Looking to lose? Go slow…

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When the New Year started, the influx of people looking to lose weight becomes so massive that gyms became bombarded. Now, with the summer approaching, the pressure to look good and get thin increases. Although those quick fixes sound very tempting, the better solution might actually be to go slower. All of the diet programs promise that you will “lose 5 pounds in a week”, of course you will because you are changing your natural eating pattern and maybe even your activity level. Any change in your common lifestyle will bring about a dramatic change in weight. The problem with diets and why they “fail” is not because the program doesn’t work, it’s because once people stop seeing the dramatic drop in their weight every week, they get discouraged and give up. It’s even more difficult being a teenager and constantly seeing photos of photoshopped women who look toned and lean and are promoting a fast weight loss trick that works. But maybe the “quick fix” isn’t always the best or easiest option.

Let me make this clear that I am not a professional. However, I have lost a hundred pounds and am merely sharing with you what has worked best for me and many others. Once you have decided that you want to change your body, you need to establish a goal that you wish to achieve. You can look at a BMI chart but they don’t measure everything, meaning how active you are and what percentage of body fat compared to muscle you have, but is a good tool to give you an idea of what weight you would like to get to. Then I recommend that you look at your diet and see if you are eating proper portion sizes, too many or not enough calories for a person with your physique. Starting with your diet is key because if you have a poor diet then you will not get very far in achieving your goal. The real truth behind losing weight is to burn more calories than you consume; it’s easy to look up the recommended number of calories needed to keep your body functioning.

Then, then, after a little subtracting, you have your magic number that you should be eating everyday to lose. It’s been said for many years to eat more fruits and veggies, I will say it again because not only do they provide your body with the nutrients it needs but also keeps you fuller longer and helps when you cut back how many calories you are eating to lose. Now, you may be thinking that you don’t want to get into calorie counting and you don’t, you can choose to either eat less or just exercise more. The magic number is 500 either burned or not consumed. Why? Because if you take in or burn off an extra 500 calories a day for seven days a week then at the end of the day you will have burned one pound. Now, you can choose to do both and thus will produce a greater weight loss.

It is recommended to lose between one to two pounds a week because it is a simple and achievable goal to reach every week and it will help keep you on track. However you choose to lose weight, keep in mind that there is never a quick fix and by going slowly, you are more likely to keep the weight off in the long run. This is just to get you started and can look on websites such as www.livestrong.com or www.bodybuilding.com, both I highly recommend and trust.