Being overweight and obese can lead to serious health complications.
It has been linked to
- heart disease
- stroke
- diabetes
- certain cancers, such as those of the gallbladder, uterus, ovary, breast, colon, rectum, and prostate.
- osteoathritis
- sleep apnea
and many more dreadful health conditions.
By losing as little as 5 percent of body fat, an overweight/obese person can greatly improve health and reduce health risk.
Below are a couple tips to help you lose weight.
Free Weight Loss Tip 1 - Have a powerful reason to lose weight
Although weight loss is not rocket science, it takes work and persistence. Many people make a decision to lose weight without knowing why. They often say, “I need to lose weight. I’m going to lose weight…starting next week.” Next week comes around and nothing happens. Some actually do take action, but when the tough get going, they give up after a couple days or weeks.
To have successful, long term weight loss and weight management, you not only need a reason strong enough to get you started, you need a reason strong enough to keep you going when the enthusiasm is not there. In fact, have a couple good reasons.
Here’s one of my reasons: To stay healthy during those golden years of retirement. What’s the point of retiring when bad health will make me miserable, or even worst disabled.
Here’s another: To be around for my kids. Being overweight can cut a person’s life short. I certainly don’t want my kids growing up without a father. It’s not fair.
Your reasons may be different from mine. But whatever they are, find them, write them down on a piece of paper, and post them on the wall to remind you of what you’re working for.
Free Weight Loss Tip 2 - It takes time
Some people set ridiculous weight loss goals, like 5 pounds in a week. Goals like these are not only silly, they’re dangerous.
The rule of thumb for a healthy weight loss rate is 1 pound per week, and no more than 2. Any more than that can lead to some serious health complications related to malnutrition and over exertion.
Setting unrealistic goals can also destroy a person’s motivation. I’ve seen this happen to lots of people, mainly because they don’t understand the mechanics of it all.
They set unrealistic goals, and work hard at doing the wrong things (i.e. spot training the abs). When they see little or no results in the end, they give up all hope.
Remember, weight loss takes time. Don’t set yourself up for failure by trying to rush it.
Free Weight Loss Tip 3 - Shun fad diets
The dieting industry makes millions preying on people looking for quick ways to lose weight. While fad diets produce rapid initial weight loss, the results are usually short term and the weight lost soon returns.
This is accounted for by the many pitalls of fad diets, including:
- Not educating the dieter enough on sound principles of moderate calorie balanced nutrition combined with exercise. After the diet is over, the dieter doesn’t know what to do afterwards to keep the weight off.
- Being too low on calories, which can lead to more loss in lean muscle than fat.
- Over emphasizing or over restricting certain food groups (i.e. low carb, cabbage soup, and grapefruit diets). This can get very boring and monotonous, which encourages binge eating and therefore “ruining” the diet. It also can lead to serious nutrition deficiencies due to the neglection of other important food groups.
Real, long term weight loss can only come from following a healthy lifestyle, which includes the habits of balanced nutrition, moderation of calories, and exercise.
Free Weight Loss Tip 4 - Use more calories than you eat
Calorie counting is a time tested method of weight management. It goes like the following:
- You will gain weight if you eat more food than your body uses.
- You will lose weight if you eat less food than your body uses.
- You will stay at the same weight if you eat the same amount of food that your body uses.
Non active men burn about 2000 to 2200 calories per day. Non active women burn about 1600 to 1800 per day.
To lose weight, you have to eat less than these amounts. But be careful, setting your calorie intake too low can lead to serious complications related to malnutrition.
Preferably, cut about 250 calories from your diet, then burn another 250 calories with exercise. Doing this will result in a calorie cut of 500 per day and 3500 per week, the equivalent of losing 1 pound.
Free Weight Loss Tip 5 - Cardio train
Cardio exercise is great for losing weight. It not only accelerates your body’s calorie usage during the workout, it keeps it up for hours afterwards.
Do a 30 minute cardio workout 2 or 3 times per week.
Free Weight Loss Tip 6 - Strength train
Strength training builds muscle. The more muscular your body is, the more calories it can burn, even at rest.
In fact, your resting metabolism can burn an extra 50 calories for every pound of muscle you add on.
Strength train 2 or 3 times per week.
Free Weight Loss Tip 7 - Avoid excess fat in your diet
Fat is the most calorie dense nutrient, containing 9 calories per gram. Eating foods high in fat can make you add on the pounds fast. Belore are a few tips that will help you cut the fat from your diet.
- The recommended fat allowance is 30% of calories. To lose weight, aim for 25%. 25% of 2000 calories is 500 calories, or about 55 grams of fat. Read food labels because they usually tell you the percent of fat a certain food product contains.
- Exchange your whole dairy products for their low fat alternatives (i.e. low fat milk, cheese, yogurt)
- Instead of red meat, eat skinless chicken or turkey, fish, egg whites, beans, and tofu. Or, you can at least cut as much fat from your red meat before you cook it.
- Avoid fried foods. Cooking oils contain lots of fat per tablespoon. If you must fry, then use a teaspoon with a non stick pan.
- Use low fat condiments (i.e. low fat mayonaise, dressing, sour cream)
- Avoid fast food. These foods are packed with fat and can use up most, if not all your calorie allowance. If you must eat out, get the grilled, vegetarian, or white meat selections. Ask the restaurant for their nutrition information brochures.
- Avoid pastries. It may not look like it, but these baked goods are high in fat. If you must have them, ask the bakery if they have low fat alternatives.
Free Weight Loss Tip 8 - Avoid excess sugars in your diet
Although sugar is the body’s preferred source of energy, eating too much of it will cause the body to store the excess as fat.
Foods high in sugar include soft drinks, juices, candy, and pastries. Consider using artificial sweeteners, but check with your doctor to see if it is okay for you to use them. Some people have developed averse reactions to them.
Free Weight Loss Tip 9 - Stop eating at least 3 hours before you sleep.
Your bodily functions slow as you sleep, so it simply doesn’t need as much energy as it does while you are awake. Any excess food still in the digestive system will likely be stored as fat.
Free Weight Loss Tip 10 - Work on increasing your basal metabolism
Basal metabolism is your body’s ability to burn calories at rest. It is the underlying basis for weight management. Not everyone’s metabolism is the same. You may have a slow, average, or fast metabolism. Your calorie intake threshold to maintain, gain, or lose weight depends on how fast your metabolism is. There are many ways to increase metabolism, such as cardio and strength training. To learn more about increasing metabolism, use the links below.
Ark Agpalza has dedicated 10 years to the cause of healthy living, and is the author of the online publication Free Health and Fitness Tips.
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