The fourth and final stage of our weight loss program is maintenance. Once you are at this stage, you can give yourself a big pat on the back, as you have achieved your ideal weight. All that is required at this stage is to keep working out at a rate to maintain your physical fitness, and maintain a healthy, well balanced diet, to ensure that you give your body the best chance possible at fighting disease and infection, while at the same time repairing muscle tissue and maintain healthy joints and bones.
Ideally your BMI is in the 18.5-24.9 range (assuming that your are not very muscular). You should look and feel better than you have ever felt before. You should be active, alert, and enjoy active pastimes, playing with your children are participating in local sports or fitness activities. Always remember what a fantastic achievement it is to get to your ideal healthy weight.
Healthy Weight Maintenance Rule 1: Stick to your healthy eating plan. Keep fat and sugar intake low, stay away from junk foods and convenience food. Learn to enjoy treats moderately (once a week is a treat, once a day in an addiction!). Ensure that your meals keep you satisfied, and that you do not feel hungry. Always start the day with a healthy breakfast.
Healthy Weight Maintenance Rule 2: Keep active. Maintaining your fitness levels is the minimum requirement. ideally you should aim to improve on your fitness. Enjoying your fitness activities is a must. Whether you are running, hillwalking, climbing, playing football, learning a martial art or becoming the next body building champion, make sure that you are enjoying yourself while your exercise.
Healthy Weight Maintenance Rule 2: Do Not Punish Yourself. Remember that everyone has bad days, everyone has set backs. You may fall ill, get injured, or have a life changing event which stops your exercise for a while. If this happens try to pick yourself up to fight again. This is your health, your life. You have only one life so do your best, and never give up. Be proud of yourself, you are wonderful!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
stages to weight loss 3 (intensive diet and exercise)
Workout anywhere, even the beachStage 3 of our weight loss plan involves intensifying both exercise and diet. By exercise, we simply mean that it is time to up the work rate a little. The basic rule of any exercise session is that at the end you should be sweaty, and at times during the exercise you should be out of breath. If you are neither losing your breath nor sweating, then you are not working hard enough.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 1: Be Independent of Other People
Being independent is also essential for a weight loss program. It is important to be independent from other people, independent from fitness equipment and gimmicks, and independent from diet rules. Although having a gym partner can help motivate you, they can also hold you back. If your gym partner is not in the mood for the gym, this does not mean that you can have a night off too. This leads to the slippery slope of failure! Ensure that you are happy running alone, going to the gym alone, or going to you local aerobics / martial arts club alone. If you do not rely on others, they cannot let you down!
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 2: Be Independent of Fitness Equipment
People often complain that they go to their local gym, and it is so busy that they could not get to use the equipment that they wanted, when they wanted, so skipped a workout. It is important to remember that gyms can get very busy, especially just after Christmas and the New Year, so you may not be able to use the machines that you want. At times like this, it is vital to have a back up plan. This is wear bodyweight exercises come into their own.
Although bodyweight exercises and circuit training is a great option for those that cannot afford a gym, and have no equipment at home, there is no reason why you cannot do bodyweight exercises in the gym. There are no rules that say push ups, sit-ups, star jumps, squats and burpies are only allowed in the aerobics class. If you go to the gym and the machines are all busy, then find some space and do some circuit training exercises. Go through a few circuits of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, star jumps and burpies, then stretch, and you will have already done a good workout, while others are waiting.
If you are not a member of a gym, and have no classes in your area, then home workouts are going to be your main fitness activity. So learn a few different routines, design a few for yourself, and stick to the plans. Keep a training diary and never skip a training session.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 3: Intensive Workouts
Remember – always exercise intense enough to become both sweaty and out of breath during exercise. High intensity interval training is the key to weight loss. Building more quality intensive routines into your week is far more important than training twice a day and running yourself into the ground. Government guidelines say that to maintain a healthy weight we should exercise 5 times per week, to the point that our heart rate is raised significantly. However, three good quality sessions will also do this well. Building more weight bearing exercise (resistance training) into your weekly schedule is a must. Whether it be bodyweight exercises or using resistance machines / free weights, you should aim to do some weight training each week.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 4: Eat A Well Balanced Diet
For diet, intensity is all about getting the most out of every meal. Each meal should be well balanced to ensure that you receive adequate proteins, fats and carbs, and also a good range of nutrients and vitamins is essential. Eating bland meals, with high calorific value but low on nutrients, will make it harder to lose weight. Maintaining a good diet is essential to ensure that you rebuild and repair muscle after exercise, and to ensure that your cardiovascular system is in good working order.
Intense exercise with poor diet can lead to over training, and a weakened immune system. Generally healthy food is good enough to refuel and rebuild your body. Taking supplements is recommended when you are working out very intensively, either just a multivitamin, or if you are doing a lot of weight training, then a protein supplement also.
