How to start losing weight? The topic of obesity, diet and exercise is shrouded in many rumors and myths. Few things are as fiercely controversial as how to get rid of unwanted amounts. Despite the many different techniques, there are basic and universal rules that work for absolutely everyone. We will talk about them in this article.
The environment and lifestyle have changed dramatically over the last few decades. A lot of fast food, a number of street food, cafes and restaurants appeared, people increasingly started eating out and using delivery services, portion sizes increased markedly, and at the same time it turned out to be harder to choose healthy foods.
In addition, work and leisure have become sedentary. Despite the well-known benefits of physical activity, there is a downward trend worldwide. According to the latest reports from the EU, 6 out of 10 people over the age of 15 do not play sports or do so very rarely. At the same time, a significant proportion of the adult population in Europe spends more than four hours a day sitting, which can do nothing but affect health and appearance.
Thus, many factors influence what we eat and what lifestyle we choose, which means that it is necessary to make a conscious choice to start change.
Decide on your motivation to lose weight
Often this phase is not given the necessary significance, thinking that the desire to fit into a once favorite dress or take beautiful pictures on the beach is an effective goal. But aesthetic appeal is only one side of the coin, on the other are much more important and more important things: getting rid of complexes and self-doubt, the desire to have healthy children, the need to get rid of shortness of breath, hormonal disorders and other related problems.
It is always difficult to take the first steps, you will postpone it until later, to pause or completely abandon the idea. In addition, unrealistic weight loss goals are often set in the beginning, leading to high expectations, which later lead to frustration, stress and lack of progress. Do not let the all-or-nothing principle lead you. Set the ultimate desired goal and many intermediate (realistic! ) Goals. Imagine building a route for a car, the principle is the same.
Remember, food should not be a training reward or a "work off" on the chocolate you eat. Guilt is a motivation killer.
At the same time, analyze why you are overweight. Is this a recent change or a long-term picture? Have you started to do things differently - eat more outside the home, reduce your activity or change your diet? Knowing the cause will help you move faster toward your goal.
The quieter you go, the further you get
Losing weight is a systematic and long-term process. Even small weight loss (5 to 10% of total body weight) can provide health benefits such as improving blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels and reducing risk factors for chronic obesity-related diseases.
Do not resort to radical diets and exhausting fasting systems. They lead to rapid weight loss in the first few weeks, but they are unlikely to work in the long run because such lifestyle changes cannot be sustained. As soon as you cancel the cure, return to old habits and put on weight.
Also keep in mind that women generally have a higher fat-to-muscle ratio than men and have a resting metabolism of 5-10% lower. For example, an 8-week study of more than 2, 000 participants on a low-calorie diet (800 kcal per day) found that men lost 16% more weight than women under the same conditions.
Review the quantity and quality of food consumed
Many people have no idea how many calories they are eating. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, two groups of people who were similar in weight, height, body fat percentage, education level and more were asked to report how many calories they thought they were consuming per day. Both groups underestimated the actual amount by an average of 1000 calories!
Determine your daily calorie intake
Deciding how many calories to consume is half the battle, it is also important to consider the nutritional value of the food. For example, 500 calories in chips is not the same as 500 calories in raw vegetables.
Nutritionists insist that it is important to follow the rule of losing weight - to burn more calories than you consume. The daily deficit should average 500 kcal. Under this condition, you can lose a pound in two weeks without even resorting to physical activity. But in the long run this method will not work, over time the body builds up a feeling of stress and anxiety due to constant lack of food and instead of losing weight, the body starts to accumulate fat in case of a critical situation.
Reduce your portions
This is where size matters. Portion control over time will grow from a healthy habit to a lifestyle that eliminates constant overeating. An easy way to reduce your serving size is to use a smaller plate. Another is to eat more slowly so that the brain has time to receive a signal of the feeling of satiety. On average, this takes about 20 minutes.
