Successful weight loss without a good weight loss program is nearly impossible. To lose body fat fast you need a good weight loss program with a balance of diet, exercise and good advice. To help you I have put together 10 tips which will maximize your success.
Your weight reflects your total calorie intake, the amount you exercise, and your metabolic rate, but the most important part of the equation by far is the composition of the food you eat. Here are some tips.
Reduce your carbohydrates. It is almost impossible to lose weight and keep it off without eating substantially fewer carbohydrates and particularly those high on the GIycemic index chart. The more processed the carbohydrate the higher the GI. White bread, cakes, candy, chocolate, biscuits, soda are all high GI. And the bad news is that eating high GI carbohydrates stimulates that appetite for more of the same. Eating a low-carbohydrate, low-GI diet will help you control your appetite and decrease cravings.
Low GI foods are brown rice, whole-wheat breads, wholemeal pastas. With low GI foods you will feel fuller sooner, and you will find it easier to eat enough without overeating. Another bonus is that you will be less tempted to snack between meals because your blood sugar will stay constant and not wildly fluctuate as it does with high GI foods. Keep your total carbohydrate intake to under one-sixth of your calories and eliminate all high-GI carbohydrates such as sugary foods, pastas, and breads. Lose candy, cakes and biscuits.
Try to reduce the amount of saturated fats you eat but don’t get paranoid about it. Saturate fats such as animal fats are implicated in heart disease and especially stay away from trans fats, the type used to cook fries, chips, and fast foods. They will kill you, clog up your arteries and predispose you to cancers such as bowel cancer. On the fat issue, there has been a campaign for years to reduce our fat intake in the belief we will get thin if we do. This philosophy has been a spectacular failure. One gram of fat contains 10 calories and 1 gram of carbohydrate or protien contains 4 calories, but fat and carbohydrates are metabolised by the body differently and fat doesn’t make you fat. Carbs do! Low fat processed foods are full of sugar.
Eat more vegetables and fruit. Look of foods that have low amounts of calories in them. Low starch vegetables are good for you and will help you lose weight. These are green vegetables like broccoli, green beans, asparagus and leafy vegetables. Be cautious of potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams and foods like taro that are calorie-dense. Fiber rich foods like carrots are particularly good. Fiber is good as it helps elimination and weight loss.
Include more fiber in your diet. Fruit is a great source of fiber, as are raw vegetables, freshly made carrot juice and so on. Try to eat at least 25 grams per day, including at least 10 grams of insoluble fiber. It will protect your heart and your bowels from disease.
Make the changes to your diet and lifestyle steady rather than radical. Too much too soon will lead to a sense of dislocation and the diet will go long before the fat! Your goal is a steady shift to a new and better lifestyle which incorporates a new diet, exercise program and a new attitude to yourself and life. Radical is just too difficult to sustain.
Your goal should be a healthy lifestyle and a new healthy you. This means not just diet but also attitude. If you are going to lose weight, the gtoal is to attractive at the end of the process, not thin, unhealthy and unattractive. Try for fresh, slim and attractiove with a real appreciation of yourself and your own value as a person. We are looking for long term goals hers, not just the next six weeks.
Don’t be desperate to lose weight. It might be very important that you lose weight but if you become desperate it all just becomes hard work. Allow yourself to enjoy the journey. Link your new lifestyle to positive emotions and the weight loss will be a bonus. It may take a little longer, but it will ensure that you’ll never have to lose weight again.
Expect some ups and downs in the weight loss process. There will be weeks when the scales seem to mock you and others where the weight seems to have just fallen off. Remember that if you are a woman there are hormonal issues here as the monthly cycle affects fluid retention. Also as the exercise program develops your weight may stay stagnant but your waist line starts to shrink. Muscle weighs more than fat so the scales aren’t the only measure of success. What matters is that you are traveling in the right direction and that you don’t get off the train.
Never starve yourself. Starvation will lead to a rapid reduction in your metabolic rate and your energy levels will drop. The body will try to hang on to every spare ounce of fat it has because it thinks it has to go into survival mode because you have gone into a famine. This is a normal physiological response and the best strategy when on a diet is to eat.
And eating breakfast is the best meal to start the day with! A high GI breakfast of porridge and whole grain toast, protein like an egg and bacon and tea or coffee and not fruit juice sets you up for the day. Fruit juice has too much sugar in it and is a bad start to the day. A good breakfast will sustain you until lunch and you will be protected against the mid-morning snack attack that you are prone to when you start the day without breakfast. No breakfast and I promise you will fall off the diet by 11 AM that day.
The importance of a good program to assist cannot be underestimated. The program must include a sensible exercise program that will boost the metabolism and tone the flab. Finding the right foods and the right balance of exercise can make all the difference between success and failure. Without a guide it is easy to find it all too much hard work. A good program smoothes the way and makes it easier for you. It should have a meal plan built in to be most effective. Find one that fits you and stick to it.
Will power is like any other muscle. Use it and it grows. Find your program and stick to it. One day you will look in the mirror and see your dreams fulfilled. Neglect it and …. Well look where you are today!
