Weight Reduction Methods

Practicing a single weight reduction method may help you lose weight successfully. However, weight loss programs that combine multiple methods may be more likely to produce lifelong weight control. Individual weight loss methods reduce your weight by helping your body burn off excess fat. The ideal weight loss method for you depends on your physical ability, resources and health. Talk to your doctor to identify weight reduction methods that are safe for you.

Aerobics

Aerobic exercise is a weight reduction method that involves repetitive and rhythmic compound joint movements. Aerobic exercise includes activities such as swimming, jogging and cycling. These activities help you lose weight, because your body burns fat for energy during aerobic exercise. Your body derives a greater proportion of energy from stored fat after approximately 20 minutes of aerobic activity. The National Federation of Personal Trainers recommends aerobic exercise sessions that last 40 to 60 minutes, or longer, for weight reduction.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting is a weight reduction method that helps you burn more fat in between each workout. Weightlifting workouts can boost your metabolism for around 36 hours after each session, says exercise science expert Shannon Clark. Weightlifting helps you build lean muscle tissue, and more muscle increases the amount of fat that you burn during low-intensity activity throughout the day. Weightlifting workouts that exhaust your muscles within 20 to 25 repetitions may offer optimal weight reduction. Exhausting your muscles within this repetition range depletes muscle energy, and your muscles adapt by producing more fat-burning mitochondria.

Dieting

Controlling your diet is an important weight reduction method, because losing weight requires ingesting fewer calories than you expend with activity. You can lose 1 pound each week by ingesting 500 calories less than the amount required to maintain weight, which is determined by adding your basal metabolic rate to the number of calories that you burn with physical activity. Your BMR is the number of calories that your body burns at rest, which depends on your height and weight.

Surgery

Bariatric surgery is a weight reduction method for severely obese individuals who cannot lose weight with other methods or who suffer from serious health problems related to obesity. Undergoing bariatric surgery means committing to a lifetime of physical activity and controlled dieting. Bariatric surgery promotes weight reduction by restricting food intake and may interfere with the way your body absorbs nutrients. Bariatric surgical procedures available in the U.S. include gastric band, gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch and vertical sleeve gastrectomy.