Losing weight can be a tough challenge for many people, especially those with office jobs and other responsibilities such as kids.
Not having enough time and feelings of low energy are the main causes that people use for not regularly attending the gym or doing sports.
The issue here is that while these people don’t seem to be able to find the time, they do desire to be thinner and healthier but lack the drive and direction to actually start taking the steps to achieve it.
Losing weight is an achievable thing for anyone to be able to do despite what some people may think. It is true that some people can shift weight faster than others but with determination and the right advice you can achieve any physical goal you want.
Seven good tips to achieve a significant weight loss:
1. Eat Healthy
The diet is the key to starting all this weight loss work because you can exercise every day, but if you are eating the wrong foods the weight will not change much. Eat healthily three times a day and try to include salad and some lean meats in your diet. Remember, calories count, so the basic formula of calories in / calories out still applies. Weight loss means achieving a net calorie deficit!
2. Snacking
Snacking has to go but to get in the habit of not eating junk food, you need to empty the cupboards and bin it all. If the urge to snack is quite high you need to replace it with something such as cups of green tea, vegetables, or fruit. Vegetables are an excellent choice since they’re filling, high in nutrients and fiber while being very low in actual calories.
3. Working out?
You do not need to workout every day but at least be active and that means going for a walk for thirty minutes with the kids, on your own or with the dogs. You need to break the habits of getting in from work and just watching the tv and then eating dinner. To be successful in actually losing weight, you need a sustained workout program ideally including 1 hr/day up to 7 days per week.
4. Workout Intensity
When you do go to the gym, you need to workout intensely to shift weight quicker and so that means lots of cardio. Try and mix it up so do twenty minutes on the jogger, then the bike and then the cross trainer. This way you will get one hour of good cardio all over your body which is ideal for weight loss.
5. Keeping it fun?
One of the main reasons people fail to achieve sustained weight loss is that they fail to maintain their workouts largely due to boredom. Try and keep it fun and original so at least once a week train in a different way such as skipping, boxing, outdoor running, outdoor biking or swimming, This way it can keep your workouts new and interesting while managing to workout different muscles.
6. Resistance Training
Most fitness experts agree that combining cardio with resistance training is the optimal method to achieve sustained weight loss. Just because you are losing weight which in reality largely means losing fat, it doesn’t mean you can’t use weight to bulk up your upper muscle mass with resistance training workouts three days per week. Use the free weights and bench press to improve the upper body and if you want a health supplement to try to help give your muscles more energy, creatine tablets have had some good reviews on their effectiveness in this area.
7. Motivation
Have small targets every two weeks instead of one big weight loss target as it makes it all seem much more achievable. Losing weight on a sustainable basis requires an enormous amount of motivation.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Thursday, 29 December 2011
How to lose weight the healthy way
The healthiest way to lose weight is neither crash diets nor bursts of exercise. The body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise.
For example, someone who hasn't exercised for years shouldn't rush into running miles a day or pounding the treadmill. Not only will the struggle to do so leave you feeling disheartened and demotivated, you're also far more likely to injure yourself and set your fitness levels back further.
The same goes for people who suddenly start starving themselves. Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food 'allowed' can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs.
So, if you need to lose weight, what should you do?
Energy needs and weight loss
Your body uses food for energy. It stores any excess energy as fat. This means if you eat more food than your body needs for daily activities and cell maintenance, you'll gain weight.
To lose weight, you need to get your body to use up these stores of fat. The most effective way to do this is to:
reduce the amount of calories you eat
increase your levels of activity.
This is why experts talk about weight loss in terms of diet and exercise.
Introduce changes gradually
Small changes can make a big difference. One extra biscuit a week can lead you to gain 5lb a year – cut that biscuit out of your diet and you'll lose the same amount.
You're also more likely to stick to, say, swapping full-fat milk for semi-skimmed or making time for breakfast each morning than a diet that sets rules for all foods.
You should think of weight loss in terms of permanently changing your eating habits. While weight-loss goals are usually set in term of weeks, the end game is to sustain these changes over months and years, ie lifestyle change for life.
Increase your activity levels
Someone who increases the amount they exercise, but maintains the same diet and calorie intake, will almost certainly lose weight.
No matter if you hate gyms – even light exercise, such as a short 20 minute walk, will be beneficial if done most days of the week.
Every single time you exercise more than usual, you burn calories and fat.
There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do. Team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.
Find something you enjoy that's easy for you to do in terms of location and cost. You're then more likely to build it into your routine and continue to exercise, despite inevitably missing the odd session through holidays, family commitments, etc.
Get out and about at the weekend. Leave your car on the drive and walk to the shops. Try to incorporate longer walks into outings to the park, coast or countryside and take a picnic, so you're in control of what you are going to eat that day.
Every extra step you take helps. Always use the stairs instead of the lift, or get off the bus a stop before the usual one and walk the rest of the way.
Use commercial breaks between TV-programmes to stand up and do exercise, or consider using an exercise bicycle in the living room while watching your favourite programme.
For example, someone who hasn't exercised for years shouldn't rush into running miles a day or pounding the treadmill. Not only will the struggle to do so leave you feeling disheartened and demotivated, you're also far more likely to injure yourself and set your fitness levels back further.
The same goes for people who suddenly start starving themselves. Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food 'allowed' can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs.
So, if you need to lose weight, what should you do?
Energy needs and weight loss
Your body uses food for energy. It stores any excess energy as fat. This means if you eat more food than your body needs for daily activities and cell maintenance, you'll gain weight.
To lose weight, you need to get your body to use up these stores of fat. The most effective way to do this is to:
reduce the amount of calories you eat
increase your levels of activity.
This is why experts talk about weight loss in terms of diet and exercise.
Introduce changes gradually
Small changes can make a big difference. One extra biscuit a week can lead you to gain 5lb a year – cut that biscuit out of your diet and you'll lose the same amount.
You're also more likely to stick to, say, swapping full-fat milk for semi-skimmed or making time for breakfast each morning than a diet that sets rules for all foods.
You should think of weight loss in terms of permanently changing your eating habits. While weight-loss goals are usually set in term of weeks, the end game is to sustain these changes over months and years, ie lifestyle change for life.
Increase your activity levels
Someone who increases the amount they exercise, but maintains the same diet and calorie intake, will almost certainly lose weight.
No matter if you hate gyms – even light exercise, such as a short 20 minute walk, will be beneficial if done most days of the week.
Every single time you exercise more than usual, you burn calories and fat.
There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do. Team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.
Find something you enjoy that's easy for you to do in terms of location and cost. You're then more likely to build it into your routine and continue to exercise, despite inevitably missing the odd session through holidays, family commitments, etc.
Get out and about at the weekend. Leave your car on the drive and walk to the shops. Try to incorporate longer walks into outings to the park, coast or countryside and take a picnic, so you're in control of what you are going to eat that day.
Every extra step you take helps. Always use the stairs instead of the lift, or get off the bus a stop before the usual one and walk the rest of the way.
Use commercial breaks between TV-programmes to stand up and do exercise, or consider using an exercise bicycle in the living room while watching your favourite programme.
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