Losing Weight Safely
Nearly 70 percent of adult Americans, per the Center for Disease Control, are overweight, with close to 36 percent considered obese.
While a few extra pounds may not hurt you, excess weight can lead to heart disease, cancers, and a variety of other health problems.
Extra weight can also impact self-worth and interfere with your ability to perform everyday tasks, such as playing with your children or walking up a flight of stairs.
All of this adds up to one conclusion: for people who are overweight, losing the extra pounds can make a world of difference.
The Wrong Way to Lose Weight
Even though losing weight is necessary for some, not all weight loss programs or concepts are beneficial; there are actually several wrong ways to lose weight. These include:
Using a Gimmick Program: There is no magic pill for weight loss; if there were, it would fly off the proverbial shelves. Instead, the programs that try to mimic a magic pill usually involve detoxification teas, laxatives, or potions.
These can be dangerous and when the pounds do come off, you’re usually just losing water (which you’ll ultimately gain back).
Losing Weight Too Fast: Per Web MD, losing more than 2 or 3 pounds a week can result in the loss of muscle instead of fat. This may reduce your actual weight, but it will also drastically decrease your metabolism.
People who are very heavy may be able to safely lose more than three pounds a week, but the majority of dieters should take it slow and steady.
Cutting Too Many Calories: Your body needs calories in order to function. Consuming less than 1,200 calories each day can make you feel weak and lethargic. This can drastically limit your ability to exercise or perform less arduous activities.
Limiting Yourself Too Much: The best diets are about cutting back, not about cutting out.
Rather than embarking on a diet that never lets you eat dessert, try one where you can occasionally splurge. Fully depriving yourself can make you overindulge during a moment of desperation.
The Right Way to Lose Weight
On the other end of the spectrum lie the right ways to lose weight. These include:
Exercising Effectively: Exercising is a vital part of weight loss, but it is more effective when done correctly. According to Fox News, working out comes with a number of myths.
Spot reduction, for instance, doesn’t actually work: rather, if you want a lean midsection, work on your core, aerobic exercise, and resistance training instead of simply doing thousands of sit-ups.
Another myth involves the relationship between low-intensity exercise and fat-burning; a low-intensity workout won’t put you inside any kind of magical fat-burning zone. Instead, engage in a program with moderate to high-intensity and interval training.
Aim to Burn 500 More Calories Than You Eat Each Day: Reducing 500 calories from your diet each day isn’t all that difficult; two large donuts, for instance, amounts to more than 600 calories.
If you are able to stick with the 500-calorie goal, you can lose 1-2 pounds a week without lacking energy.
Limit Salt and Starch: Foods high in salt, sodium, or starch may not be any more caloric than other types of foods, but they can lead to water retention.
Cutting them out of your diet will make you feel “thinner” and encourage you in your weight loss journey.
Focus on Food: If you’ve ever been on an arduous diet, you may think that the word diet is just “die” with a “t.”
This is usually because diets focus on the foods you can’t have, rather than the ones you can. By focusing on the positive, however, your diet may seem less difficult and more effective.
Thus, focus on vegetables, fruits, teas, and lean meats, instead of sweets, oils, and sugars. Filling up on what’s good for you just may make you too full to even consider bad foods.
