managed to replace one junk food item with a more healthy food, even if it's just on one occasion a week, it's time to move on to the next step. Don't forget to congratulate yourself on your progress first.
With your exercise routine it's slightly different. If you normally don't partake in any exercise at all then gentle, anaerobic exercises, such as walking briskly, is a good way to start. But that kind of exercise is severely limited in its ability to help your body lose excess weight. It is, however, good for making your body used to the idea of doing more physical exercise.
So when that stage is passed it's time to go in for more strenuous, aerobic, exercises. These are the exercises, such as running, cycling and circuit training, that will really have you sweating off those pounds. Remember, though, to take things one step at a time. For example, if you're starting to run for the first time in years just take a very short run and don't go at it flat out, rather just take it gingerly to see how your body and limbs will take it. You may wish to take medical or professional advice before you do this, especially if you are past the first flush of youth or have health problems.
If your aims are realistic enough and you are persistent then you will lose weight. However, you will probably find that at some stage you arrive at a "plateau", where further weight loss seems impossible, however strict your diet and conscientious your exercise routine.
At this stage you need to consider whether there is some other cause of your excess weight, something that goes deeper than just a surplus of calorific intake over calorie burning, something that caused the whole problem in the first place. As the man said, the truth will make you free, but first it will make you angry.
To lose excess weight and keep it off you have to change your lifestyle. Not drastically, perhaps, but you have to make fundamental changes in your diet and incorporate exercise, or increased exercise, into your routine. This is not as difficult as it sounds, as I shall explain below.
In fact the basics are quite simple. If you are increasing your weight it's because your body is taking in more calories than it can burn up while you pursue your present lifestyle. To lose weight, you have to increase your energy output and burn up those excess calories before they are stored in your body fat, or reduce the amount of calories you consume by changing your diet. To keep your equilibrium you should ideally do both.
Start right now. Weigh yourself and write down the figure in your diary or a notebook. What weight do you wish to achieve? Write that down too. And by what date? Write that down. Be realistic. Don't try and achieve an impossible or highly unlikely target. It's far better to have a more modest ambition that has a good chance of success.
Identify which foods you presently eat regularly that are harmful and have led you to being overweight. You have to be honest with yourself. If there are more than just one or two, list them in the order in which you wish to eliminate them from your diet.
Work out how you can increase the exercise you do on a daily or weekly basis. It may be that you can devote some time every day to walking for 20 or 30 minutes. Perhaps you can walk all or part of the way to work one or two days a week. You don't have to start by going to a gym five times a week for a couple of hours at a time.
Remember your body is used to its present diet and routine. Any radical change will be a shock to the system. If you suddenly halve the calories in your diet or double the physical demands on your body then it won't be long before your body tells you one way or another that it's too much, and your weight loss plans will flounder.
If part of your diet consists of junk food, start by cutting down on the main constituent of that junk food. It may take three or four weeks before you manage to cut it out altogether. At the same time replace it with fiber or some other kind of healthy substitute.
Be patient. It will be worth it. Regularly visualise what life will be like when you have achieved your aims. Review your progress from time to time. Once you have managed to replace one junk food item with a more healthy food, even if it's just on one occasion a week, it's time to move on to the next step. Don't forget to congratulate yourself on your progress first.
With your exercise routine it's slightly different. If you normally don't partake in any exercise at all then gentle, anaerobic exercises, such as walking briskly, is a good way to start. But that kind of exercise is severely limited in its ability to help your body lose excess weight. It is, however, good for making your body used to the idea of doing more physical exercise.
So when that stage is passed it's time to go in for more strenuous, aerobic, exercises. These are the exercises, such as running, cycling and circuit training, that will really have you sweating off those pounds. Remember, though, to take things one step at a time. For example, if you're starting to run for the first time in years just take a very short run and don't go at it flat out, rather just take it gingerly to see how your body and limbs will take it. You may wish to take medical or professional advice before you do this, especially if you are past the first flush of youth or have health problems.
If your aims are realistic enough and you are persistent then you will lose weight. However, you will probably find that at some stage you arrive at a "plateau", where further weight loss seems impossible, however strict your diet and conscientious your exercise routine.
At this stage you need to consider whether there is some other cause of your excess weight, something that goes deeper than just a surplus of calorific intake over calorie burning, something that caused the whole problem in the first place. As the man said, the truth will make you free, but first it will make you angry.
Philip Gegan is a former UK lawyer who has discovered the secret why so many weight loss plans are fatally flawed - a secret that the weight loss industry doesn't want you to find out. It's at http://www.pressawaypain.com/secret
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Philip_Gegan
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