Realistic, Healthy Weight Loss Ideas
Almost one out of three American's are overweight or obese.
Obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.
One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.
Here are some diseases that you are putting you at risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds: 1.
Heart disease 2.
Stroke 3.
Diabetes 4.
Cancer 5.
Arthritis 6.
Hypertension Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.
The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results.
More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, supplements or pills, do not work.
If they do, the results are just temporary.
It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results.
You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.
Chances are that you have heard these things before, but they deserve to be repeated as they are foundational steps to healthy weight loss: 1.
Do not starve yourself.
The key to a healthier way of losing weight is do not diet.
You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted pounds by skipping meals.
But remember that this will not last long.
Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.
If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals.
If you do that and eat one huge meal a day, it will more likely be stored as fat to be used at a time when there is a future need.
Your body perceives starvation and will slow its metabolism to compensate for the lack of food being provided.
You can shed pounds by starving yourself but it is the unhealthiest way to go!It affects the metabolism, your energy level, your mood, how you sleep, and inevitably the fact that the weight will come back, and probably even more! 2.
Start your day right.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.
Breakfast got its name because it is meant to “break the fast” from the meal the night before.
The food you eat as a morning meal will be used to burn fat all day long.
3.
Eat frequently: eat small, healthy meals.
Five smaller meals per day are better than three hearty meals as eating more frequently, and in smaller servings, can prevent over-eating.
This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.
If you keep in mind the idea of eating within an hour of getting up and within an hour of going to bed, and every three to four hours in between, you will be on the right track.
What this will do is to stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the day giving you more consistent energy all day long.
This is the best way to combat the afternoon crashes most people experience from not eating a properly balanced breakfast and then having to large an afternoon meal.
Do yourself a favor and eat some protein, some healthy carbs and a little healthy fat as a morning meal and you will be off to having a great day! 4.
Decide on how much weight you want to lose.
Keep your goals realistic.
In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks.
Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.
A realistic weight loss goal is two to three pounds a week.
Any more than that and you suffer the possibility of losing lean muscle mass because the body has to break it down to drive glucose into the blood stream to keep the essential body functions operational.
The key here is deciding on a realistic weight loss program and then sticking to it!Make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules! 5.
Drink lots of water.
Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and to keep your cells hydrated and healthy.
A good estimate is sixty four ounces per one hundred pounds of body weight.
Once you get on a regular eating schedule you will find that you will naturally drink that amount of water.
If you want to make it easy to achieve the goal of drinking the right amount, fill a gallon bottle each morning and make it a goal to get through at least half of it by the end of the day.
As you continue with this approach for a few weeks, work to get through the entire gallon.
Trust me, you will not drown! 6.
Avoid too much sugar.
Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice, or pasta for the healthy carbs that you need, plus some lean protein rich-foods.
I believe in the 50-30-20 rule as a starting point.
Have fifty percent healthy carbs, thirty percent lean proteins, and twenty percent healthy fats.
Sweets, sodas, and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences.
There are many great choices for these things at your natural food grocery store.
7.
Watch the type of fat you are eating.
Fat is not the culprit to being overweight.
You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.
There is such a thing as healthy fats.
Olive, peanut, and canola oil have them.
Tuna, salmon, and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.
Avocadoes are a wonderful replacement for mayonnaise!Avoid the trans fats at all cost! 8.
Exercise.
Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home and take a walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle, or skate.
With the cost of gasoline these days you can also save some money to buy some healthier food choices – buy organic instead of the alternative.
Use these activities and other home chores if you are too busy to go to the gym and take exercise classes.
Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are shedding pounds with these mundane activities.
It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose.
What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.
Go slow.
If you have already lost five or six pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next five pounds.
Eat healthy, drink lots of water, get enough sleep and exercise.
This will give you a better chance of losing the weight and improving your health, which will result in a new, healthier you! Please visit [http://www.
ultimatehealthynutrition.
com] for more free articles, ideas, and products on how to eat healthy, be healthy, and feel better for life.