Always ensure that you fuel your body an hour before an intensive exercise session, with a healthy balanced meal of carbs and proteins. Then within half an hour of finishing your workout, eat again, this time with a higher protein meal / drink. Research has shown that taking a protein drink within 30 minutes of exercise increases muscle growth and rate of repair. If you leave it much longer, you will not gain the same benefits, and risk just storing the energy as fat.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 5: Eat More Superfoods
Certain food groups are better equipped to help you build a stronger body than others. These foods contain higher than average amounts of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and often some specific foods have properties that are unique to them in their way of boosting our immune systems and generally improving diet.
Berries: Dark berries are best, such as blue berries, strawberries and boysenberries. These berries contain huge quantities of antioxidants that help to protect the body from the damaging effects of free radicals.
Salmon: Salmon is a fantastic fish. It is a good source of protein, contains vitamins A and D, plus important minerals such as selenium and zinc. Salmon is also an oily fish, meaning that it is high in omega-fats, which are essential for keeping a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. They are also good for brain function.
Leafy green vegetables: Possibly the most underated superfood, and often ignored by westerners. Vegetables such as broccoli (recently reported to reduce diabetes damage and strengthen lungs) and spinach are packed with vitamins, and are also a great source of fibre.
Oranges: Oranges are not only a good source of vitamin C, but also contain a soluble fibre called pectin which helps to lower cholesteral levels.
Pineapples: Pineapples are also packed with vitamin C, which supports a healthy immune system, and also provide a good source of potassium which helps to maintain healthy cell, nerve and muscle function.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 6: Reduce Stress and Compliment Yourself
Learning to deal with your emotions, and improving your self esteem, can actually help you to lose weight. Being stressed or angry causes a chemical response in the body, whereby the stress hormone cortisol is released. Cortisol has been shown to contribute to weight gain. Also, low self esteem often results in people giving up too early, or even convincing themselves that they have not succeeded, when in fact they have. Learn to love yourself as you are, to better improve yourself!
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 7: Focus on Your Achievements
By focusing on achievements rather than failures, you will stay focussed. Changing your mindset is not easy, but it is possible. It is part of becoming a stronger person, both mentally and physically. Everyone has bad days, but in life so long as the good days outweigh the bad days, then improvements can be made. Stay focussed, keep working hard, and be proud of yourself.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 1: Be Independent of Other People
Being independent is also essential for a weight loss program. It is important to be independent from other people, independent from fitness equipment and gimmicks, and independent from diet rules. Although having a gym partner can help motivate you, they can also hold you back. If your gym partner is not in the mood for the gym, this does not mean that you can have a night off too. This leads to the slippery slope of failure! Ensure that you are happy running alone, going to the gym alone, or going to you local aerobics / martial arts club alone. If you do not rely on others, they cannot let you down!
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 2: Be Independent of Fitness Equipment
People often complain that they go to their local gym, and it is so busy that they could not get to use the equipment that they wanted, when they wanted, so skipped a workout. It is important to remember that gyms can get very busy, especially just after Christmas and the New Year, so you may not be able to use the machines that you want. At times like this, it is vital to have a back up plan. This is wear bodyweight exercises come into their own.
Although bodyweight exercises and circuit training is a great option for those that cannot afford a gym, and have no equipment at home, there is no reason why you cannot do bodyweight exercises in the gym. There are no rules that say push ups, sit-ups, star jumps, squats and burpies are only allowed in the aerobics class. If you go to the gym and the machines are all busy, then find some space and do some circuit training exercises. Go through a few circuits of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, star jumps and burpies, then stretch, and you will have already done a good workout, while others are waiting.
If you are not a member of a gym, and have no classes in your area, then home workouts are going to be your main fitness activity. So learn a few different routines, design a few for yourself, and stick to the plans. Keep a training diary and never skip a training session.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 3: Intensive Workouts
Remember – always exercise intense enough to become both sweaty and out of breath during exercise. High intensity interval training is the key to weight loss. Building more quality intensive routines into your week is far more important than training twice a day and running yourself into the ground. Government guidelines say that to maintain a healthy weight we should exercise 5 times per week, to the point that our heart rate is raised significantly. However, three good quality sessions will also do this well. Building more weight bearing exercise (resistance training) into your weekly schedule is a must. Whether it be bodyweight exercises or using resistance machines / free weights, you should aim to do some weight training each week.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 4: Eat A Well Balanced Diet
For diet, intensity is all about getting the most out of every meal. Each meal should be well balanced to ensure that you receive adequate proteins, fats and carbs, and also a good range of nutrients and vitamins is essential. Eating bland meals, with high calorific value but low on nutrients, will make it harder to lose weight. Maintaining a good diet is essential to ensure that you rebuild and repair muscle after exercise, and to ensure that your cardiovascular system is in good working order.
Intense exercise with poor diet can lead to over training, and a weakened immune system. Generally healthy food is good enough to refuel and rebuild your body. Taking supplements is recommended when you are working out very intensively, either just a multivitamin, or if you are doing a lot of weight training, then a protein supplement also.
