Weight loss pills and surgeries are marketed as short cuts to losing weight, but these methods can be unhealthy and the results are often short-term. There is no magic pill or procedure to help you achieve your weight loss goals. Weight loss requires burning more calories than you consume daily to create a deficit. Losing a significant amount of weight takes a specialized strategy to help you shed pounds in a healthy manner. Combining healthy eating with cardiovascular exercise and strength training can help you lose 100 lbs. while promoting long-term health.
Step 1
Set reasonable short-term and long-term goals. Aim to lose 1 to 2 lbs. per week for healthy weight loss. Set your short-term goal to lose 6 to 8 lbs. per month. Make your long-term goals to lose 50 lbs. over six months and 100 lbs. in one year.
Step 2
Write down your goals on a note card and place it someplace you can see it daily for motivation.
Step 3
Track your daily calorie intake using a food journal. Decrease your calorie consumption by 500 to 750 calories per day to help create a calorie deficit, encouraging weight loss.
Step 4
Follow a diet with a variety of all-natural foods to help you cut back on calories; natural foods take longer to digest so you feel fuller longer with fewer calories. Consume foods such as whole-grain breads and pastas, salmon, whitefish, tuna, eggs, skinless chicken breasts, ground turkey, lean steak, low-fat dairy, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts.
Step 5
Eat a small meal every three hours instead of three large meals per day to help prevent you from making poor food choices due to hunger. Have a serving of protein and complex carbohydrates at each meal such as 4 oz. of grilled salmon, 1 cup of spinach and ½ cup of whole-grain pasta with 1 tbsp. of olive oil.
Step 6
Engage in 30 to 40 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five days per week to burn stored body fat. Perform low-impact forms of cardio to protect your joints: walking on a treadmill, riding a stationary bike or striding on an elliptical machine.
Step 7
Participate in strength training workouts three days per week to build muscle and increase metabolism so you burn more calories per day. Perform exercises to activate each major muscle group: dumbbell chest press, triceps overhead press, squats, shoulder press, bicep curls, bent-over rows and crunches. Execute each exercise for three sets of 15 repetitions. Work with moderate resistance; it should be a challenge to complete 15 repetitions.
Step 8
Weigh yourself weekly to track your progress. Step onto the scale upon rising for your true weight; your body is holding less excess water weight in the morning. Record your weight each week to compare your results from week to week.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Weight Loss Basics; March 2011
- "Sports Nutrition Manual"; National Federation of Professional Trainers; 2006
- Bodybuilding.com: Compound Exercise: Diana Rini
- "Personal Fitness Trainer Manual: Fundamentals"; National Federation of Professional Trainers; 2008
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