Weight Loss: Four Key Elements

When you consider the process of weight loss, it appears to be a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Eat less and exercise more to see the pounds slip away. It’s such a simple idea. In fact, if you accept the hype peddled by some diet books, magazines, and infomercials, it may appear that fast weight loss is just a diet or gadget away…if you can find the perfect one.

In that regard, some of those infomercials and publications are correct—rapid weight loss is possible. However, losing weight quickly does not always imply that it will be lasting. The typical diets or regimens appear to fall short of long-term weight loss. So, are you ready to learn the keys to weight reduction success?

Stories of Success

There are over 4,000 weight loss success stories available, all of which are part of the National Weight Control Registry, which constantly accumulates information about its members in order to figure out how people genuinely lose weight and keep it off. The NWCR is comprised of men and women who have maintained a 30-pound weight decrease for at least one year.

The first not-so-secret step to losing weight is for each individual to find his or her personal combination of dieting and exercise. A desire to experiment and keep experimenting until you find a style of eating and moving that works for you.

There is No One Correct Way

Despite the fact that there is no one diet or exercise program that works for everyone, there are some habits and behaviors that all of these successful losses have in common. What do your eating habits reveal about you?

Exercise is an important ingredient for our members’ weight loss. Men reported expending an average of 2,682 calories per week, while women reported burning approximately 2,526 calories per week. 2

This equates to around an hour of moderate-intensity activity every day, which corresponds to Level 5 on the Perceived Exertion Scale. Walking is the single most popular type of exercise, but many people also lift weights, ride bikes, and/or practice aerobics. This level of exercise is in fact greater than what is normally recommended for weight loss.

What we can take up from this is that, first, it takes more exercise than we might expect to maintain weight loss. But it doesn’t require you to have to totally revamp your life in order to make exercise a reality.

1. Workouts

Allowing yourself the freedom to experiment with a variety of activities, schedules, and intervals will help you find what works for you in the long term, not just a few days or weeks. It’s also beneficial to pick something you enjoy doing. Experiment with various activities. If you don’t appreciate it, you might try it for a day or two and then abandon it. To stay motivated, you need something fun and a little tough.

To allow you burn calories, build muscle, and keep your connective tissue supple, a basic workout plan should incorporate cardio, strength training, and flexibility exercises.

If you need assistance, you can always work with a personal trainer (you can also find them online).

Techniques and Hints

If you’re still wondering where to start, bear in mind that doing something is always preferable to doing nothing, so simply going for a stroll is a good start. Also, keep in mind that you can configure your software in any way you like. Among the things you can accomplish are:

Dividing your routine

You may still lose weight and improve your health if you spread out your workouts throughout the day.

Changing your level of intensity. Working harder often allows you to abbreviate your exercises, so having workouts of varied intensities might provide you more flexibility in your exercise plan.

Including additional activities. Structured exercise is vital, but general movement can also help you burn calories. This could simply mean moving around as much as possible. It is also known as NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis). This all adds up!

Please be patient. Permanent weight loss, like altering unhealthy behaviors, takes time. Allow yourself time to  implement these adjustments, and then give your body the time it requires to lose weight.

2. Eating Well

It makes total sense that the next step in achieving successful weight loss is diet. The majority of NWCR members consume a low-calorie, low-fat diet, with women consuming an average of 1,306 calories per day (24.3 percent of which came from fat) and males consuming approximately 1,685 calories per day (23.5 percent from fat).

It’s worth noting that around half of the members used a software, while the other half did it on their own. Regardless of the road they took, the members all ended up eating the same diet. Furthermore, roughly 80% of members reported having breakfast every day, which science has proven leads to a lower BMI than persons who skip breakfast.

Some of the methods people used to minimize calories included altering their food intake in some way, self-monitoring their food intake, and keeping a food diary.

Do Rapid Weight Loss Methods Really Work?

Diets don’t cut it for many of us, and some people discover that making minor modifications to how they eat every day leads to more success, even if the weight reduction is delayed.

Makeover Your Pantry: Begin by cleaning up your pantry and refrigerator. Having enticing meals around makes it difficult to stay healthy. Learn what to preserve and what to discard.

A Final Thought…

Avoid Diets and Achieve Real Change: Instead of drastically altering your eating habits overnight, employ healthy eating guidelines to make small improvements without dieting.

This concludes part one. Click HERE to jump straight into the conclusion of this series.