Your home may be your preferred location for weight loss, due to time constraints, inconvenience of using a health club or your personal comfort level. Because weight loss is a matter of diet and exercise, you can make a few simple changes each day to lose weight at home.
Eat Less
Calories are the basic component in dieting and weight loss. When your body has too many calories, you gain weight and when you reduce your calorie consumption, you lose weight. If you want to lose up to 1 lb. of weight per week through your diet you need to eat 3,500 fewer calories in seven days. The Mayo Clinic recommends reducing your daily caloric intake by 500 calories each day. This might sound like a lot of calories to remove from you diet, but you can split this up among all of your meals throughout the day.
Eat smaller meals more frequently; try to eat five small meals during the day. Put your food on the plate instead of eating directly from the packaging and remember to stop eating when you no longer feel hungry. It will seem as though you are eating more during the day but you will be eating much smaller meals with fewer calories.
Eat the Right Foods
At home you can control which foods comes into the house and what you consume. Set yourself up for success by making nutrient-dense foods the majority of your diet. Nutrient-dense foods are low in calories, added fat, sugar and sodium and high in fiber, minerals and vitamins. The daily value (DV) column on the nutrition label of food will help you determine if a food is high or low in a particular category. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services less than 5 percent DV is low while 20 percent DV and more is considered high. Avoid foods that are not low in saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and added sugar. Eat a variety of nutrient-dense foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads, low-fat milk products and lean protein should be the majority of your diet. Among the food groups, pick various items to avoid boredom within your diet.
Get Moving
Aerobic and strength training are both essential to weight loss. Aerobic activity burns calories and body fat while strength training builds muscle mass to improve your metabolism. Do aerobic activity five to seven days a week, for at least 30 minutes each day. You can buy an aerobic machine, like a treadmill or the elliptical trainer. To save money, you can walk or run in your neighborhood. Step aerobics, team sports and exercise videos can also be a part of your aerobic exercise.
You can do strength training, with your body weight or free weights, at home. Work your chest, back, arms, shoulders, legs and abdominal muscle groups one to three days a week. Exercises such as push-ups, pull-ups and chin-ups engage your upper body. Squats, lunges, calf raises and squat jumps strengthen your lower body. Sit-ups, crunches, bicycle crunches and side bends help train your abdominal muscles. Pick three to five exercises for each muscle group and work to complete 10 to 12 repetitions for each.
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