The diet industry is a billion-dollar business in the United States. Watch a little TV, and you’ll know it’s true. Advertising for diet pills, surgeries, products, books, TV shows and lifestyle product pepper every single programming block. And actually, it’s in their best interest if you continue to fail at your diet. That’s why all those programs and plans are so complicated. Because the real truth is, the formula to losing weight is really very easy.
Safe Weight Loss
The first thing you need to know about losing weight is this: healthy weight loss happens slowly. If you lose 1 pound a week, you’re doing very well indeed. You want to lose weight slowly and steadily, because this gives time for your body (and your skin) to adjust. This gives you time to build up muscle and shed that fat in a healthy way. Very fast weight loss is unhealthy, and will leave you with lots of unattractive, sagging skin.
In order to lose weight slowly, or at all, you only need to do one thing: burn more calories than you consume. It’s a simple answer, and yet many find it almost impossible to put into practice, click here for more info.
Counting Calories
Most people have no idea how many calories they consume or burn in a day, and that’s why weight loss feels like a mystery. You may think you’re eating right and exercising enough, and yet you may be only just balancing your diet. This won’t result in weight loss, and will quickly lead to frustration instead. The only way to know for sure if you’re on track with your diet is to actually count calories.
It’s not as tedious as it sounds. There are countless apps and websites that make it very easy for you to track what you’re eating every single day. Fast food places, grocery store items, restaurant offerings and even homemade recipes are all included in the database. Look for different programs to try and start tracking your calories for a week while eating as you normally do. When you see how many calories you’re consuming, the answer to why you won’t lose weight may become clear.
If you are a woman, your body needs around 1200 calories per day to stay healthy. Eat fewer calories than this, and you could become anorexic. Your body burns around 1200 calories a day with little to no activity. So if you eat this much and you engage in even moderate exercise, you’ll be burning extra calories. That’s how you lose weight.
In order to cut calories from your diet, eliminate white breads and pastas. Stick to wheat, lay off the sugar and eat vegetables and lean protein with every single meal. Always eat three meals a day, and snack often. When you eat your metabolism comes to life, so if you snack often your metabolism will burn calories more frequently and function more efficiently.
Burning Up
It’s not enough to do just cardio or just muscle-building exercises. You must do both in order to maintain healthy weight loss and get your body in good-looking shape. Lift weights and perform calisthenics regularly. Get regular cardio activity every day as well. This is where you’ll burn the most calories, so don’t leave this out of the routine. Start with a short daily exercise routine, and continue to build on it as you lose weight and begin to tone up.