A diet implies a short-term fix, whereas weight loss is something you would like to maintain for life. Arduously counting calories can be a chore and following a prescribed eating plan is not always practical. Adopting healthy strategies, ones with which you can live, will help you lose weight and improve your quality of life. Always consult your physician before embarking on any weight-loss effort.
Goals
Losing weight to improve appearance may be an initial motivation for weight loss, but better health lasts a lifetime. Losing just 5 to 10 percent of your weight can help improve your cholesterol and blood-pressure levels, reducing your risk of heart disease. Attaining a healthy weight can help to reduce your risks of dying early, developing Type 2 diabetes, asthma or cancer, or infertility.
Eating
To lose weight, you must make some changes to your eating. Healthy changes do not mean adopting a restrictive diet. Consuming too-large portion sizes is a major cause of weight gain, so consuming moderate portion sizes of the foods you already eat is one nondiet strategy. Serve a piece of meat just the size of a deck of cards and a portion of starch that would fit into a cupcake wrapper. Fill out your meals with low-calorie fruits and vegetables. Other healthy eating changes that can help induce weight loss include cutting back on sugar-sweetened beverages, switching to low-fat dairy, replacing one or two meat meals per week with a vegetarian meal and eating a balanced breakfast that includes whole grains, fruit and a lean protein.
Physical Activity
Adding physical activity can help to burn more calories and ramp up the weight loss. Eating fewer calories than you burn results in weight loss. While working out at the gym most days of the week can help you to burn calories, you do not have to make exercise formal. Take a walk in the morning, at lunch and after dinner, use the stairs instead of the elevator, or join a dance class or a sports league.
Considerations
A combination of increased activity and healthy eating changes is the best nondiet way to lose weight. A majority of the members of the National Weight Control Registry -- a group of more than 5,000 people who have successfully maintained an average weight loss of 66 lb. for more than 5 years -- combined exercise and eating strategies to succeed at weight loss. Instead of making a lot of changes all at once, consider adopting just one or two changes per week. Allow those habits to sink in before adding another, increasing your chances of sticking to your goals.
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