Always ensure that you fuel your body an hour before an intensive exercise session, with a healthy balanced meal of carbs and proteins. Then within half an hour of finishing your workout, eat again, this time with a higher protein meal / drink. Research has shown that taking a protein drink within 30 minutes of exercise increases muscle growth and rate of repair. If you leave it much longer, you will not gain the same benefits, and risk just storing the energy as fat.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 5: Eat More Superfoods
Certain food groups are better equipped to help you build a stronger body than others. These foods contain higher than average amounts of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and often some specific foods have properties that are unique to them in their way of boosting our immune systems and generally improving diet.
Berries: Dark berries are best, such as blue berries, strawberries and boysenberries. These berries contain huge quantities of antioxidants that help to protect the body from the damaging effects of free radicals.
Salmon: Salmon is a fantastic fish. It is a good source of protein, contains vitamins A and D, plus important minerals such as selenium and zinc. Salmon is also an oily fish, meaning that it is high in omega-fats, which are essential for keeping a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. They are also good for brain function.
Leafy green vegetables: Possibly the most underated superfood, and often ignored by westerners. Vegetables such as broccoli (recently reported to reduce diabetes damage and strengthen lungs) and spinach are packed with vitamins, and are also a great source of fibre.
Oranges: Oranges are not only a good source of vitamin C, but also contain a soluble fibre called pectin which helps to lower cholesteral levels.
Pineapples: Pineapples are also packed with vitamin C, which supports a healthy immune system, and also provide a good source of potassium which helps to maintain healthy cell, nerve and muscle function.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 6: Reduce Stress and Compliment Yourself
Learning to deal with your emotions, and improving your self esteem, can actually help you to lose weight. Being stressed or angry causes a chemical response in the body, whereby the stress hormone cortisol is released. Cortisol has been shown to contribute to weight gain. Also, low self esteem often results in people giving up too early, or even convincing themselves that they have not succeeded, when in fact they have. Learn to love yourself as you are, to better improve yourself!
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 7: Focus on Your Achievements
By focusing on achievements rather than failures, you will stay focussed. Changing your mindset is not easy, but it is possible. It is part of becoming a stronger person, both mentally and physically. Everyone has bad days, but in life so long as the good days outweigh the bad days, then improvements can be made. Stay focussed, keep working hard, and be proud of yourself.
stages to weight loss 2 (action)
Losing weight and staying in shape is not just about eating healthily, it is about living a healthy life. So a combination of healthy diet, regular exercise and sensible living all helps. Few people realize that inadequate sleep can actually affect their weight. There are 9 rules to follow to improve the quality of your lifestyle, which also help you to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
Rule 1: Drink More Water to Lose Weight
This rule is so simple. Many people think that they are hungry, when really they just need more liquids. Drinking more water helps to ward off hunger. Also, drinking plenty of water is essential for a healthy digestive system, and transports nutrients to where they are needed. It also helps your skin to stay young looking, hydrated and elastic.
Rule 2: Find an Exercise That You Really Enjoy to Lose Weight
If so far you have been exercising just to lose weight, then you may start to tire of this. People that find an activity that they really enjoy are more likely to stick with the exercise and stay healthy for it. So rather than pound away on the treadmill, or do the weekly aerobics class grind, try out some sports, such as badminton, cycling, horse riding, or even karate. All these will keep you much more focused and motivated. Group activities are also always more enjoyable, and a good way to gauge your own progress.
Rule 3: Reduce Stress to Help Lose Weight
Being stressed leads to binge eating, skipping exercise, and poor sleep. All these lead to weight gain. Regular exercise helps to reduce stress levels, and research has shown that exercising outdoors reduces stress even further. Taking a weekend walk in the park with the family, or hill walking with friends, is a great way to reduce stress and get fit at the same time.
Rule 4: Eat For Your Life to Lose Weight
Make sure that you stick to a healthy eating plan. This means keeping up the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Also look at the Mediterranean Diet which has been shown to help reduces cases of cancer. Plenty of olive oil, fresh vegetables and a drop of wine all helps.
Rule 5: Get Your Family Involved in Your Weight Loss
If you can get your family involved with the whole diet and exercise lifestyle, it will both improve your chances of success, as well as making your family healthier to.
Rule 6: Never Miss a Weight Loss Workout
Often you will have to miss an exercise session due to work or family commitments. If this happens, make up for it on another day. Either extend the next exercise session, or fit another session in. Learning some good home exercises is a great way to be able to fit in exercise any time.
Rule 7: Eating Slowly to Eat Less Helps You Lose Weight
It can take up to 10 minutes from starting a meal to feeling full. Eat too fast, and you are more likely to eat too much. Slow down your eating, and as soon as you feel contented, stop. Take a look to see how much you ate, and try to make the next servings a similar size.