Remember, nothing tastes as good as fit and trim feels!
Obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.
One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.
Here are some diseases that you are putting you at risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds: 1.
Heart disease 2.
Stroke 3.
Diabetes 4.
Cancer 5.
Arthritis 6.
Hypertension Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.
The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results.
More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, supplements or pills, do not work.
If they do, the results are just temporary.
It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results.
You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.
Chances are that you have heard these things before, but they deserve to be repeated as they are foundational steps to healthy weight loss: 1.
Do not starve yourself.
The key to a healthier way of losing weight is do not diet.
You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted pounds by skipping meals.
But remember that this will not last long.
Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.
If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals.
If you do that and eat one huge meal a day, it will more likely be stored as fat to be used at a time when there is a future need.
Your body perceives starvation and will slow its metabolism to compensate for the lack of food being provided.
You can shed pounds by starving yourself but it is the unhealthiest way to go!It affects the metabolism, your energy level, your mood, how you sleep, and inevitably the fact that the weight will come back, and probably even more! 2.
Start your day right.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.
Breakfast got its name because it is meant to “break the fast” from the meal the night before.
The food you eat as a morning meal will be used to burn fat all day long.
3.
Eat frequently: eat small, healthy meals.
Five smaller meals per day are better than three hearty meals as eating more frequently, and in smaller servings, can prevent over-eating.
This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.
If you keep in mind the idea of eating within an hour of getting up and within an hour of going to bed, and every three to four hours in between, you will be on the right track.
What this will do is to stabilize your blood sugar levels throughout the day giving you more consistent energy all day long.
This is the best way to combat the afternoon crashes most people experience from not eating a properly balanced breakfast and then having to large an afternoon meal.
Do yourself a favor and eat some protein, some healthy carbs and a little healthy fat as a morning meal and you will be off to having a great day! 4.
Decide on how much weight you want to lose.
Keep your goals realistic.
In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks.
Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.
A realistic weight loss goal is two to three pounds a week.
Any more than that and you suffer the possibility of losing lean muscle mass because the body has to break it down to drive glucose into the blood stream to keep the essential body functions operational.
The key here is deciding on a realistic weight loss program and then sticking to it!Make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules! 5.
Drink lots of water.
Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and to keep your cells hydrated and healthy.
A good estimate is sixty four ounces per one hundred pounds of body weight.
Once you get on a regular eating schedule you will find that you will naturally drink that amount of water.
If you want to make it easy to achieve the goal of drinking the right amount, fill a gallon bottle each morning and make it a goal to get through at least half of it by the end of the day.
As you continue with this approach for a few weeks, work to get through the entire gallon.
Trust me, you will not drown! 6.
Avoid too much sugar.
Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice, or pasta for the healthy carbs that you need, plus some lean protein rich-foods.
I believe in the 50-30-20 rule as a starting point.
Have fifty percent healthy carbs, thirty percent lean proteins, and twenty percent healthy fats.
Sweets, sodas, and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences.
There are many great choices for these things at your natural food grocery store.
7.
Watch the type of fat you are eating.
Fat is not the culprit to being overweight.
You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.
There is such a thing as healthy fats.
Olive, peanut, and canola oil have them.
Tuna, salmon, and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.
Avocadoes are a wonderful replacement for mayonnaise!Avoid the trans fats at all cost! 8.
Exercise.
Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home and take a walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle, or skate.
With the cost of gasoline these days you can also save some money to buy some healthier food choices – buy organic instead of the alternative.
Use these activities and other home chores if you are too busy to go to the gym and take exercise classes.
Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are shedding pounds with these mundane activities.
It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose.
What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.
Go slow.
If you have already lost five or six pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next five pounds.
Eat healthy, drink lots of water, get enough sleep and exercise.
This will give you a better chance of losing the weight and improving your health, which will result in a new, healthier you! Please visit [http://www.
ultimatehealthynutrition.
com] for more free articles, ideas, and products on how to eat healthy, be healthy, and feel better for life.
Remember, nothing tastes as good as fit and trim feels!
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