Losing just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can improve your health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strive for a healthy rate of weight loss, just 1 or 2 lbs. per week. To do this, consume 3,500 to 7,000 calories fewer than you burn in a week. Achieve this through a combination of diet and exercise.
Step 1
Set a realistic weight-loss goal. Talk to your doctor about what constitutes a healthy weight for you.
Step 2
Trim calories from your daily intake. Reduce portion sizes of more calorie-dense foods like starches and protein. Switch to low-calorie versions of foods, like low-fat dairy instead of full-fat or whole grain, flaked cereal over granola. Eat at least 1,200 calories as a woman or 1,500 as a man to take in the minimums recommended by the National Institutes of Health. Any lower and you risk nutritional deficiency and feelings of deprivation that make your diet unsustainable.
Step 3
Build a balanced diet around lean proteins, fresh produce and unsaturated fats. Do not feel you have to over-emphasize any one food group, as reduced calories will lead to weight loss, according to Harvard researchers in a February 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the study dieters, regardless of the ratio of protein, fats and carbohydrates they consumed, lost weight if they cut calories. Eat a balance to ensure proper nutrition for health and to make you feel satisfied.
Step 4
Make changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Do not follow a diet that bans your favorite food or that requires you to prepare complex recipes if you hate to cook.
Step 5
Move more often. Get up from your computer at work every hour for five or 10 minutes. Pace while talking on the phone. Park farther from your destination. View chores as an opportunity to burn calories. Opt for active pastimes--play golf or go bowling instead of attending a movie. Small activity adds up over the course of a day and can account for as much as 350 extra calories burned daily, according to the New York Times in May 2005.
Step 6
Commit to exercise. Do moderate-intensity cardiovascular exercise at least 30 minutes, five times per week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. Perform resistance training two times per week to build bone density and stave off age-related muscle depletion. You do not have to join a gym for your workouts. Ninety-four percent of members of the National Weight Control Registry--a research group of over 5,000 people who successfully lost weight and kept it off for five years--report that increased physical activity assisted their weight loss efforts, with walking as the most frequently reported activity. Ninety percent of the members continue to exercise about 60 minutes per day to maintain their healthy weight. Do push-ups and squats in your living room, or purchase a set of dumbbells to use at home.
Tips and Warnings
- Stay away from crash diets or fad plans that sound too good to be true.
- Check with your doctor before beginning an exercise routine.
References
- Medline Plus: Tips for Losing Weight
- National Weight Control Registry: Research Findings
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Losing Weight
- New York Times: The Lean and the Restless
- New England Journal of Medicine: Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates
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