How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off

lose weight by following a program of diet, exercise, portion control, and committing to a lifestyle change.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. To lose weight and keep it off, you have to be ready to work hard, and change your lifestyle.
   Diet and exercise are going to have to become part of your daily life. When I say "diet", I mean knowing when and what to eat. Good nutrition is all about what you eat, and when.
   Exercising on a full stomach is not ideal. Food that remains in your stomach during exercise may cause nausea, stomach upset, and even cramping. That doesn't mean you shouldn't eat before you exercise. In fact, you need to eat before you workout to ensure you have enough energy to help you get a better workout session. Eating a small meal that is high in carbohydrates such as pasta, fruits, bread, energy bars or drinks about an hour before your workout will allow the food to digest enough, and help increase stored energy (glycogen) in your muscles.
   You should be eating a diet of 5-6 small meals a day. Lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Stay away from highly processed foods, sugar, and fats. Here is a site that will provide more detail on appropriate diet and nutrition. http://www.shapefit.com/nutrition.html

2. Exercise -
   If you are just starting a new exercise regiment, start off slowly, gradually increasing the amount of time and intensity of your workout. Ideally, you should be doing a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio intense exercise 5 days a week. Here is a link to a site that explains cardio workouts and has sample workouts you can try with caloric burn information. http://www.shapefit.com/cardio-exercises.html

3. Make sure your workouts include weight resistance training. You want to build and tone your muscles. Building your muscles will increase your daily caloric burn. This site provides a variety of weight training exercises to try. http://www.shapefit.com/training.html
   
   
   Make sure you do all moves properly and with the appropriate weight. You do not want to injure yourself.
   Vary your workout. This will help to keep it interesting and fun. Find an exercise that you enjoy.

4. Portion Control is also just as important as the diet. Learning the amount you should be eating is key to your diet success. These sites have more information about portion control as well as sample pictures of what a portion should look like. http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsmart/tp/aa030405a.htm, http://www.google.com/search?q=portion+control&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS241US242

Tips & Warnings

• Join a group, or create your own of other people that are trying to lose weight and get healthy. Have a "workout buddy". This will really help you stay on track and it helps to have the extra encouragement.
• You can also join a weight loss group.
• Plan your meals for the day and for the week. This will help to keep you from eating those last minute unhealthy fast food/processed meals.
• Do not grocery shop when you are hungry. Shopping while hungry increases your impulse buying.
• Keep healthy snacks handy.
• Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
• Do not get frustrated if you are not losing weight as fast as you think you should be. The ideal way to lose weight and keep it off is to lose anywhere from 1/2 lb to 2 lbs per week.
• If you seem to be holding steady at one weight, that is called a plateau, don't' worry. Try to vary your exercise routine and increase the intensity (interval training). http://www.intervaltraining.net/ or http://exercise.about.com/od/intervaltrainingworkouts/Interval_Training_Workouts.htm
• When you exercise, if you feel any discomfort or pain, stop what you are doing. You do not want to injure yourself.

Resources

• http://www.shapefit.com/
• http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/NU99999