Half of your plate should be vegetables, a quarter should be low-fat protein sources (chicken, turkey, fish, eggs), and the rest should be grains or whole grains.
Cut back on your carbohydrate intake
If you eat foods that are rich in simple carbohydrates (such as cakes, sodas, white flour bread or french fries), your body releases insulin to help control the flow of glucose to your bloodstream. Research shows that an increase in blood sugar levels after a few hours makes you feel hungry, craving for food and often leads to overeating. Fast and refined carbohydrates quickly fill the body with energy, but when ingested excessively, they are converted into fat reserves. Give preference to complex carbohydrates and be sure to combine them with natural fiber.
Eat more full diet
Whole foods are foods with a single ingredient that are rich in vitamins and micronutrients without chemical additives or processing. These include fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, seafood, legumes, eggs, nuts, etc. They help speed up metabolism, regulate weight, reduce hunger and affect hormone production.
One study involved 786 people who were divided into two groups. One of them was on a diet low in micronutrients, the other on a diet high in micronutrients. Nearly 80% of participants felt full after eating a diet high in micronutrients, even though they consumed fewer calories overall.
In addition, whole foods are free of trans fat. A recent study showed that monkeys that ate more artificial trans fats increased their weight by an average of 7, 2% compared to monkeys who ate a diet rich in monounsaturated fats.
Drink your daily amount of water
Drinking water can speed up your metabolism by 24-30%, which helps you burn more calories. One of the studies showed that the consumption of 0, 5 liters. Drinking water half an hour before meals helped dietitians consume fewer calories and lose 44% more weight compared to those who did not drink water.
Avoid juices and carbonated sugary drinks. According to research, their daily consumption is associated with a 60% increase in the risk of obesity in children.
If you replace your daily consumption of a glass of juice or soda with water, you can reduce your annual calorie intake by an average of 219, 000 kcal. Impressive, right?
Choose effective training for weight loss
Regular exercise is essential for both physical and mental health. A disciplined and targeted increase in the training frequency is often crucial for a successful weight loss.
The WHO recommends that people between the ages of 18 and 64 exercise at least 150 minutes a week.
The easiest and most affordable way to exercise is through aerobic exercise.
- Examples of moderate intensity aerobic activity are badminton, brisk walking, cycling, tennis.
- Examples of high-intensity aerobic activity are running, swimming, team sports (football, basketball), etc.
- In addition, you can introduce useful rules into your daily routine: Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalators, make a stop at your destination and walk, park your car a little further away from your home or office, and so on.
Cardio for weight loss is essential if you train properly, focus on heart rate (heart rate), use different techniques and intervals.
Of course, it is important not only to lose weight, but also to keep your muscles toned. Resistance exercises are essential for building a toned body. Research shows that strength training helps maintain a high metabolism and prevents the loss of precious muscle mass.
There are many workout routines for both the home and the gym.
Give preference to loads on all muscle groups rather than local. You will not lose weight in the waist and abdomen for a long time, and only do exercises on the abdomen, this is evident from the results of many studies. The same goes for weight loss in legs, hips, arms and other parts of the body.
According to surveys, one of the most common obstacles to losing weight is lack of time, more than 73% of women surveyed said they do not play sports for this reason. Circular, fat-burning and high-intensity interval workouts come to the rescue, which take no more than half an hour and are considered one of the most effective for weight loss.
Circular trainingtakes an average of 30 minutes. It consists of alternating several exercises (usually from 5 to 10), targeting different muscle groups, and doing rest intervals in between. This method improves your aerobic fitness and burns calories efficiently.
Fat burning trainingsimilar in principle circular, but the complex consists of more high-intensity loads on different muscle groups, which are performed without interruption. Rest is only allowed after completion of the block of exercises.
