Maintaining a healthy weight for your age, gender and height plays an important role in everything from your overall energy levels to the prevention of diseases like diabetes and cancer. Although it may be more difficult for some people to lose weight compared to others, in reality anyone can lose weight, the question is whether you need to. There are three components to successful weight loss: aerobic exercise, strength training and a healthy diet.
Aerobic Exercise
The first factor in losing weight is burning enough calories to create a calorie deficit in order to encourage the burning of stored fat. A calorie deficit is defined as when you burn more calories than you take in through your diet. One of the fastest ways to achieve a calorie deficit is through regular moderately intense aerobic exercise of at least 150 minutes a week per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. Increasing the intensity level or increasing total exercise time to 300 minutes a week can increase your overall weight-loss results.
Strength Training
Aerobic exercise should be combined with strength training, as the more muscle tissue your body contains, the more efficiently you can burn calories. Also, the more toned your muscles become, the easier it is to keep the weight off once you reach your weight-loss goal. Strength training can be performed in multiple ways ranging from free weights or weight machines to resistance exercises like pushups or water aerobics classes.
Diet
The final part of losing weight is your diet. Reducing your overall calorie intake makes it easier for your body to reach a calorie deficit. However, diet includes much more than just reducing calorie intake. Your meal plan should also feature foods that help with weight loss. For example, high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains help keep you feeling fuller for longer, helping reduce both hunger pains and your overall calorie intake. High-protein foods can also help stave off appetite, such as a handful of almonds as a snack between meals. Your diet should be varied and should include primarily vegetables and fruits, accompanied by legumes, low-fat dairy, lean proteins, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Unhealthy Weight Loss
There are some cases where it's not that you can't lose weight, but that you shouldn't lose weight. If your body mass index score, or BMI, is less than 18.5, than you are already considered underweight. A healthy BMI ranges between 18.5 and 25. Losing more weight while already underweight may result in problems like malnutrition and eating disorders and can negatively impact basic body processes like your immune system.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Activity Guidelines
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Calculate Your Body Mass Index
- Mayo Clinic: Aerobic Exercise: Top 10 Reasons to Get Physical
- American Academy of Family Physicians: Fiber: How to Increase the Amount in Your Diet
- Mayo Clinic: Strength Training: Get Stronger, Leaner, Healthier
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