Do you want to lose weight? Losing excess fat is not easy but be happy to know that you’re not alone in this endeavor. The Obesity Epidemic in the United States report states obesity and being overweight are affecting over a third of the world population. While obesity is a complex disease caused by many factors, it is surprisingly preventable.
There are several methods for burning fat and losing weight but not all ways are made equal. To lose fat effectively and keep your weight low, then read our tips on how to achieve these in healthy and sustainable ways.
Weight-Loss Strategies and Techniques to Keep Your Weight Low
The best way to have success with shedding fat is to take a multi-pronged approached, leaving no stone unturned in your quest for getting lean. Below are some of the various angles you can approach the complex task of burning calories and getting lean.
1. Try fat-burning supplements.
Trying to lose weight can be tricky. But with the help of fat-burning supplements, you can give yourself a boost in the right direction. Supplements like LeanBean help to increase your metabolism and reduce your appetite. As a result, you’ll end up burning more calories and losing weight more effectively.
In addition, these supplements can also help to improve your energy levels and give you the motivation you need to stick with your weight loss goals. So, if you’re looking for a way to lose weight effectively, try taking some fat-burning supplements. You may be surprised by the results.
2. Change what you eat.
You must understand that what you eat has a huge impact on your weight. Food intake is responsible for 100% of energy intake. If you eat more and burn less energy, the result is weight gain. To lose weight, you should reduce your food intake, exercise more to burn more energy and change the food you eat.
It may seem complicated with the large number of weight-reducing, fat-burning diets out there that you wouldn’t know what is good for you. What these diets have in common is reducing the portions of fat, protein, and carbohydrate (CHO) in the food you eat.
For example, most dieticians will recommend a hypocaloric, nutritionally balanced diet. With this type of diet, the patient can still consume the food they typically eat but in smaller quantities and with the guidance of the Food Guide Pyramid of the US Department of Agriculture.
The commercially available meal replacement programs might work for you if you are conscious of the calories you take. These programs will recommend replacing two to three of your daily meals with their products and the third meal of the day with a balanced diet.
By snacking on diet bars, fruits, and vegetables, they claim that you can consume 1,200 to 1,500 kcal/day. Studies show that together with dietary counseling or a disciplined self-managed behavior modification program, people taking the meal replacement programs can potentially lose a significant amount of weight within the first three months.
High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diets do not result in significant weight loss compared to other diets. But studies show that it helps encourage a huge improvement in body composition without affecting lean body mass.
Though this diet plan is taken as often as desired, the reduction in food intake is the outcome of the boring food requirements of the diet and the feeling of fullness brought about by the increase in protein intake. In effect, the rapid weight loss is not actually the result of burned fat, but the loss of bodily fluids brought about by diuresis and glycogen loss.
The Low-Fat diet is the most used in treating obesity. It restricts your fat consumption to a maximum of 10% of your total caloric intake. This stringent diet allows a limited number of food choices which makes it difficult for people to maintain for long periods of time. Significant weight loss results after a year if the diet is followed diligently.
3. Keep yourself active with exercise.
An increase in physical activity plays a major role in helping you reduce excess weight. In fact, one of the best indicators that the weight-reduction program is successful is when the patient has developed and sustained an exercise regimen.
Not all individuals will have the same exercise program because these are based on their current health status, personal preferences, physical limitations, and the level of their previous activities. The long-term effects of having regular physical activity are beneficial even if the person no longer needs to lose weight.
For most people, changing activities is more difficult than changing their diet. Deskbound individuals might find a 30-minute exercise program inserted into their daily routine doable but after several weeks of slow build-up. It is recommended that these exercises are broken down into 10-minute intervals for easier compliance.
The use of home exercise equipment increases the probability of regular exercise resulting in bigger amounts of weight loss in the long run. Exercise routines combined with a good dietary program can result in an average weight loss of 2 to 3 kilos in a short time.
