What's the Best Way to Lose Weight Quickly?

What's the Best Way to Lose Weight Quickly?
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No matter what kind of diet and exercise plan you end up choosing, the bottom line remains the same. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you burn each day. A successful diet meets your individual needs and suits your lifestyle, budget, food preferences and the kind of physical activity you enjoy. Double your efforts to lose weight quickly.

VLCD

A very low calorie diet, or VLCD, is ideal for people with a body mass index higher than 30, according to the Weight-control Information Network. A physician must monitor the diet because you can undergo serious side effects from losing weight too quickly. A VLCD relies on prescribed meal replacements in the form of liquid shakes and meal bars. Some doctors prefer to prescribe diets derived from lean protein that make up your 800-calorie limit for the day. You can lose 3 to 5 lbs. a week on the diet and up to 25 percent of your body weight in six months.

Eliminate Empty Calories

You may not realize how many extra empty calories you consume in a day until you start reading labels and counting calories. You can lose a significant amount of weight quickly by just eliminating sugary sodas and juice from your daily diet. Switch to water and calorie-free drinks, and you can quickly see the pounds drop. Skip snacks that don't provide any nutritional value as well. Cookies, ice cream, cake and candy add up each day to extra calories that pack on pounds.

Psyche Yourself Up

Too many diets are started in haste before you may be ready, which ultimately lead to failure. The best way to lose weight quickly is to psyche yourself up for the challenge. Make sure all your support systems, menus and commitments are in place, and you feel you can finally make permanent lifestyle changes that will lead to weight loss and the ability to keep the weight off. Resolve emotional issues that may cause you to overeat and learn everything you can about proper nutrition and your own body's needs. With the right kind of motivation, you'll quickly see the weight disappear.

Get Moving

Every physical activity uses up calories. Once you achieve a balance of burning more calories than you consume, you'll quickly drop the weight and feel better, too. Start slowly if you've been inactive for a while until you reach about five hours a week of moderately intense exercise a week to burn significant fat and lose weight. The physical activity quickly will snowball until you find that you have more energy to work out for longer periods of time. In addition to burning calories, exercise increases your metabolism by building lean muscle mass that continues to burn additional calories even when you're not moving.

References

Article reviewed by Helen Covington Last updated on: Feb 24, 2011

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