Thursday, July 18, 2013
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| From http://www.activ8-fitness.com/ |
Everyone’s looking for a weight–loss magic, but the true way to trim down is to control your calories. Staying within yours can help you get to or maintain a healthy weight. Reaching a healthier weight is a balancing act.
Like most people, you've probably heard a lot of weight–loss "wisdom” such as “cut the carbs," "avoid fat," and "pack in the protein." Then there are the many trendy diet plans: the cabbage soup diet, goji berry diet, egg diet, the juice diet, you name it! Some of these might help you lose weight in the short term. But staying on many of them can damage your metabolism — not to mention leave you bored and hungry from their limited menus!
So how can you lose weight? Use more calories than you're consuming. It really is that simple. And the two proven ways to do this? Eat the right amount of calories and exercise more. Keep things simple by making sensible choices on a day–to–day basis.
Finding your "caloric balance."
The true way to trim down is to control your food. They are the key to successful weight loss.
So where do you start? The first thing to do is to see your doctor and learn how many calories you need each day. From there, you can work backward to see how many calories you can safely cut to lose weight at a sensible rate.
Something you can do right now is learn about your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is the ratio of your weight to your height, and the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) online Body Mass Calculator is a handy tool.
If you are :
- Maintaining weight — Your weight will stay the same when the calories you eat and drink equal the calories you burn.
- Losing weight — You will lose weight when the calories you eat and drink are less than the calories you burn.
- Gaining weight — You will gain weight when the calories you eat and drink are greater than the calories you burn.
- The current high rates of overweight and obesity in the United States mean that many people are taking in more calories than they burn.
Here are helpful tips on cutting calories from the CDC:
- Replace high–calorie foods with low-calorie foods. Foods that have lots of fiber and water are good ways to feel full without eating too many calories.
- Learn to eat fruits and vegetables instead of high–calorie snacks. They're a great way to fill up and get lots of good nutrition for fewer calories.
- Think about your drink. We often forget that there can be hundreds of calories in our beverages. Coffee drinks with lots of cream and syrup, smoothies loaded with sugars, and certain alcoholic drinks, can pack as much as 500 calories. This is as much as an entire meal in a single cup.
- Rethink your serving sizes. Portion sizes can cause you to eat more calories than you realize. Studies show that people consume more calories when faced with larger portions, even though they don't mean to.
Don’t forget to exercise! When you don't exercise, you place the entire burden of weight loss on your diet. Being more active means that you can eat more of the things you like and still lose weight. The key is finding an exercise you enjoy. Every step toward healthier living is a step in a good direction.
