All About Weight Loss

Five Easy Steps That Will Help You Lose Weight

There are countless ways to lose weight and you probably already know all that there is to know about them. But here they are, explicitly spelled out so you will never have any excuse any more. You might have tried everything from the best diet plan to the best laid out plans and maybe you have even starved yourself to lose weight. But every time the weight comes back and you have to give up those form fitting clothes and the leather jeans. Before you begin on this process, remember that it needs time. Your body has to be shaken out of its metabolic slumber and results will take time to show. Keeping that in mind read below to know the five easy steps to weight loss.

1. Never ever give up: The journey is going to be tough and it’s not your fault. Any body type and any fat percentage will take time to move along. All that weight has accumulated over the years and now is the time to shed it all. Don’t wait for your best friend’s wedding to start hitting the treadmill. Persistence and will power will get you there. And when you get there, there’s nothing like it.

2. Use diet plans and programs: You have tried plenty of them and somehow they don’t stick or rather you don’t stick. So simply manipulate it the way you like. For instance if the diet plan says eat oranges and apples for breakfast, and if you don’t like that idea, switch it to oats with skimmed milk and chucks of semi- ripe bananas thrown in. you will need to research so you font comparable substitutes. The end result should be that you should be feeling pleasantly full and not over- stuffed. And remember snacking is just not an option. If uncontrollable, munch on nuts!
   

3. Exercise regularly: Take your exercise religiously. That’s the amount of commitment that it requires to show some results. Let’s try a simple trick alright. Give yourself three weeks that is 21 days and don’t miss a single day at the gym. Even if you have to, just go for 15 minutes but don’t miss. Don’t stand on the scale for that duration and keep your diet normal. Stand on the scale and look at yourself after those 21 days. You will never need another reason to hit the gym again.

4. Water: Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Keep yourself hydrated before, during and after the exercise. Always remember that blood is the solvent that takes nutrients to different parts of our body and 70% of blood is water. You feel those hunger pangs now, drink a glass of water.

5. Don’t cheat: Be honest to yourself. No one’s going to check on you but you. It’s your body and your life. So don’t cheat.

With these in mind start your weight loss journey and make it a path to self- realization.  

All that you should know about weight loss

Weight loss and health gain are the buzz words these days. There is a lot of confusion about this too. Are weight loss and fat loss the same thing? If not how do you go about it? And suppose you have celiac disease or are gluten intolerant, then how does the weight loss thing pan out? Probably these are just a few of them and over a course of time you have become used to the way you look. Or maybe you just don’t have time enough to hit the gym or that extra push up or its battle of the wills and the flab and the flab is clearly winning. The secret here is that you are the key to the entire mess. The only reason that you don’t have the body that you want is because you are going about it the wrong way. Keep reading to have all these confusions cleared and make way for a fitter and healthier you.

Difference between losing weight and losing fat

Losing weight means losing a little bit of everything which includes fat, muscle, fluids and the like. Losing fat is just plain simple losing fat. You can lose fat by gaining muscle. Therefore all that cardio has to be supplemented by some resistance training or strength training. By just losing weight all you do is see a smaller number on the scale and your body sees only marginal results. Your body fat percentage should be 25%.

When you start working out, get these basics clear with your trainer. Create muscle confusion in your muscles. Follow the schedule below by making your own improvisations.

1. Do a six day a week routine and don’t exercise for more than one and a half hours a day.

2. Start your routine with 45 minutes to one hour of cardio. Switch between running, walking, swimming and Zumba. Zumba is fast catching up as a form of exercise. It combines dance moves with exercise steps and fast peppy music. It keeps you engaged, gets your heart beat fast and your blood pumping. Any form of dance is also good cardio. It gives you something to look forward to.

3. Then do 15 minutes of stretching to relax your muscles and strengthen them. Then do some weights for around 20 minutes. Some people allow prefer yoga as a way to stretch and relax their muscles. And do weights only with a trainer especially if you are a beginner. And don’t worry about bulking up. For one, if you are a girl, the hormone testosterone that helps the guy’s bulk up is in not as much quantity in you as in them. And a guy who would not like to bulk up is a rarity. It takes a lot of commitment and effort, sustained effort to bulk up. So relax and just do your workout.

And you need to give yourself time for the changes to show. Follow this routine for 21 days, and from the next day your body will give you reasons to hit the gym more often.

What can you do with your diet?