Rule 8: Learn to Enjoy Life
Make sure that diet and exercise does not take over your life. Remember to enjoy yourself. On nights off, watch a film, read a book, or go out and have some fun. Do not become a boring fitness fanatic!
Rule 9: Drink More Water to Prevent Hunger!
OK, we mentioned this in rule 1, but it is so simple, and so effective, that we need to mention it again. If you are feeling hungry in between meals, pour yourself a large glass of water first. If you are still hungry after drinking it, then grab a healthy snack.
Rule 1: Drink More Water to Lose Weight
This rule is so simple. Many people think that they are hungry, when really they just need more liquids. Drinking more water helps to ward off hunger. Also, drinking plenty of water is essential for a healthy digestive system, and transports nutrients to where they are needed. It also helps your skin to stay young looking, hydrated and elastic.
Rule 2: Find an Exercise That You Really Enjoy to Lose Weight
If so far you have been exercising just to lose weight, then you may start to tire of this. People that find an activity that they really enjoy are more likely to stick with the exercise and stay healthy for it. So rather than pound away on the treadmill, or do the weekly aerobics class grind, try out some sports, such as badminton, cycling, horse riding, or even karate. All these will keep you much more focused and motivated. Group activities are also always more enjoyable, and a good way to gauge your own progress.
Rule 3: Reduce Stress to Help Lose Weight
Being stressed leads to binge eating, skipping exercise, and poor sleep. All these lead to weight gain. Regular exercise helps to reduce stress levels, and research has shown that exercising outdoors reduces stress even further. Taking a weekend walk in the park with the family, or hill walking with friends, is a great way to reduce stress and get fit at the same time.
Rule 4: Eat For Your Life to Lose Weight
Make sure that you stick to a healthy eating plan. This means keeping up the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Also look at the Mediterranean Diet which has been shown to help reduces cases of cancer. Plenty of olive oil, fresh vegetables and a drop of wine all helps.
Rule 5: Get Your Family Involved in Your Weight Loss
If you can get your family involved with the whole diet and exercise lifestyle, it will both improve your chances of success, as well as making your family healthier to.
Rule 6: Never Miss a Weight Loss Workout
Often you will have to miss an exercise session due to work or family commitments. If this happens, make up for it on another day. Either extend the next exercise session, or fit another session in. Learning some good home exercises is a great way to be able to fit in exercise any time.
Rule 7: Eating Slowly to Eat Less Helps You Lose Weight
It can take up to 10 minutes from starting a meal to feeling full. Eat too fast, and you are more likely to eat too much. Slow down your eating, and as soon as you feel contented, stop. Take a look to see how much you ate, and try to make the next servings a similar size.
Rule 8: Learn to Enjoy Life
Make sure that diet and exercise does not take over your life. Remember to enjoy yourself. On nights off, watch a film, read a book, or go out and have some fun. Do not become a boring fitness fanatic!
Rule 9: Drink More Water to Prevent Hunger!
OK, we mentioned this in rule 1, but it is so simple, and so effective, that we need to mention it again. If you are feeling hungry in between meals, pour yourself a large glass of water first. If you are still hungry after drinking it, then grab a healthy snack.
stages to weight loss 1 (Preparation)
How To Lose Weight – Stage 1 – Preparation
Many people know what a healthy weight is. It is often possible to tell if someone is a healthy weight just by looking at them. One way that it used to determine if you are underweight or overweight, is to use the body mass index. A body mass index (BMI) of between 18.5 and 24.9 means that you are a healthy weight. As the BMI gets higher, this figure can become misleading, as BMI does not take into account muscle. But for most people, keeping below 25 means that you are not overweight. Falling below 18 means that you are underweight.
So, what steps can we take to attain and maintain a healthy weight? At the most basic level, eating less, eating healthily and exercising is all that is required. However, as we all know, it is often hard to follow this advice for one reason or another. So, here are our tips to help you to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
Weight Loss Stage 1
As soon as you decide that you want to lose weight, you need to start adopting some small but simple changes to your lifestyle. This is what we called Weight Loss Stage 1. This is really a preparation stage to losing weight, and there are 8 rules to follow in this stage.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 1: Never Skip Breakfast if You Want to Lose Weight
The first mistake that many people make when they start a new weight loss / diet plan, is to skip breakfast. However, this will hinder you in several ways. In fact, research has shown that people who eat breakfast are usually slimmer. Eating a healthy breakfast helps to boost metabolism and also reduces the chances of mid-morning snacking. Many people are overweight as a result of snacks in between meals, not from eating large meals.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 2: Find Someone to Exercise With
Many people are not motivated to exercise by themselves. Find someone that is also looking to lose weight, and organise exercise sessions with them, either at home or in a local gym. Alternatively join a fitness class or martial arts club, where you will find plenty of motivation, and make new friends too.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 3: Monitor and Improve Your Physical Activity
Firstly, what do you want to achieve from exercising? Just to lose weight / reduce fat? Build muscle? Improve sport? To be able to cycle, run or swim again with family and friends? For most people reading this it is most likely to reduce fat and lose weight.
