Secrets To Losing Weight Healthily

There is no real secret to losing weight effectively and safely. It's primarily a matter of watching your calories, eating healthy meals and exercising. Losing weight gradually, at the recommended rate of 2 lbs. per week, will give you time to form healthy habits, which will help keep the weight off for the long-term. Crash diets and extreme exercise regimens are not recommended and can actually damage your health; many people gain weight once they stop these extreme programs. Consult your doctor before beginning any weight-loss regimen.

Calories

Any weight loss program will stress the fact you need to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. It takes an excess expenditure of 3,500 calories to lose 1 lb. of fat. You can start the process by cutting 500 calories a day from your diet. Assuming you are burning the same amount of calories as you are consuming, this will create a 3,500 deficit in week, which means you can drop 1 lb. even before exercise is brought into the equation. For safety's sake, MedlinePlus.com recommends women not drop below 1,200 calories a day and men stay above 1,500 a day.

Cardio Exercise

Exercise not only burns calories, helping you lose that second pound a week, it also boosts your metabolism, lifts your mood and reduces stress.. The American Council on Exercise recommends doing some form of cardiovascular exercise five to six days a week for 45 minutes at a time to lose weight. The intensity level should be enough that it makes your heart rate increase and builds a sweat. Start slowly with less intense exercise, such as walking, for shorter periods of time if you are just starting to exercise.

Strength Training

Although it doesn't burn as many calories as cardio exercise, strength training can build and tone muscle, which burns more calories than fat and boosts the metabolism. Do some form of strength training, such as weight lifting, twice a week on non-consecutive days to start. Each major muscle group should be exercised; this includes the abdominals, chest, biceps, triceps, hamstrings and quadriceps. Do least one set of 8 to 12 repetitions for each muscle group, such as one set of bench presses for the chest or one set of situps for the abdominals. You may gain a slight amount of weight at first, but that will taper off after a couple of weeks.

Diet

Adding healthy food choices to your diet will help keep calories low and give you the proper nutrition you need to keep your body functioning well. Include lean meats, poultry, fish, nuts and eggs for valuable protein. Whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and low-fat dairy products are also recommended. Avoid high-calorie junk and snack food that is high in added salt and sugar, fats, trans-fats and cholesterol. Eat small portions at each meal, about the size of two fists. Space meals three to four hours apart to allow for proper digestion and keep your metabolism regulated.

Considerations

Consult your doctor before starting your weight-loss regimen. A doctor will check the status of your health to ensure it is safe for you to exercise and will possibly prescribe a special very-low-calorie diet if you are obese or need to jump start your program. Unless your doctor prescribes one, avoid a diet that is really low in calories. If you don't have enough calories, your body can go into starvation mode. This will slow your metabolism, burning less calories, and will make your body take needed calories from valuable lean-muscle instead of fat. Many people go on eating binges too, which will often negate any previous weight loss. Extreme exercise programs are no good either. Running for three hours a day, for example, will burn a lot of calories, but it can easily lead to burning out and quitting exercise altogether.