Before You Begin: Before any exercise or diet program, consult your physician to ensure you are healthy enough to do so. Whatever your goals and medical condition may be (if any), always approach any new exercise routine with caution. Many beginners make the mistake of starting out too aggressively, causing many to give up—this is another reason why people become unmotivated when turning their habits into a healthy habits. Your goal is to develop a routine that fits your daily life that you can stick with for a long time.
Another thing you need to know before beginning an exercise program are the basics of losing weight. Losing weight is a matter of calories consumed vs. calories burned. This means that if you consume more calories than you burn, the results are gaining weight. If you consume an equal amount of calories compared to the amount of calories burned, you will maintain your weight. Lastly, if you burn more calories than the amount of calories you consume, you will lose weight. This is also known as a calorie deficit. The two most important factors that help create a calorie deficit are decreasing calories consumed by reducing the amount of food eaten while simultaneously increasing the amount of calories burned through exercise and other psychical activities.
One last important aspect that you should be informed of is the difference between a beneficial exercise routine and an unbeneficial exercise routine. To lose 1 pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories. Typical weight-loss programs start with 1 to 2 pounds per week because this is safe and effective. It also helps keep the weight off. The larger a person is, the greater the amount of weight they can lose. However, it is not recommended to lose more than 5 pounds per week because there is a high likelihood of the weight coming back. Crash dieting, fasting, exercise binges and other methods of rapid weight loss can be quite dangerous and oftentimes ineffective.
Weight to Height Ratio: The first step to fulfill your weight loss objective is to determine what your ideal weight is. Once you have calculated the average weight for your specific body type, then you can determine what your weight goal is. Another thing to keep in mind is your Body Mass Index (BMI). This is also calculated from your weight and height. Your BMI tells you how much body fat your body holds which can also help determine what your weight goal needs to be. The next step is to determine how much food you should consume in order to reach your weight loss goal.
Calculate Daily Calorie Intake (DCI): Calculating your daily calorie intake (DCI) is a very important factor when reaching your weight loss goals. As mentioned before, consuming fewer calories than the amount of calories burned is what causes weight loss. In order to understand how to calculate your daily calorie intake, you need to know the difference between BMR and AMR. BMR stands for basal metabolic rate. This is the rate which the body uses energy while at rest. AMR stands for active metabolic rate- the rate which the body uses energy while exercising.
By calculating your BMR and AMR, you can determine how many calories should be consumed whether you are exercising or not. Your BMR gives you the total amount of calories that should be consumed in a day without exercise and your AMR will tell you how many calories should be consumed if you are exercising. Any amount of calories consumed over your average amount causes weight gain or unbeneficial results when losing weight.
Use the equations below to calculate your BMR and AMR:
Women:
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Men:
BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)
For both men and women, use your BMR and an estimated current level of activity to calculate your AMR:
- Sedentary (little or no exercise): AMR = BMR x 1.2
- Lightly active (light exercise 1-3 days per week): AMR = BMR x 1.375
- Moderately active (moderate exercise 3-5 days per week): AMR = BMR x 1.55
- Very active (hard exercise 6-7 days a week): AMR = BMR x 1.725
- Extra active (very hard exercise 6-7 days a week): AMR = BMR x 1.9
Eliminate Unhealthy Eating Habits: This third step is also essential when planning your weight loss goals. Everyone has at least one food that sends their taste buds soaring and their diets crashing. May it be ice-cream, frosted cupcakes, pizza, or even a six pack of beer; many foods are full of calories and unhealthy ingredients that cause weight gain to sky rocket quicker than you may realize. By getting rid of calorie-packed foods, it can prevent you from eating them period. Also, many resources recommend that fast food should not be your “go-to” food. Many fast food restaurants have meals that contain more calories than half of a person’s average daily calorie intake. By completely removing any fast food from your diet, you can prevent yourself from eating unnecessary excessive amounts of calories making it easier to shed the pounds you want to lose.
One thing to be cautious about when changing your diet is food withdraws. Once a body has been supplied with certain types of food for a long amount of time (i.e. chips, candy, etc.), it takes a toll when your body is no longer provided with such foods. This will cause immense cravings, high or low blood pressure and possibly tiredness. Although these cravings are tough, they do not last long. Once your body is no longer addicted to certain foods, it will no longer need them in order to function properly.
Another factor you should know when changing your diet is to start slow and make changes to your eating habits one day at a time. By changing everything overnight usually leads to cheating or giving up on your new diet. Take small steps such as eating a salad for lunch instead of a piece of pizza or switching from butter to olive oil when cooking. By gradually changing your diet, cravings for certain foods will decrease as well.
Once you have cut all unnecessary foods out of your diet, you are ready for the next step; creating a healthy diet.
Create a Healthy Diet: The first principle of a healthy diet is simply to eat a wide variety of foods. This is important because different foods make different nutritional contributions. Secondly, fruits, vegetables, grains—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat and free of cholesterol—should make up the bulk of the calories you consume. The rest should come from low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and fish.
Try to limit your intake of sugary foods and refined-grains such as white bread and salty-snack foods, i.e. chips. Also, try drinking mostly water throughout the day. Water helps the body rehydrate and replenish itself.
By eating a wide variety of food helps ensure that your body is getting all the necessary nutrients in order to function properly and help with weight loss. If you are having trouble maintaining a healthy diet, try viewing it as a way to expand your choices of foods—especially with vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you normally don’t eat. A healthy diet does not have to mean eating foods that are tasteless and unappealing. Once you have removed unhealthy eating habits and secured healthy eating habits, creating an exercising routine is the final step towards reaching your weight loss goal.
Create an Exercise Plan: In order to lose weight does not necessarily mean following a strict, time-consuming routine at the gym—although that is certainly beneficial. The truth is you can get rewards from many different types and levels of exercise. Any increment of physical activity is going to be a boost in weight loss. There are many exercising options such as walking, dancing, gardening, biking, even doing house-hold chores. Choosing activities that you enjoy will help increase your chances of making exercising a habit.
Also, before beginning any fitness routine, it's important to warm up, such as fast-paced walking or stretching. Stretching is vital before exercising because it allows your muscles to expand, preventing sourness and tightness during and after exercising. Click here for a variety of different exercises that can be done in order to begin your weight loss goals. These do not all have to be done at once, but doing each on a regular basis will result in balanced fitness and weight loss.
In conclusion, if you want to set a goal for losing weight, it doesn't have to be overwhelming. Start with consulting your physician, followed by creating a healthy diet and exercise routine that fits your weight loss goals and lifestyle. Remember to start off slowly when making changes to your eating and exercising habits to ensure that you stay motivated and committed. If more people follow steps like these, you’ll be hearing less of “I’m fat” and more of “I feel and look great”.
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