On average, to maintain a healthy weight, you need to do 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, five days a week. If your BMI is higher than 23, then you need to increase the intensity of the exercise that you do, or exercise for longer. Finding a fitness class that is one hour long, and attending that twice a week, in addition to the 30 minutes per day, is an excellent way to reach these levels.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 4: Throw Out All Your Junk Food!
This may be hard to do, but once done, it will mean that you only have healthy food in the house. Throw out, or give away, all your sugary and fatty junk food today! If you still have a tub of icebreaker, biscuits, cakes, pork pies or anything else high in saturated fat, refined sugars or processed meats, then get rid of it! Junk food is one of the biggest reasons why you put on weight, so ditch it if you want to lose weight.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 5: Eat 5 Portions of Fruit and Veg a Day
The Juice Master Juice Yourself Slim: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight without Dieting: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight Without DietingThis has been the health department’s advice for a while now. Try to eat 5 portions of fresh fruit and/or vegetables everyday. This is easy to accomplish. A glass of fruit smoothie, such as Innocent Smoothies, gives 2 portions of fruit, and a healthy meal should give 2 portions of vegetable, leaving you to find one fruit snack to make it up to five. If you are exercising intensively, a banana beforehand is an easy way to make it to five portions, and also provide you with an excellent source of energy.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 6: Join a Weight Loss and Fitness Community
Chatting to others that are also struggling with weight loss can be a positive thing. Knowing that there are others like you, struggling, makes it easier to plow on. Also, you can help others, by passing on your knowledge gained from your successes. Find a community, or join ours, and see what a difference it can make.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 7: Do Different Fitness Activities
Many people get bored of one activity, so rather than just run everyday, try different sports, martial arts, yoga, etc. Do not limit yourself to one thing. Different activities will provide a more all round fitness regime, plus you get to meet a larger group of people, and make losing weight more enjoyable.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 8: Learn To Cook and Prepare Healthy Meals
Gillian McKeith's Food Bible: The Complete A-Z Guide to a Healthy LifeAn essential part of maintaining a healthy weight, is to be able to eat healthy foods everyday. If you do not know how to cook, then the chance are at some point convenience foods, takeaways and junk food will find their way back into your meals, and these alone can cause you to gain weight rapidly. Invest in a healthy cooking book, and learn to cook healthy nutrition meals for yourself. The Food Bible is one of the most well organized and complete healthy cooking guides on the market at the moment.
In addition to learning to cook, building a collection of healthy snacks is vital. Some of our favorite healthy snacks include tinned mackerel on wholemeal toast, tuna-mayo sandwich, chicken or vegetable soup, mixed bean salads and dried fruits and nuts. Make sure that you ALWAYS have some of your favorite healthy snacks in the house for when you are feeling hungry in the evening.
Many people know what a healthy weight is. It is often possible to tell if someone is a healthy weight just by looking at them. One way that it used to determine if you are underweight or overweight, is to use the body mass index. A body mass index (BMI) of between 18.5 and 24.9 means that you are a healthy weight. As the BMI gets higher, this figure can become misleading, as BMI does not take into account muscle. But for most people, keeping below 25 means that you are not overweight. Falling below 18 means that you are underweight.
So, what steps can we take to attain and maintain a healthy weight? At the most basic level, eating less, eating healthily and exercising is all that is required. However, as we all know, it is often hard to follow this advice for one reason or another. So, here are our tips to help you to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
Weight Loss Stage 1
As soon as you decide that you want to lose weight, you need to start adopting some small but simple changes to your lifestyle. This is what we called Weight Loss Stage 1. This is really a preparation stage to losing weight, and there are 8 rules to follow in this stage.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 1: Never Skip Breakfast if You Want to Lose Weight
The first mistake that many people make when they start a new weight loss / diet plan, is to skip breakfast. However, this will hinder you in several ways. In fact, research has shown that people who eat breakfast are usually slimmer. Eating a healthy breakfast helps to boost metabolism and also reduces the chances of mid-morning snacking. Many people are overweight as a result of snacks in between meals, not from eating large meals.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 2: Find Someone to Exercise With
Many people are not motivated to exercise by themselves. Find someone that is also looking to lose weight, and organise exercise sessions with them, either at home or in a local gym. Alternatively join a fitness class or martial arts club, where you will find plenty of motivation, and make new friends too.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 3: Monitor and Improve Your Physical Activity
Firstly, what do you want to achieve from exercising? Just to lose weight / reduce fat? Build muscle? Improve sport? To be able to cycle, run or swim again with family and friends? For most people reading this it is most likely to reduce fat and lose weight.
On average, to maintain a healthy weight, you need to do 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, five days a week. If your BMI is higher than 23, then you need to increase the intensity of the exercise that you do, or exercise for longer. Finding a fitness class that is one hour long, and attending that twice a week, in addition to the 30 minutes per day, is an excellent way to reach these levels.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 4: Throw Out All Your Junk Food!
