No one who wants to lose weight has to spend money to buy a gym membership or fancy exercise equipment. Home exercise can be just as effective as workouts at the gym, and when they're combined with healthy eating, the pounds can start coming off quickly. Still, people who want to lose weight need to be prepared to work for it. Diligence, commitment and motivation will all help you to accelerate results.
Step 1
Stick to a self-designed schedule of workout times. Several sessions per week at a moderate pace will likely yield consistent but gradual results; more vigorous exercise for longer periods of time will hasten those results. Don't hesitate to pencil exercise sessions into a daily planner or calendar. Treat them as you would any important appointments, and don't break them unless you have a very good reason.
Step 2
Increase the intensity of your regular workouts or try new exercises that move at a more strenuous pace. The Mayo Clinic names tae kwon do, jogging and rollerblading as inexpensive and especially vigorous exercises that all burn more than 700 calories per hour for a 200-pound person. If you struggle to maintain intense exercises for extended periods of time, practice interval training by alternating small bursts of vigorous activity with longer times of moderate exercise.
Step 3
Aim to be more physically active every day, even outside of exercise. Any type of physical activity burns calories, and people with active lifestyles tend to weigh less than those with sedentary lifestyles. The Harvard Health Letter suggests playing actively with children and pets, cleaning the house regularly, walking or biking instead of driving, and taking stairs instead of an elevator or escalator. Revving up your daily activity doesn't cost anything, but can yield big results.
Step 4
Cook meals at home instead of eating out or grabbing pre-packaged foods. Many processed and restaurant items have lots of fat, calories, sugar and cholesterol, but you always control the ingredients when you cook at home, and home cooking also saves money. HelpGuide.org recommends baking instead of frying, eating more vegetables and less meat, cutting down the amounts of fats and oils in recipes and preparing whole grains instead of refined grains.
Step 5
Make an effort to prepare and eat breakfast every day. In a 2007 Mayo Clinic study, 80 percent of participants who successfully lost weight and kept it off in the long term had breakfast every morning. Eating breakfast may help to curb calorie intake later in the day and reduce cravings for high-fat and high-sugar foods. Choose healthy options such as fortified cereal, oatmeal, low-fat yogurt, fresh fruit or low-sugar granola.
Member Comments