4. Change your lifestyle and behaviors.
Changes in lifestyle are often required when studies show that the cause of obesity is due to some habits and behaviors that can be altered. By adjusting these behaviors, weight loss can be achieved and maintained.
The aim of lifestyle changes is to introduce more physical activity and lessen caloric intake by changing the patient’s eating habits. These types of treatments require exercise programs, close monitoring of their weight gain or loss, medical nutrition therapy, low-calorie diets, and finding a social support system promoting weight loss.
Patients are required to keep a journal of their food intake and daily activities. Being conscious of their food intake and how their dietitian will react to their eating behavior greatly influences the amount of food they are willing to eat.
The food diaries also provide a record of the eating habits and environmental factors that affect the patient’s diet or the reasons why they overeat. This information is vital in evaluating the cause of obesity and the creation of strategies to reduce weight. Recent studies show that this self-monitoring technique is very useful in programs for changing behaviors.
Even the tiniest adjustment in behaviors can make slight changes in your weight. For example, it is a good practice to eat only in the dining room and then depart from the table as soon as you finish eating. This prevents you from lingering around the table after you eat and the tendency to eat more food than necessary. Another example is to go shopping on a full stomach. This will prevent you from unnecessary snacking while you are at the mall and concentrate only on shopping.
5. Find support systems for your weight loss journey.
It is important to find a support system for weight loss programs that will help you with your fitness journey. Why? Changes in food intake, weight, and eating habits greatly affect the person physically, mentally, and emotionally. To make your weight loss program successful, it will involve emotional, dietary, and physical activity support systems.
The emotional and psychological well-being of a person affects their weight management. Counseling services are needed when a person has psychological issues that affect their eating habits such as stress eating, purging, and binge-eating.
Counseling will help the person identify these issues, their consequences, and their options in managing this disorder. This type of intervention is less complicated than psychotherapy sessions. It can be taken individually or with a group for a short period of time.
Psychotherapy sessions can be more costly, but the benefits are more substantial. The therapist will go deeper into the patient’s mental issues that may involve child abuse or emotional issues that led to obesity. Then, they will provide the management and support services needed in dealing with these current mental health problems. These sessions may be taken in a group or individually.
If the patient is financially challenged, they can opt to find a patient-led organization or group, commercial groups promoting weight loss programs, and nonprofit organizations such as American Heart Association that provide educational programs on nutrition.
Do note that these are more effective as complementary to a weight loss program led by professional counselors and therapists. With commercial and patient-led organizations, like Weight Watchers and Overeaters Anonymous, the counselors are non-professionals so their expertise may be limited.
The family is also a reliable source of support when in a weight-loss program. The incidence of drop-out rates is lesser when spouses are involved. However, there are also challenges and conflicts when some family members will not adjust to changes in food choices or eating habits of the entire household.
With the proper counseling and help of the spouse in implementing the program, the patient will be able to receive the support they need in achieving their weight loss goals.
A few reminders in keeping your weight low
Now that you have tipped the scales in your favor and made significant changes in your weight, here are additional reminders in keeping your weight low.
You must remember that Obesity is a preventable disease. To make your weight-loss program truly successful is to prevent gaining weight from extra body fat. There are a few eating habits that you may have that unconsciously promote weight gain.
These include not eating or eating a few meals at home, eating at restaurants with extra-large servings or eat-all-you-can buffets, and choosing high-fat and calorie-dense foods.
To keep your weight low and even lower, learn to eat healthy by replacing high calories with low-calorie foods. Prepare your meals at home and portion them into little containers. If you are dining at a restaurant, learn to recognize the fat content of the food items on the menu.
Estimate and eat just the right portions being served. Stop smoking and lessen your alcohol consumption. You must change some of your physical activities such as forcing yourself to work out or changing your paths to work to avoid passing food shops. You will also need the help of diet supplements and fat-burning pills as well as the counseling of weight-loss support groups for better long-term results.