This may be hard to do, but once done, it will mean that you only have healthy food in the house. Throw out, or give away, all your sugary and fatty junk food today! If you still have a tub of icebreaker, biscuits, cakes, pork pies or anything else high in saturated fat, refined sugars or processed meats, then get rid of it! Junk food is one of the biggest reasons why you put on weight, so ditch it if you want to lose weight.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 5: Eat 5 Portions of Fruit and Veg a Day
The Juice Master Juice Yourself Slim: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight without Dieting: The Healthy Way to Lose Weight Without DietingThis has been the health department’s advice for a while now. Try to eat 5 portions of fresh fruit and/or vegetables everyday. This is easy to accomplish. A glass of fruit smoothie, such as Innocent Smoothies, gives 2 portions of fruit, and a healthy meal should give 2 portions of vegetable, leaving you to find one fruit snack to make it up to five. If you are exercising intensively, a banana beforehand is an easy way to make it to five portions, and also provide you with an excellent source of energy.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 6: Join a Weight Loss and Fitness Community
Chatting to others that are also struggling with weight loss can be a positive thing. Knowing that there are others like you, struggling, makes it easier to plow on. Also, you can help others, by passing on your knowledge gained from your successes. Find a community, or join ours, and see what a difference it can make.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 7: Do Different Fitness Activities
Many people get bored of one activity, so rather than just run everyday, try different sports, martial arts, yoga, etc. Do not limit yourself to one thing. Different activities will provide a more all round fitness regime, plus you get to meet a larger group of people, and make losing weight more enjoyable.
Healthy Weight Loss Rule 8: Learn To Cook and Prepare Healthy Meals
Gillian McKeith's Food Bible: The Complete A-Z Guide to a Healthy LifeAn essential part of maintaining a healthy weight, is to be able to eat healthy foods everyday. If you do not know how to cook, then the chance are at some point convenience foods, takeaways and junk food will find their way back into your meals, and these alone can cause you to gain weight rapidly. Invest in a healthy cooking book, and learn to cook healthy nutrition meals for yourself. The Food Bible is one of the most well organized and complete healthy cooking guides on the market at the moment.
In addition to learning to cook, building a collection of healthy snacks is vital. Some of our favorite healthy snacks include tinned mackerel on wholemeal toast, tuna-mayo sandwich, chicken or vegetable soup, mixed bean salads and dried fruits and nuts. Make sure that you ALWAYS have some of your favorite healthy snacks in the house for when you are feeling hungry in the evening.
how to lose weight
How to lose weight
Despite the way it feels, losing weight isn't a mysterious process. It's a simple matter of burning more calories than you eat. But, if it were really that simple, none of us would have a weight problem, would we? Weight loss can be such a struggle that we start thinking we have to do something drastic to see results -- diets, pills or those weird fitness gadgets on infomercials that promise instant success. The true secret to weight loss is this: Make small changes each and every day and you'll slowly (but surely) lose those extra pounds. The key is to forget about instant results and settle in for the long run.
Rules of Weight Loss
To lose one pound of fat, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. That sounds like a lot of calories and you certainly wouldn't want to try to burn 3500 calories in one day. However, by taking it step-by-step, you can determine just what you need to do each day to burn or cut out those extra calories. Below is a step by step process for getting started.
1. Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing and digestion. This is the minimum number of calories you need to eat each day. Keep in mind that no calculator will be 100% accurate, so you may need to adjust these numbers as you go along.
2. Calculate your activity level. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. throughout the day. It helps to keep a daily activity journal or you could even wear a heart rate monitor that calculates calories burned.
3. Keep track of how many calories you eat. You can use a site like Calorie Count or use a food journal to write down what you eat and drink each day. Be as accurate as possible, measuring when you need to or looking up nutritional information for restaurants, if you eat out.
4. Add it up. Take your BMR number, add your activity calories and then subtract your food calories from that total. If you're eating more than you're burning, (your BMR + activity is 2000 and you're eating 2400 calories) you'll gain weight. If you're burning more than you eat, you'll lose weight.
Example:
Mary's BMR is 1400 calories and she burns 900 calories in daily activity with regular exercise, walking around and doing household chores. To maintain her weight, she should be eating 2300 calories but, after keeping a food journal, Mary finds that she's eating 2550 calories every day. By eating 250 more calories than her body needs, Mary will gain one pound every 2 weeks.
This example shows how easy it is to gain weight without even knowing it. However, it's also easy to lose weight, even if the process itself can be slow. You can start by making small changes in your diet and activity levels and immediately start burning more calories than you're eating. If you can find a way to burn an extra 200 to 500 calories each day with both exercise and diet, you're on the right track. Try these ideas:
Instead of...
Do this...
