17 Guaranteed Ways to Lose Weight 1. Just Get Started
Many times, you may hear conflicting information from differentsources about how you should go about accomplishing your goals;confused with information, you attempt to analyze the best routeof action...but then you realize that it conflicts with someoneelse's advice. You end up freezing like a deer stuck inheadlights. The best course of action is to just get started anddo something! Believe it or not, that is the hardest part anyway!
2. Set Goals
You won't get anywhere if you don't know where you're going.This is why it is important to set goals because they will helpto show you the correct path to take and will also add furthermotivation.
3. Focus on Body Fat, Not Body Weight
Obviously, this article is entitled "17 Surefire Strategies toLose Weight," but this isn't what you really want to focus on.An increase in muscle mass and fluctuating water weight canprovide you with skewed results. The solution is to measure yourprogress by several measures of circumference of your differentbody parts or just buy some calipers.
4. Create a Caloric Deficit
Each person burns a certain (changing) numbers of calories perday; this is known as TDEE. In order to cut down on your bodyfat, you must create a caloric deficit. To do this, simply eat alower amount of calories than your TDEE. However, you must notreduce your calories by too much, otherwise you will slow downyour metabolism; it is best to reduce your calorie consumptionby about 750 calories or 20% of your TDEE.
5. Keep Track of Your Caloric Intake
Creating a caloric deficit requires a bit of planning. You needto know how many calories are in the foods you eat, and thentally them up to get a total. Doing this may seem like a hassle,but as you become better at this skill and memorize certainfoods you can get a better "guess" of how many calories you haveconsumed.
6. Higher Satiety, Lower Calories
A stomach full of Jello and a stomach full of peanut butter feelthe same, but they are worth much different amounts in the worldof calories. One strategy that you can use to create a caloricdeficit is to eat foods that are more filling, but contain alower amount of calories.
7. Drink Water
In addition to the numerous amount of health benefits that waterprovides, you can also use it as a drink that provides nocalories, but fills you up. Got a craving for that candy bar?Drink some water.
8. Cut Back on Soft Drinks
Although drinks like water can make you feel full and provide nocalories, they have a low satiety rate because they are easy todigest. A low satiety rate combined with several calories makessoft drinks a hazard to the dieter. Even though many diet softdrinks now contain a low number of calories, the sweeteners canspike insulin levels and also (opinions differ on this) maycontain to some health related side effects.
9. Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol has a low satiety rate, a relatively high caloric rate(alcohol contains 7 calories per gram), and can also cause youto become thirstier or hungrier...ever wonder why the barsalways have snacks likes peanuts?
10. Avoid Fad Diets
Fad diets many times stress a specific part of nutrition withoutbothering to go over fundamentals like caloric deficits. Inaddition, most of these diets cause a person to go far below thesafety zone in regards to the degree of caloric deficit.
Thiscauses the body to think it is starving; therefore, it lowersits TDEE. The cycle then repeats and the person becomes a yo-yodieter.
11. Eat Complex Carbohydrates
Eating complex carbohydrates or carbohydrates with a lowglycemic index will help to keep your blood sugar levels stable.When blood sugar levels are not stable, the body begins to storefat. However, eating the type of carbohydrates comes second tocreating a caloric deficit.
12. Eat Healthy Fats
Not all fats are bad and, even, necessarily fattening. Youshould strive to avoid fats such as the trans fats or saturatedfats. However, fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturatedfats provide numerous health benefits, can help regulatecholesterol, and can even help to further build muscle sincethey are needed in the synthesis of hormones. However, even withthe healthy fats, one should watch the consumption of thisnutrient because it does have a high amount of calories (9calories per gram of fat).
13. Don't Buy Junk Food
One easy way to avoid eating unhealthy, caloric dense snacksthat would otherwise put you over your set number of caloriesfor a health calorie deficit is to simply not buy them -therefore it takes away the convenience you have at your houseof eating these foods.
14. Have a "Cheat Day" Every Once in a While
Having a cheat day every now and then (about once a week orless) can help to remind you of the habits you are trying tobreak and it can also give you a needed break from your regime(not all health foods taste bad though). Cheat days are usuallyon a person by person basis; not everyone does them. It is yourdecision as to whether or not you need one.
15. Eat More Frequently
An easy way to boost your metabolism and help to keep more ofyour muscle is to eat more frequently. It is usually recommendedto eat roughly 6-8 meals per day instead of the usual three.
16. Aerobic Workouts
One way to create a caloric deficit is to reduce the amount offood you eat. The other way is to increase your TDEE; you dothis by working out or eating more frequently as stated above.Creating the caloric deficit only through eating initiates aprimitive response in the body to think that it is starving;therefore, it is best to create half of your caloric deficitthrough working out and the other half through a reduction incalorie consumption. The most basic and used form of this is theaerobic workout.
17. Lift Weights
In addition to aerobic workouts, one can lift weights to raisethe TDEE. The actual process of lifting weights burns extracalories as does the muscle that it builds. Also, muscle willgive a healthier, more attractive, and more toned look comparedto aerobic training alone. It is best to use both aerobictraining and weight lifting in your workout regime.
That's 17 of em'. Remember that following just one of thesemethods will not produce results. You must either follow all orvery close to all of them to get the results that you(hopefully) are looking for. A big thing always results frommany little things added together. You can find more informationand get a free weight loss course athttp://www.weight-loss-resources.com.
About the author:
Johnny Lavot is an avid weight-loss and fitness researcher. Youcan find tons more information on these topics at
http://www.weight-loss-resources.com.
