Colon cancer, diabetes and heart disease are some of the many complications that excess fat can cause. The best way to lose weight is by making healthier lifestyle choices. You can integrate several positive steps toward weight loss by making changes to your diet and becoming more active. This takes time, dedication and discipline.
Reducing Calories
You lose weight when you eat less calories than you expend. This is called a caloric deficit. You can create a deficit by determining your current intake, then cutting it. To find your starting intake, monitor your calories for one day and include liquid calories. Once you have this number, deduct 500 to 1,000 from it. For example, if you record 2,500 calories, your new intake will be 2,000 or 1,500. Reducing your daily intake by 500 to 1,000 will promote 1 to 2 lbs. of weight loss a week.
Liquid Calories
Calories in the form of soda, dessert lattes, milk shakes and beer still count as calories. Avoid all beverages that contain calories to further promote weight loss. Drink water, tea, diet soda and anything else calorie-free. Also, have a full glass of water with your meals to help fill your stomach. Drinking water throughout the day will also help you feel satiated.
Timing of Meals
If you cut back on your calories and eat two or three meals spaced many hours apart, you run the risk of becoming hungry. This can be counter-productive when it comes to losing weight -- because if you get hungry, you might overeat at your next meal. The best way to prevent this is by noshing on multiple meals through the day. The idea is to eat something small and healthy to constantly keep your appetite under control. Think of this as eating snacks every two to three hours. As an added bonus, you will give your metabolism a lift and increase your energy. A bowl of vegetable soup is a simple, easy and healthy meal.
Aerobic Training
Exercise is as equally important to weight loss as good dietary habits. Aerobic, or cardiovascular, training is performed with little or no resistance in a repetitive motion. This type of exercise heats up the body, causing you to burn calories and lose weight. Any form of cardio that you do on a regular basis is effective -- this includes running, brisk walking, elliptical training, stair climbing, kickboxing or jumping rope. If you want to increase the calorie-burning effect, perform interval training. This is performed by alternating back and forth from high to low intensity. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of cardio and work out four or five days a week.
Strength Training
Strength training boosts your resting metabolic rate. This is because muscle is active tissue. Focus on doing exercises for your entire body like bench presses, upright rows, lat pulldowns, triceps dips, biceps curls and lunges. The more muscle you gain, the greater metabolic effect you will experience. Aim for two or three workouts a week and take short breaks between sets to keep your heart rate up.
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