Recent years have gained great popularityhigh intensity trainingwhich takes 5 to 30 minutes a day. They alternate between maximum activity and rest (one to two). For example, you run for 1 minute as fast as possible, then walk slowly or rest for 2 minutes, and then repeat it all over again. Studies have shown that this training method helps you burn 25-30% more calories than other forms of exercise.
Special circuit training- 30 minutes of fitness for women, which consists of warming up, cardio, strength training, cooling down and stretching. Each training takes place under the supervision of a trainer who monitors the technique for performing the exercises, teaches and selects the optimal version of the load. Exercises are performed on simulators, created taking into account the physiological characteristics of the female body. They are based on hydraulic resistance and are safe for people of any physical shape.
Learn to enjoy exercising and doing weight loss exercises. Think about how much energy, joy and complacency training gives you.
Get help
Losing weight is not easy and doing it alone is even harder. If you are trying to shed those extra pounds and improve your overall health, remember that you do not have to go this route yourself. You can find like-minded people offline or online and join them.
Research has shown that support, healthy competition and regular demonstration of results can help maintain a consistent training performance and be more responsible in the process.
Track your progress
Self-control is the most important factor in a successful weight loss. When we see real, tangible movement toward our goals, we tend to be more motivated to keep working. The most important thing is not to get hung up.
Do not focus solely on weight. Weighing yourself daily can cause unnecessary anxiety and distress. Focus on the circumference of the waist, hips, chest, legs and arms. Measure them at the same time interval, for example every 2 weeks or once a month. Capture numbers in a notebook, application or specialized web portals. This will help you track the result and analyze which actions yield the most results.
Remember that weight loss is a gradual process, do not be put off if the extra kilos do not disappear at the speed you expected. Your task is to learn to lose weight properly, and not in 3 days.
Eliminate stress and lack of sleep
Healthy sleep is just as important as proper nutrition and exercise.
Research shows that irregular sleep is associated with an 89% increased risk of obesity in children and 55% in adults. Inadequate or poor sleep quality also slows down the conversion of calories into energy (metabolism). When it is not working, the body can store unused energy in the form of fat. In addition, poor sleep can increase the production of insulin and cortisol, as well as disrupt the regulation of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. It is leptin that sends satiety signals to the brain.
Another study found that sleep deprived people consume 385 more calories a day than those who sleep regularly and adequately. Just because of the disturbed sleep rhythm, you can thus gain an additional 7 kilos a year.
When it comes to stress, it triggers the release of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. If you feel anxiety all the time, cortisol is trapped in the bloodstream and signals the body to fill up the nutrient depots with carbohydrates, which often leads to overeating.
The researchers found that the 8-week stress management program led to significant decreases in BMI in overweight and obese children and adolescents.
Take a look at some of the methods to deal with stress:
- yoga
- meditation
- breathing exercises
- walks in nature, gardening, etc.
Do not use diet pills
The idea of magic diet pills to make your fat dissolve like a dream is tempting. But alas, this is too good to be true (if it were not already obvious).
Here are some of the side effects of diet pills:
- Exhaustion of the nervous system
- Hypertension
- Increased heart rate
- Violation of the work of internal organs
- Insomnia
- Dizziness
- Anxiety
- Lazy gut syndrome
Diet pills often promise instant results, but they do not interfere with your diet or lifestyle that has made your body "unhealthy". Even if you manage to overcome the unpleasant side effects and get short-term results, you will eventually get back to where you started. We dedicated a separate article to fat burners describing their disadvantages, benefits and possible risks.
Remember that to achieve lasting results, you need to fundamentally change your fitness and nutrition habits.
New weight loss books, articles, TV shows and videos are published every day, but there is no one-size-fits-all solution for permanent healthy weight loss. What works for one person may not work for you, as the body responds differently to different foods and stresses, depending on genetics and many other factors. Finding the right method will take time and patience, dedication and regularity.
To lose weight without suffering, make realistic changes in your diet and physical activity that become part of your lifestyle, otherwise you will quickly return to your old habits and original weight.