An afternoon Coke ...Drink a glass of water. (calories saved: 97)
An Egg McMuffin ..Eat a small whole wheat bagel +1 Tbsp of peanut butter (calories saved: 185)
Using your break eat sweets ..Walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes (calories burned: 100)
Hitting the snooze button ..Get up 10 minutes early and go for a brisk walk (calories burned: 100)
Watching TV after work ..Do 10 minutes of yoga (calories burned: 50)
Total Calories Saved: 532 (based on a 140-pound person)
How Much Exercise Do I Need?
Exercise is an important weight loss tool, but how much you need varies from person to person. The ACSM's weight loss guidelines suggest at least 250 minutes per week, which comes out to about 50 minutes, 5 days a week. If you're a beginner, start small (3 days a week for 20 to 30 minutes) to give your body time to adapt. Don't forget, things like walking, taking the stairs and household chores can burn more calories as well. Learn more about getting started with exercise.
Despite the way it feels, losing weight isn't a mysterious process. It's a simple matter of burning more calories than you eat. But, if it were really that simple, none of us would have a weight problem, would we? Weight loss can be such a struggle that we start thinking we have to do something drastic to see results -- diets, pills or those weird fitness gadgets on infomercials that promise instant success. The true secret to weight loss is this: Make small changes each and every day and you'll slowly (but surely) lose those extra pounds. The key is to forget about instant results and settle in for the long run.
Rules of Weight Loss
To lose one pound of fat, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. That sounds like a lot of calories and you certainly wouldn't want to try to burn 3500 calories in one day. However, by taking it step-by-step, you can determine just what you need to do each day to burn or cut out those extra calories. Below is a step by step process for getting started.
1. Calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is what your body needs to maintain normal functions like breathing and digestion. This is the minimum number of calories you need to eat each day. Keep in mind that no calculator will be 100% accurate, so you may need to adjust these numbers as you go along.
2. Calculate your activity level. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. throughout the day. It helps to keep a daily activity journal or you could even wear a heart rate monitor that calculates calories burned.
3. Keep track of how many calories you eat. You can use a site like Calorie Count or use a food journal to write down what you eat and drink each day. Be as accurate as possible, measuring when you need to or looking up nutritional information for restaurants, if you eat out.
4. Add it up. Take your BMR number, add your activity calories and then subtract your food calories from that total. If you're eating more than you're burning, (your BMR + activity is 2000 and you're eating 2400 calories) you'll gain weight. If you're burning more than you eat, you'll lose weight.
Example:
Mary's BMR is 1400 calories and she burns 900 calories in daily activity with regular exercise, walking around and doing household chores. To maintain her weight, she should be eating 2300 calories but, after keeping a food journal, Mary finds that she's eating 2550 calories every day. By eating 250 more calories than her body needs, Mary will gain one pound every 2 weeks.
This example shows how easy it is to gain weight without even knowing it. However, it's also easy to lose weight, even if the process itself can be slow. You can start by making small changes in your diet and activity levels and immediately start burning more calories than you're eating. If you can find a way to burn an extra 200 to 500 calories each day with both exercise and diet, you're on the right track. Try these ideas:
Instead of...
Do this...
An afternoon Coke ...Drink a glass of water. (calories saved: 97)
An Egg McMuffin ..Eat a small whole wheat bagel +1 Tbsp of peanut butter (calories saved: 185)
Using your break eat sweets ..Walk up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes (calories burned: 100)
Hitting the snooze button ..Get up 10 minutes early and go for a brisk walk (calories burned: 100)
Watching TV after work ..Do 10 minutes of yoga (calories burned: 50)
Total Calories Saved: 532 (based on a 140-pound person)
How Much Exercise Do I Need?
Exercise is an important weight loss tool, but how much you need varies from person to person. The ACSM's weight loss guidelines suggest at least 250 minutes per week, which comes out to about 50 minutes, 5 days a week. If you're a beginner, start small (3 days a week for 20 to 30 minutes) to give your body time to adapt. Don't forget, things like walking, taking the stairs and household chores can burn more calories as well. Learn more about getting started with exercise.
10 facts about nutrition
10 facts on nutrition
1.
Malnutrition is a major contributor to the total global disease burden. More than one third of child deaths worldwide are attributed to undernutrition. Poverty is a central cause of undernutrition.
2.
A key indicator of chronic malnutrition is stunting - when children are too short for their age group compared to the WHO child growth standards. About 178 million children globally are stunted, resulting from not enough food, a vitamin- and mineral-poor diet, and disease. As growth slows down, brain development lags and stunted children learn poorly. Stunting rates among children are highest in Africa and Asia. In south-central Asia 41% are affected.
3.
Wasting is a severe form of malnutrition - resulting from acute food shortages and compounded by illness. About 1.5 million children die annually due to wasting. Rising food prices, food scarcity in areas of conflict, and natural disasters diminish household access to appropriate and adequate food, all of which can lead to wasting. Wasting demands emergency nutritional interventions to save lives.
