You can lose weight through diet, exercise or a combination of both. For most people, the easiest way to take weight off and keep it from coming back is to combine calorie reduction with exercise. To make sure your efforts help you take weight off in a healthy way for the long term, research your calorie needs and choose exercise you enjoy to create a plan you can follow each day.
Create a Diet Plan
Step 1
Meet with your physician, a dietician or personal trainer. Discuss with them any health problems you might have. This may limit the type of exercise you can do or diet you can plan.
Step 2
Find out how many calories you should eat each day. Consult the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "Dietary Guidelines for Adults 2010" for help.
Step 3
Create a daily calorie deficit of 500 to 1,000. This will help you to lose 1 to 2 lbs. per week based on diet and exercise. Decrease your USDA recommended daily calorie number by 250 calories each day and do exercise that burns 250 calories, if your goal is to lose 1 lb. per week.
Step 4
Plan your daily menus using nutrition labels. Find the number of calories per serving -- not per package -- on labels to make sure you get the correct number.
Step 5
Prepare snacks in advance to avoid overeating. Transfer nuts, baked chips, low-fat cookies and other snacks in large boxes and bags to small sandwich bags. Bring energy bars, fresh fruit or other snacks to work.
Create an Exercise Plan
Step 1
Choose an exercise activity or several exercise options using an online calorie-burn calculator. You can also try an exercise chart. Choose an exercise program that will cause you burn 250 to 500 calories per session.
Step 2
Exercise at a pace comparable to walking briskly if you are new to exercise. Start with 15-minute workouts to build stamina as you burn calories during the course of several weeks. Bicycle, power walk, skate, swim, jog, jump rope, dance or perform other exercises that won't exhaust you after a few minutes.
Step 3
Raise the intensity of your workouts as you build fitness. Exercise at the highest heart rate that lets you continue without stopping for your entire workout. Use an exercise bike, treadmill, elliptical or rowing machine, or aerobic dance, jump rope or jog.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Counting Calories: Get Back to Weight-Loss Basics
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
- Health.gov: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- American College of Sports Medicine: Basic Recommendations From ACSM and American Heart Association
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