A low calorie and low fat diet is but obvious. But there is more than one way to go about this. You don’t have to eat boring boiled stuff. And you most definitely don’t have to worry about your next meal. Keep in mind that your diet should be balanced and have a portion of proteins, essential fats, and nutrients. Also take vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent any deficiencies, if ever. Keep reading to know how to plan your diet.

Breakfast: The trickiest meal of the day, you don’t have time, and are rushed for office. But don’t skip breakfast at all. Have a toasted slice of multi grain bread with scrambled egg whites and a glass or fresh orange juice. Follow with a cup of sugar free coffee and use a non- dairy creamer. If you don’t want bread, have oats with skimmed milk and use honey instead of sugar to sweeten. If possible try to stay off sweet stuff for a while. Indulge yourself with pancakes made of whole wheat flour, eggs, skimmed milk and honey. Couple them with margarine and follow up with fresh juice. Stay off packaged and processed food and you should be fine.

Lunch: pile up your plate with lots of veggies such as lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. Make home-made yoghurt based dressing for the salads. Leave out anything packaged and processed. Remove starch and carbohydrates in any form. Lean meat is the best bet if you are a non- vegetarian. White meats such as chicken, turkey and fish are good for lunch. If you are a vegetarian, eat some raw veg sandwiches or load up on salads. Whole grain pasta and noodles is a good idea. Have legumes, pulses and lots of leafy green vegetables. Include at least five servings of different fruits in your diet. Remove potato from your diet.

Dinner: You can follow almost a similar pattern as lunch, just keep it light. In fact go green over dinner. Incorporate salads and raw veggies in your diet. Try not to have alcohol or caffeine as it may disturb your sleep cycle. Desserts are a strict no- no during diets. Dairy options as long as they are low fat are good. This translates to no cheese and cream cheese and cheese spreads.

You can even enjoy the gluten free diet to enjoy the health benefits. They provide benefits like increased energy levels, promote digestive health and improve cholesterol levels.

Water has to serve as the mainstay of your diet. Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water a day. Keep your body hydrated before, during and after a workout. Losing water doesn’t mean losing weight. All this might feel a little overwhelming, but these are all your options. So pick and choose. It is alright to indulge yourself once in a while. So over the weekend treat yourself to an eggless and sugar free muffin or low-fat ice cream. And don’t forget to work out to counter the effort.  

How to lose weight smartly?

Losing weight and getting into shape has probably become a much followed passion these days. And second comes looking up the internet for some worth while advice. Most pamphlets, advertisements and vouchers may promise weight loss painlessly and effortlessly. But that’s a misconception or a gross representation of facts. If you take pills top lose weight, then the results will sustain only for as long as you are on the meds. The best way and the most vouched for way to lose weight that result in sustainable weight loss is regular exercise and a balanced diet.

Also keep in mind that if you lose weight rapidly and resort to some radical means to achieve it your body will have to face a lot many consequences. They can be weak bones, flagging energy levels, excess skin, dark circles, hair loss and brittle hair and nails and the like. These are just a few of them. So you need to lose weight the smart way. That means you lose weight at a regular pace and you sustain that weight loss without starving your body, mind and soul. Keep reading to know how.

1. To lose a pound of fat you have to create a deficit of 3,500 calories. Now exercising to reach that would be suicide. It will need planning and a combo of diet and exercise. Start by trying to lose one pound a week. You need to keep in mind that whatever you lose by exercising shouldn’t be made up with what you eat. You will start feeling hungrier as your body hits the gym. But that where the diet aspect comes in.

2. If your aim is to shed fat, then do cardio for at least 30 minutes a day for six days a week. Try to create some muscle confusion so your body doesn’t know what quite to expect. Follow up the cardio with 15 minutes on the cross trainer. Vary the cardio too. Switch between running, walking, swimming and skipping to keep yourself engaged. Different forms of cardio will demand different sorts of strength from your body. The first couple of days you might ache all over but that means that it’s having an effect on your body.

3. Finally focus on your diet. Try to do away with the fats and carbohydrates that you consume mindlessly. Consciously stay off rice, breads and any wheat items for at least a month. Incorporate more of lean protein such as roasted chicken, poached egg whites or scrambled eggs with lots of veggies. Fish is probably one of the best foods that you can eat during this time. Bake it or sauté it with veggies. Have fresh fruits and follow up all this with at least eight glasses of water everyday.

The last part is sticking to it. It’s easy to get bored and quite natural too. But you have to stay motivated and after the results start showing you don’t need any more motivation to keep at it.