4.
Hidden hunger is a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet, which are vital to boost immunity and healthy development. Vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine deficiencies are primary public health concerns. About 2 billion people are affected by iodine deficiencies worldwide; and vitamin A is associated with more than half a million deaths of under-five children globally each year.
5.
The rise in overweight and obesity worldwide is a major public health challenge. People of all ages and backgrounds face this type of malnutrition. As a consequence, rates of diabetes and other diet-related diseases are escalating, even in developing countries. In a few developing countries, up to 20% of children under-five are overweight.
6.
Good nutrition during pregnancy ensures a healthier baby. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, introducing age-appropriate and safe complementary foods at six months, and continuing breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. About 20% of deaths among children under-five worldwide could be avoided if these feeding guidelines are followed. Appropriate feeding decreases rates of stunting and obesity and stimulates intellectual development in young children.
7.
Nutritional problems in adolescents start during childhood and continue into adult life. Anaemia is a key nutritional problem in adolescent girls. Preventing early pregnancies and fortifying the nutritional health of developing girls can reduce maternal and child deaths later, and stop cycles of malnutrition from one generation to the next. For both girls and boys, adolescence is an ideal time to shape good eating and physical activity habits.
8.
A lifetime of unhealthy eating and inactivity raises health risks over time - contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other problems. The global population is ageing: the number of people aged 60 and older will jump from 700 million today to 1 billion by 2020. Nutritional health at older ages will be a critical factor in the state of global health.
9.
Nutrition information is required to identify the areas where nutritional assistance is most needed and monitor the progress of change. In 2006 WHO released international child growth standards that provide benchmarks to compare children's nutritional status within and across countries and regions.
10.
Public education is another way to improve nutritional health. Starting in China during the Beijing Olympics, and continuing in other countries, WHO and Member States will promote "5 keys" to a healthy diet:
I. give your baby only breast milk for the first six months of life
ii. Eat a variety of foods
iii. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits
iv. Eat moderate amounts of fat and oils
V. eat less salt and sugars
1.
Malnutrition is a major contributor to the total global disease burden. More than one third of child deaths worldwide are attributed to undernutrition. Poverty is a central cause of undernutrition.
2.
A key indicator of chronic malnutrition is stunting - when children are too short for their age group compared to the WHO child growth standards. About 178 million children globally are stunted, resulting from not enough food, a vitamin- and mineral-poor diet, and disease. As growth slows down, brain development lags and stunted children learn poorly. Stunting rates among children are highest in Africa and Asia. In south-central Asia 41% are affected.
3.
Wasting is a severe form of malnutrition - resulting from acute food shortages and compounded by illness. About 1.5 million children die annually due to wasting. Rising food prices, food scarcity in areas of conflict, and natural disasters diminish household access to appropriate and adequate food, all of which can lead to wasting. Wasting demands emergency nutritional interventions to save lives.
4.
Hidden hunger is a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in the diet, which are vital to boost immunity and healthy development. Vitamin A, zinc, iron and iodine deficiencies are primary public health concerns. About 2 billion people are affected by iodine deficiencies worldwide; and vitamin A is associated with more than half a million deaths of under-five children globally each year.
5.
The rise in overweight and obesity worldwide is a major public health challenge. People of all ages and backgrounds face this type of malnutrition. As a consequence, rates of diabetes and other diet-related diseases are escalating, even in developing countries. In a few developing countries, up to 20% of children under-five are overweight.
6.
Good nutrition during pregnancy ensures a healthier baby. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months, introducing age-appropriate and safe complementary foods at six months, and continuing breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. About 20% of deaths among children under-five worldwide could be avoided if these feeding guidelines are followed. Appropriate feeding decreases rates of stunting and obesity and stimulates intellectual development in young children.
7.
Nutritional problems in adolescents start during childhood and continue into adult life. Anaemia is a key nutritional problem in adolescent girls. Preventing early pregnancies and fortifying the nutritional health of developing girls can reduce maternal and child deaths later, and stop cycles of malnutrition from one generation to the next. For both girls and boys, adolescence is an ideal time to shape good eating and physical activity habits.
8.
A lifetime of unhealthy eating and inactivity raises health risks over time - contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and other problems. The global population is ageing: the number of people aged 60 and older will jump from 700 million today to 1 billion by 2020. Nutritional health at older ages will be a critical factor in the state of global health.
9.
Nutrition information is required to identify the areas where nutritional assistance is most needed and monitor the progress of change. In 2006 WHO released international child growth standards that provide benchmarks to compare children's nutritional status within and across countries and regions.
10.
Public education is another way to improve nutritional health. Starting in China during the Beijing Olympics, and continuing in other countries, WHO and Member States will promote "5 keys" to a healthy diet:
I. give your baby only breast milk for the first six months of life
ii. Eat a variety of foods
iii. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits
iv. Eat moderate amounts of fat and oils
V. eat less salt and sugars
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