Being overweight threatens your health and puts you at risk for chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and liver disease. Taking charge of your health through weight control can reduce your risks and improve your quality of life. Being overweight has other consequences. A 2009 study by RTI International in North Carolina found that obesity cost the United States $147 billion in 2008. A 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified obesity as the second leading cause of preventable death. Your decision to lose weight can have profound health effects.
Step 1
Calculate your body mass index, or BMI. MayoClinic.com has a convenient BMI calculator that you can use.
Step 2
Set your weight goal. Ideally, your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9. You can use the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' BMI table at nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/bmi_tbl.htm to determine the range you want to target.
Step 3
Set a goal of losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week, recommends the Mayo Clinic.
Step 4
Start a food journal. You will use this to record everything you eat and drink to give you some baseline data for making positive changes in your diet. Eat normally and log your consumption for at least three days to identify trends. You can keep a diary or use an interactive website such as the USDA's My Pyramid Tracker at Mypyramidtracker.gov.
Step 5
Reduce or eliminate the three most problematic foods as identified by the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010" including saturated fats, products with added sugars, and processed, high-sodium foods. If these foods make up a good portion of your diet, you will see rapid weight loss from a simple dietary reduction.
Step 6
Increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are nutrient-dense, meaning they offer significant amounts of nutrients with minimal calories.
Step 7
Increase your activity level. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends at least 150 minutes of weekly exercise. For weight loss, you should aim for 300 minutes a week.
Step 8
Choose a form of exercise that you enjoy. Cardio workouts such as cycling and jogging offer higher calorie burns for quicker weight loss.
Step 9
Find ways to stay active, such as walking whenever possible, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and parking farther from store entrances to get in some extra steps.
Step 10
Weigh in daily. A 2005 study by the University of Minnesota found that participants were more successful at preventing weight gain after 24 months when they weighed themselves daily.
Step 11
Reward yourself when you reach your weight goal. Getting to a healthy BMI is a fantastic accomplishment. Make sure and acknowledge your willpower and determination with a fitting reward.
Tips and Warnings
- Stick with your weekly weight loss goal. You are more likely to be successful by incorporating lifestyle changes into your everyday life.
- Beware of fad diets promising dramatic weight loss in short periods of time. These diets can lead to dietary deficiencies. Don't deprive yourself when dieting. You are more likely to achieve long-term success by creating healthy eating habits with which you can live.
Things You'll Need
- Scale
- Food journal
References
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; "Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000"; A. Mokdad et al; March 2004
- "Health Affairs"; "Annual Medical Spending Attributable To Obesity: Payer- And Service-Specific Estimates"; E. Finkelstein et al; July 2009
- Mayo Clinic: Weight Loss -- 6 Strategies for Success
- USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: Foods and Food Components to Reduce Weight
- USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: Balancing Calories to Manage Weight
- "Annals of Behavioral Medicine"; "Self-weighing in weight gain prevention and weight loss trials"; J. Linde et al; December 2005
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