Since the time of Hippocratesmore than 2500 years ago, obesity or being overweight has been a concern for many people around the world. One of the biggest problems with obesity are the detrimental health concerns. The most effective way to evaluate if a person is overweight is to evaluate their BMI (Body Mass Index). BMI is essential measured by taking a person’s weight in kilograms and dividing by height in meters squared. A person who has a BMI between the range of 25 -29 kg/m2 is defined as overweight, and a person with a BMI of 30kg/m2 is defined as obese.
People who fall into this range should be concerned about their health as excessive weight can be harmful for their health overall. According to various clinical studies, obesity has been associated with an increased risk to diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthitis, and certain cancers. Therefore, aside from aesthetic enhancements, there are definite benefits to weight reduction and maintainance.
To start evaluating your weight loss regimen you must define short term goals for yourself. One thing that is very important to focus on yourself. Losing weight will help improve your health, vitality, and self esteem. The key component to weight loss is a two fold process a person needs to decrease their energy intake and/or increase energy usage. You should refrain from drastically reducing your calorie intake as this can create harmful health problems such as malnutrition. The two ways you can reduce weight is by altering your eating habits and be increasing your activity.
Weight reduction usually will not happen overnight. Please do not be fooled by thousands of companies that promote quick weight loss products. These tangible products are targeted to people that want to loss weight the easy way. The only easy thing about losing weight is to pace yourself to slowly reduce the extra pounds. You have to think about the long term changes you will see with your day to day actions. Popping a couple pills and maintain the same lifestyle does you no good. Here are my recommendations of thoughts to maintain when getting through this process.
- There are no shortcuts to losing weight – discipline is the one fundamental thing you need to have.
- Losing weight overnight is quite harmful for your body and is quite unhealthy.
- Analyze your bone structure and body; you have to be aware that there is no “ideal body”; Realize that based on your body morphology you can achieve the best shape your body allows.
- Work with your mind and body; not against it (negativity will prevent you from feeling satisfied by your mini goals)
- Be positive even on the tough days (we all go through it)
You know the strongest factor of losing weight is consistency. Consistency is pretty key to achieving anything in life, whether it be buying a new home, car, etc. Also, you have to know and understand what you motivation is. Always keep yourself motivated by telling yourself why you are doing it. Long term goals are key because they make you realize the losing weight and keeping it off is a lifestyle choice. Your change in lifestyle is going to be very important for the longevity of your weight loss journey.
Many people should realize that losing weight is a personal choice. One should loss weight for their health and vitality. It does not matter if other people feel you look attractive if you can’t see that yourself. You should be central focus in your endeavor. Otherwise, you will always feel self conscious based on the opinion of others. During the time period you may feel vulnerable so please keep that in mind.
Path to Losing Weight the Right Way
Nutrition
- Drink approximately 2 -3 cups of waters when first waking up; this regiment helps to jump start the metabolic activity of the body; Also, it will help provide your body with more energy
- 8 – 10 cups of water daily is recommended to soften up stool; Also, it helps your body eliminate stagnant toxins
- Eat good carbohydrates(whole grain products) before 5pm; You try to minimize your carb intake after 5pm since your body’s activity level will be reduced. You want your body to use carbs and fats as its energy sources; When you limit your carb intake, commonly discussed in the Atkin’s diet, your body starts to utilizes fats as more energy. You do need carbs to for various functions found in the body, so minimal intake is recommended.
- Eat a variety of vegetables (in substitution for bread); Most vegetables contains good carbs, as well as various vitamins. Also, vegetables such as cucumbers and carrots contain quality fiber content. Fiber is an excellent bulking agent and helps eliminate excess waste quickly. The sooner you get toxins and waste out the better for your body.
- Spread your meals out through the day. Try to eat 5 smaller meals that contain high levels of proteins. The reason is that you want to want a stable metabolic activity so your body is constantly burn the energy consumed. If you eat bigger meals that saturate your body with energy. Your body will most likely store this excessive energy, which will be converted to adipose tissue (fat). Bottom line, if you don’t use it you store it!
- Supplement your body with a quality multivitamin to ensure that you are receiving your optimal amount of nutrients.
- Drink a few cups of water in between meals. Water helps to make the stomach to feel full quickly.
- Count the number chews per bite; Only kidding!
- When eating outside look to consume food that are lower in calories. Low calories does not always mean bad taste. There are plenty of foods that are nutritious and full of flavor. Many people opt to eat foods such as salad. You can always find nutritious food, just a matter of looking.
- Lastly, Rule of Thumb what you don’t burn you store; You should always keep that in mind when you think about your food selection or snacks you enjoy. You don’t have to calorie count but be aware of how rich the food is.
Altering nutrition, a form of decreasing energy intake, is only one key component about jump starting your weight loss. I would highly recommend joining a gym or athletic center. As stated earlier, you need to increase your energy expenditure. Increase activity causes all parts of the body, such as skeletal muscles and organs, to use more energy to function at the optimal level. This cause the body to use fat reserves as an energy source helping to reduce body fat. This process of burn fat takes time and consistency.
Exercise
Here are a couple tips to consider when exercising:
- Do cardio for approximately 30 mins (if possible try to increase to 45 mins); Running, jogging, biking are great forms of cardio exercise. Please be sure to stretch your muscles prior to doing any exercise; It is highly recommended when losing to do light cardio 5 times a week. When starting off you can go 3 times a week to build up stamina
- Lift weights helps promote muscle development, which will affect fat reduction. Also, it improves your metabolism. I would highly recommend work out on weights about 3 -4 times a week. If you would like to see some great exercises, please click here. To get the most out of your workout, isolate specific muscles. Such as, on Monday working out biceps and back.
- Stay well hydrate throughout your workout to help your body sweat out excess toxins and energize youself.
Well, I feel those are fundamental pointers will help those interested in losing weight and keeping it off. You should try to avoid products that promote quick weight loss. Dedication is a strong factor that will help you maintain lower weight. Also, always keep in mind why you want to loss weight and how it makes you feel internally. I think sometimes we focus too much on what people think about our own appearance. Keep the weight off for yourself for good!
Source: Doc1Vitamins.com