How to Lose Weight

Video Transcript

"My name is Christine Marquette, and I'm a registered dietitian with the Austin Regional Clinic, and I'm going to talk to you about how to lose weight. Basic tips for weight loss include eating a well balanced diet, and including sufficient physical activity. By eating a balanced diet what I'm talking about is you want to make sure that on a daily basis you are including some fruits, some vegetables, some whole grains, and lean sources of protein. The other thing to keep in mind is the frequency of your meals. You really don't want to skip meals. What can happen, if somebody eats only once or twice a day they will really tend to eat very large portions in those two meals because they just get so hungry. So the best way to avoid overeating is to make sure that you are eating at least three small meals throughout the day. It would be even better if you could include a few snacks. Again, the smaller amount of food that you can eat at a time the more likely you are to actually be able to burn off all of that food. If you eat a very large portion your body is really not going to burn off all those calories. Whatever it doesn't use for immediate energy is actually going to go into storage, either in the form of fat or in the form of glycogen in your liver. And if you go a very long time without eating your liver's going to convert it back into glucose that will enter your bloodstream, or it will convert it into triglycerides that will also enter your bloodstream. Too much of either of those are a bad thing. High triglycerides can then clog your arteries. High blood sugar can eventually turn into diabetes. So again, you really want to focus on eating small frequent meals, making sure you're including plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. Also, don't forget about your healthy fats. You want to include things like canola oil, olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, seafood, and then the physical component is also necessary. You want to make sure you're getting out there moving around, doing some physical activities, really best if it's stuff that you enjoy doing. It doesn't have to be a formal exercise program, but you do want to be physically active on a daily basis, whether it's going out for a walk, or playing tennis, going out for some rounds of golf, swimming, cycling; anything that gets your body moving. You just need to be physically active. The human body was really meant to be in motion, and that's really the best way to make sure that you lose weight. Watch your diet, eat balanced meals, and include physical activity on a daily basis."