Having excess weight can do a number of things to your body. Your joints can suffer more stress when you are walking, your risk for chronic diseases can go up and you can also suffer from social anxiety. A diet and exercise weight loss plan can be utilized to wipe all of that out in one fell swoop.
Motivation
When you start a diet and exercise plan, you should jot down some specific reasons why you are doing it in the first place. These should be key motivators that can keep you disciplined when your willpower is low and when you do not feel like exercising. Carry your motivators around wherever you go. Examples of motivators would be you want to be healthy for your children or grandchildren, you want to avoid a disease that your parent might have had or you want to fit into a certain size of clothing.
Foods
The diet component of the plan is just as important as the exercise. After all, if your diet is bad, any effort you put forth with exercise will be canceled out. You should eat foods that are low in saturated fat, sugar and sodium. Fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, tofu, nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans are all examples of nutrient dense, healthy food options.
Restriction
Weight is gained when you regularly eat more calories than you burn off. In order to lose weight, you need to do the complete opposite and create a caloric deficit. To lose a pound of weight, you need to burn 3500 calories. To lose a pound a week, you need to create a 500 calorie daily deficit. You can do this by burning 250 calories a day with exercise and reducing your daily intake by 250 calories.
Exercise
Exercise in your plan should involve weight training and aerobic training. Weight training can help build muscle which is metabolically active. This can cause your body to burn calories around the clock when you are not even active. To get the most benefit from weight training, you should do exercises that target your whole body and you should work out two to three times a week.
Aerobic training burns the most calories while you are doing it, so it too is important. You should do it for at least 30 minutes, four to five times a week. Jogging, Spinning®, elliptical training, rowing, fast-paced walking and swimming are all examples of aerobic exercises.
Considerations
To keep your metabolism revving and to prevent overeating with your meals, there are a few things you can do with your diet. Start your day with breakfast, eat small balanced meals every 2 to 3 hours, add hot spices to your food and drink ice cold water. You should also chew your food really slowly and do not eat within 2 hours of going to sleep.
Identification
Often times, when people start a diet and exercise weight loss plan, they fall off the wagon because it is too restrictive. To stay on track, reward yourself once a week with a favorite dessert or meal that you used to eat on a regular basis. This will always give you something to look forward too and you will not feel so deprived. Just make sure to be disciplined enough to eat your treat and walk away.
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