Maintaining healthy weight loss has been difficult for most people in industrialized nations with the easy availability of cheap, fattening food. The sedentary lifestyle most people fall into does not help things, as people with a greater body mass are less inclined to exercise to lose it. Crash diets and quick outs are easy escapes for people. However, for those willing to wait, there are several easy ways to lose weight over an extended period, provided people are diligent and patient.
Maintain a Calorie Diary
This is one of the easiest ways to lose weight. The average person requires only about 2000 calories per day to maintain a normal lifestyle, with the rest being excess. By checking calories on whatever they eat and writing it in a journal, using simple math to make sure they never exceed the 2000 mark, people can easily cut out unneeded calories from their diet, which would normally just turn to fat from ill use.
This is not a quick method for losing weight, as it will take weeks, or even months to start to drop even a few pounds. After it starts though, the weight loss will appear to happen on a regular basis until people reach an equilibrium, the amount of weight their body should have to maintain itself with only the minimum of 2000 calories. For most people, this is the goal to aim for, as it streamlines bodily systems so that they are able to function without excess
Scientific America posted the article "Diet Diary Double's Weight Loss" on July 11, 2008, reported by Karen Hopkins. This confirmed the importance of maintaining a calorie diary, citing that in a study of 1,700, people who maintained a food diary lost twice as much weight as people on a similar diet, but who refused to keep track of their consumption.
Use Calories more Effectively
Lots of food, especially chips, soda, baked sweets, and especially fried foods are high in calories, but don't provide lasting energy. If that is all you eat, maintaining a calorie diary of 2000 calories will be exceedingly difficult without crashing. Instead, it would be wiser to cut out certain foods and cut down on the rest.
Eating more fruits and vegetables which are high in nutrients but low in calories, having meat to increase energy reserves and cutting soda out of one's diet in exchange for milk, water, or even diet soda, are all effective ways of getting the most energy out of a few calories. It isn't always satisfying, but it's useful for the next few steps.
More long term benefits of using calories effectively in conjunction with a food diary are health benefits that could extend people's life. In 1999, Barbara Hansen conducted a study that was reported in Scientific America. This article ratified the belief that calorie restriction in adulthood proves beneficial to the point of extending one's lifespan, while reducing various types of diseases. The healthiest individuals were athletes who watched what they ate, exercised and managed their calories effectively.
Stopping the Diary, Starting to Exercise
No one wants to be saddled with keeping a calorie diary for the rest of their life. When people have reached and maintained their equilibrium weight for a set period, it is best to stop keeping the diary and try to put the good eating habits developed during it into practice. To maintain equilibrium weight, though, it is wise begin exercising for at least 45 minutes to an hour each day, while taking any chance possible to get some physical activity.
This may cause a sudden lull or spike in the equilibrium weight; however, this is nothing to panic about. As weight is redistributed throughout the body, less of it is fat and more of it is muscle. Aerobic exercises like running or walking will cause people to lose, or maintain weight. Anaerobic exercises add on weight, replacing fat with muscle. It is important to have dropped excess bulk and built up good eating habits before starting these to avoid extra trouble when getting through exercise routines
The benefits of exercise have been well known for years, however, on July 25, 2009, the Mayo Clinic posted an article titled "Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity." This outlines the numerous benefits of exercise, including health, personal wellness, and, shockingly, how it helps to manage weight.
Changing One's Lifestyle
One important thing to remember is vigilance. Cutting out the diet, means more exercising. A small lull here and there is acceptable; however, it is possible to temporarily regain some weight because of it. Balance is the key. If someone wants sweets, take an extra walk. For those who begin to feel sluggish or sedentary in the morning, start a morning sit-up routine. To avoid relapsing, it is vital to stay in balance through healthy means.
Lifestyle change is essential to maintaining long term weight loss. The same principal has been adopted by the Weight Watcher's Association, publishing an article entitled, "Lifestyle Modification: The Cornerstone of All Weight-Loss Treatments." Only by making a conscious effort to adapt one's lifestyle to maintain weight loss will it be possible to keep the pounds off.
Results may vary for this plan; however, it has proven effective numerous times. The key is getting started as early as high school. The older and more rooted a person is in their ways, the harder it is to change. This is a healthy, all natural weight loss system that only requires one thing from those involved: discipline. Without discipline, this all falls apart. A lapse here and there is fine; however, People have to want to lose weight more than living an easy, sedentary lifestyle. Otherwise, this plan, like any other effective strategy, will prove useless.
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