So you want to lose weight but you have absolutely no idea where to begin. Don’t worry, you are not alone! A lot of people are confused by weight loss because all of the misinformation and fad diets out there. If you want to simplify weight loss, it can be done. You just have to understand how weight loss works and how to provide your body with the stuff that it really needs.
1. Figure out your calories
Weight loss is as simple as: calories that go in need to be less than what goes out. This means you need to eat less than what you are exerting so that you create a deficit. For every 3,500 calories that you cut out of your life you will lose one pound of body fat! If you think about it, cutting out 500 calories each day really isn’t that difficult to do. You can burn calories by working out and you can easily cut calories by eating healthier foods.
So, how do you figure out your calories? Start by going online and using calculators to determine your BMR (basic metabolic rate) and AMR (active metabolic rate). Once you have the active metabolic rate you will see how many calories you need to be active throughout the day. If you want to lose a pound per week, then 500 calories will need to be cut from that number each day.
Let’s say you have an active metabolic rate of 2,500. If you want to lose 1 pound per week you would have to create a deficit of 500 calories per day, which can be done through diet or exercise. If you wanted to lose 2 pounds per week you would have to cut 1,000 calories per day through diet or exercise. It’s generally not a good idea to eat under your BMR, but you can certainly exercise calories off if you want to see quick weight loss.
2. Eat the right foods
What are “the right” foods? Well, they are foods that make you feel full without having a lot of calories in them. For example, broccoli and cauliflower both have a lot of fiber that makes you feel full, but they don’t have that many calories in them. Eating more of these foods will result in you not having to feel like you are starving all the time, which is what leads to many people quitting their diets.
3. Have fun with exercise
Don’t stick yourself in the gym for two hours every day. This is going to make you go crazy and get bored quickly. Instead, why not exercise with a friend or go on a walk with your family? You can even use most home gaming systems to exercise with various games. There are also a lot of dance classes available at most community centers, so the options are endless.
4. Give in to cravings
This doesn’t mean you should eat whatever you want all throughout the day; it just means you should eat some things that you crave. Being able to enjoy what you eat can result in staying on track with your diet so you don’t quit due to lack of excitement. So, give in to that ice cream or candy bar sometimes!
By taking these steps to lose weight you can finally make sense out of all the crazy information is out there. You can get in shape and change your body; it’s just a matter of changing out you eat and paying attention to what you put into your body.
