If you want a quick and simple way to lose weight, do the following, eat less and exercise more.
How simple and straight forward can it be, Eat Less, and Exercise More. Of course it’s not easy and it doesn’t really give you the whole story, because you can’t just eat less, and it’s not really as ideal as just exercising more, though these things are at the heart of any weight loss program. It is a lifestyle change, if you are gaining weight now, and let’s face it most of us are, then you need to change something to stop adding the pounds and go the other way and lose some.
If you just stop eating you will lose weight and you will lose it quickly. To start with all you will lose is excess water; two thirds of our bodies are made of water and losing a couple of pounds of water is no problem for our bodies and would not make any difference to our health. Stopping eating for any length of time will not just be bad for our health, but would slow down the body’s metabolism, causing it to stop using so much energy and slow any weight loss down. The balance must be right, you must eat the appropriate amount of food, but it has to be the right sort of food. Eating fewer burgers will help you lose weight, but because burgers are so high in calories you will not see the sort of weight loss you would like, and besides eating red meat will cause other health problems.
To lose weight and to do it properly you must have the desire, you must truly believe inside that you are determined to lose the weight. Once you have that desire, you need to set yourself a goal. Make it achievable and believable for you, If you want to lose a stone of weight give yourself 8 weeks to do it. Decide a date and a weight. Write it down on paper every day. Write it as an affirmation, “Date….. I weight 10 stone” or “Date…. I feel very healthy with my weight of 10 stone” or “Date… I feel great weighing 10 stone”. All these affirmations are positive and are set in the future, but by writing them in this way on a daily basis you are telling, or convincing, your subconscious mind how good life is weighing your target weight. If you do this one thing, write down your goal, everyday you will not fail to lose weight. By writing this down you are committing yourself to make a change, making your subconscious mind believe that your weight is your target weight will make you do everything necessary to attain that weight. With doing this you have taken a big step towards developing yourself. You will find that you will succeed and you have used a formula that will enable you to do anything.
If your desire is strong enough you will do the right things for a week or possibly even longer, and if you break through that magical 3 week barrier you will really be on your way to success. As with any change you make if you can keep it going for 3 weeks you will notice that it becomes permanent, it becomes easier to keep up than to stop. This is what happens to winners, their desire keeps them going past the brick wall and beyond and this is what you must do too.
To help you along the way to eat the right food, keep a daily food diary. Take an A5 page and write the date at the top and your daily weight. I know the so called experts tell you not to weigh yourself everyday because your weight fluctuates, but I think it helps to keep your desire strong and gives you a sense of momentum. On your food diary you must record everything you eat that day, even if it’s the wrong food or too much of the right food, write it down. Because you know each time you eat something, you will have to write it down and be honest with yourself, you are much less likely to eat too much or the high calorie food you are trying to avoid. You could write out your goal at the start of the diary before the date, on the top of the page, this would help you focus on what you are trying to achieve every time you update your diary.
You have your goal and you are keeping a record of what you are eating, but what is it that you are eating? You must eat the right food, the healthy food, and we all know what that is. It’s the food that doesn’t taste as good as the bad food. You need to eat as much fruit and vegetables as you like, yes as much as you like, but also you need protein. Your body cannot function properly without the right amount of protein. You can get this from eating white meat or fish. If you avoid red meat and focus on white meat you will not only lose the weight but you will feel much healthier too and have more energy.
Most people turn their heads away from vegetables, saying they are too bland or boring with no real taste. That is because our minds are tuned to eating fatty foods, which our body tells us is needed to provide energy, but you can get the right amount of energy without eating the fatty foods. When you cut out the fat and eat vegetables you begin to enjoy the real taste and flavour that the vegetables have and you start to notice the different textures of these. It is important to not cook the vegetables too much or for too long, not only does cooking change the flavour and texture it can also remove some of the goodness you get from these foods.
As important as eating the right food in the right quantities is, you also need to increase your level of exercise, though this doesn’t mean you have to go out and start training for a marathon, but does mean you have to be a little more active. We all know what we can do to move more. Walking rather than taking the car, use the stairs rather than the lift, do a little more a vigorous housework. None of these things involve taking up a sport, but would make a big difference. If you decide to start your own exercise program, you don’t need to push yourself too hard. Start by just walking, walk whenever you can. Go for a walk in the evening instead of watching the soap you are addicted too, let’s face you will catch up in the next episode, you won’t miss much. Walk fast enough for your heart to beat slightly faster than normal, you don’t need to push yourself too hard. This will make a big impact coupled with your new eating regime.
| BMI = | Weight in pounds * 703 |
| Height in Inches2 |
| BMI | Weight |
| Below 18.5 | Under |
| 18.5 - 24.9 | Normal |
| 25 - 29.9 | Over |
| 30 & above | Obese |