Step1
Eat Right: First let me preface this article with the obvious - I am NOT a medical professional or nutritionist. I am just another person trying to lose weight, and having some success at it, so I thought I'd share what I've been finding to be effective with others. As its always stated, please consult your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program, as what works for one person might not be healthy or safe for another.
So lets begin.
Losing weight basically comes down to a simple math equation - you need to take in fewer calories than your body uses during the day. I won't say its simple; its very hard to know exactly how many calories your body uses and difficult to know how many calories you are consuming. So the best place to start is with your food choices. A good rule of thumb is to stay away from the middle aisle sections of the supermarket and rather focus on the outer lying areas where all the fresh meat, produce and dairy are located. You hear lots of debate around low carb vs low fat diets, and the truth of the matter is that anything very restrictive or far down one end of the spectrum or the other is bound to cause you to regain any weight you may have lost in the long run. I feel that eating sensibly means eating healthy - 5 or so servings of fruit and veggies a day, low fat dairy, lean proteins and whole wheat grains should make up most of your choices. Staying away from white flour and refined or processed food is a good idea. Reading labels is important as well - lots of labels claim something is low fat or low calorie but its often times loaded up with other bad-for-you items to make up for it. Another important point is portion size. Scaling down the size of the meals we eat is just as important as what we eat. Finally, its recommended to eat 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day - this helps maintain blood sugar levels, keeps you satisfied throughout the day and helps prevent overeating at meals. It also helps with your metabolism which is extremely important when you're looking to lose weight. Which brings me to my next point....
Step2
Exercise: Dieting is very important when trying to lose weight, but dieting alone is definitely not as effective as dieting combined with exercise and may even cause some adverse effects like decreased metabolism and muscle loss, which is the opposite of what we're ultimately trying to accomplish.
To implement a fairly generous exercise regime, try to combine both cardio and strength training. 30-60 minutes of cardio 4-5x a week combined with strength training 2-3x a week is what I hear to be the most common recommendation. Ease into it if you're just starting out and do not get discouraged if it's hard to put in that much time at first. You'll get there. The important thing is to just get moving. Exercise burns calories and fat and builds muscle, and the goal is to take in fewer calories than your body needs during a given day. The amount you come under goes towards losing weight - 3500 calories equals about 1 pound of weight loss. So if your body uses or needs 3000 calories during the day and you eat 2500, you've 'banked' 500 calories that day towards your weight loss, in theory.
In addition, the more you exercise and build muscle, the more you boost your metabolism. This is important because not only do you burn calories while you work out, but your body also uses calories during the day and at night to regulate regular body processes like digestion and maintaining body temperature. The more you build up your metabolism, the more calories you can burn while at rest (or your resting metabolic rate). You can increase your metabolism by eating frequent, smaller meals throughout the day as previously suggested and building muscle.
Step3
Know your Number: So now you are making healthy food choices and starting to work out more. Now what? Doing both is perfect, but to fully understand your weight loss, its very helpful to figure out how many calories you've consumed.
To start counting calories, its important to know how many calories your body requires to function each day. Without it, you're just tallying numbers without knowing the affect that amount of calories has on your body. If you go to yahoo or google and type in "how many calories should i consume" or "caloric intake" you can find calculators that will tell you approximately how many calories your body uses during a day. This is your starting point. Then you start writing down everything you eat. And its very important to be honest - those little bites and tastes here and there add up!
To keep track of caloric intake, you can either simply use pen and paper to record each morsel that passes through your lips, or to really get sophisticated, you can use any number of online software programs. I personally use DietPower.com which is a program that you use to log what you eat along with your exercise for each day. It contains the calories found in tons of food and also allows you to enter the food off labels and recipes. It "learns" your metabolic rate as you go, so it adjusts how many calories you need to eat each day to bring you closer to your weight loss goal. It does the math for you! Using a food scale is very helpful when logging calories since fresh produce and meats will need to be weighed.
This simple practice of counting calories may sound anal or a lot of needless work, but it really brings many things into focus. It begins to show you how much you are eating, which can be half the battle of losing weight. Many people don't realize just how many calories they are taking in, which was my biggest realization. Even tracking what you eat for a few days can be helpful in adjusting your eating habits. Simply cutting 100-200 calories a day can slowly whittle away those stubborn pounds. There are many calorie counting tools out on the Internet, and I might argue they are essential if you want to really get serious about losing weight, at least initially. They take a little bit of time to get used to, but after a few days you will start cruising through logging your foods. It keeps you accountable, helps you see how many calories you've eaten and burned and helps you track your progress
Step4
Putting it into action: I find its easiest to put a plan into action at the beginning of the week. Eating healthy does require more time, as there is generally more prep time involved in eating healthy. Planning out your meals and workout times in advance helps you stay on track and allows you to make time for YOU!
There are many work out options available for you - you can simply take a walk at work during lunch, park farther away in the parking lot or take the stairs instead of the elevator. If you have the money, a great option is getting a gym membership. Workout classes are often offered at many gyms and these are highly motivating and very effective. Another option is ordering some work out videos to do at home. I've had great results with any of the Turbo Jam videos and I also like The Firm series. I find Pilates and Yoga are great ways to stretch and build muscle at the same time. You can also walk, jog, run or bike around your neighborhood.
As for your diet, packing a lunch for work is a great idea since many fast food places and restaurants have large portions and huge amounts of fat and calories in their dishes, even seemingly healthy ones. Another tip: always eat breakfast. Studies show people who eat breakfast tend to lose more weight and I just personally think its a great idea. Bring it to work if you can and don't have time in the morning to eat at home.
Keep in mind that even though you are trying to reduce your calories, you can also flatline your diet if you don't eat enough. You need to make sure you eat enough to fuel your body to get through the day and any workouts. Eating too few calories is not healthy and will cause your body to hang on to any fat it does have, and you will not lose any weight.
Finally, don't get discouraged if the pounds don't start moving right away. My husband and I saw a few pounds drop in the first week or two of our diet, but nothing substantial until the 2 month of our workout. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat so if you are working out as you lose weight, it may take awhile before the scale starts moving the way you want. It may be more motivating to notice other indicators of how your body is changing, such as how your pants are fitting or how you are no longer out of breath after doing certain activities. You will lose weight if you stick with it - you will improve your health and will generally feel better about yourself! Good luck!
Lose Weight
Novice 
Comments
only1special1 said
on 4/3/2008 Lots of good info!