Overview
We have all tried to lose weight, and most of the time we are unsuccessful and resort to quick and dirty 'tricks' to reduce fat and lose weight fast. While it may 'work' we don't recommend any drastic techniques.
1-2 pounds a week is a Good goal
- There are no shortcuts
Diets like these do not help you acheive safe and healthy weight loss. They focus on pills and many other terrible methods like having a nutrient deficit at such a low number of calories that it will cause a yo-yo effect when you stop following the regimen. - Activity level
As you can imagine, your activity level and stressing your muscles to increase your muscle mass is the second and third most important elements to focus on (your diet being number one). There are so many gadgets and gizmos which help you monitor your activity. Have a look here.
Weight Loss Calculator
Steps to Healthy Weight Loss
- How much should I weigh?
Figuring out how much you should weigh is your first step. This is based on a average of your height and weight to create your BMI.
- Learn about nutrition
Nutrition is one of the most important aspects about losing weight naturally and doing it in a healthy way. There are many diets that suggest eating things like grapefruit all day or acai; while it is a 'healthy food' it's NOT something you want to eat in abundance. For many reasons. Think about getting yourself a healthy cookbook. You will also need to know how many calories you should eat per day. We have created a calculator just for that purpose. Please see below under Weight Loss Calculator. It will tell you how many calories you should be ingesting for your current age, sex, measurements and activity level.
- Pick a workout program from a recognized professional.
There are thousands of weight loss workouts out there, but the tried, tested and best workouts are ones that raise your heart rate throughout the workout. While hard to maintain it will help you achieve the best results. I am referring to a circuit workout routine. This circuit workout plan contains everything you'll need to get started with your healthy weight loss plan.
- Don't forget to MOVE!
Most people can go all day sitting in a chair and drive home without blinking an eye. But what most people dont realize is you NEED to increase your metabolism by exercise and diet. While the above mentioned workout is a great start, most people fail to lose the weight because you're not changing other lifestyle habits such as: Not walking to the store, not getting 30 mintues of moderate exercise daily etc.
- Record your progress
How do you know how you're doing without recording your progress? You should be writing down your sets, reps and weight throughout your workout AND your nutritional intake in a chart like this.
Spot Reduction
Myth: Targeting a muscle will make it lose fat. Ie. Doing crunches will help you lose abdominal fat.Explanation
Abdominal exercises such as sit ups and crunches strengthen abdominal muscles but do little to reduce fat from that area. Aerobic exercise like walking or bicycling will decrease fat from the tummy better than crunches. Most ab-gizmos advertised on TV come with a low-calorie eating plan that should be followed for maximal abdominal definition and weight loss.
Myth: Skinny people don't need to exercise.
False. Skinny people also must exercise. A receptionist brought this up recently when I was in the hospital having some routine tests done. She was very thin and was convinced only overweight people have to exercise. Being thin is not the same thing as being healthy. While it's true that obesity is associated with a number of diseases, the fact remains that skinny people get heart attacks too. This woman was so skinny in fact that I pointed out to her that she might be at risk for osteoporosis.