Don't Be In A Hurry. Review on Healthy Weight Loss

Most people will develop their eating habits early in life. Sometimes these habits will conform to the ideal of food recommendations for maintaining good health. Moreover, that is not the case.

The most important dietary problems in the United States today is obesity. Studies have shown that people who are over weight have a better chance of suffering from disease and shortened life span. I, myself, suffered a heart attack at the age of thirty-five. I was not really overweight, but did not eat a healthy diet. Changes had to be made.

I learned in a hurry that weight gain can be a result of more caloric intake than caloric expenditure. I had to learn to count my calories and then to adjust my exercise accordingly. A calorie not spent in either physical activity or to sustain life will convert itself to fat. A calorie is a unit of measure that gives the amount of energy potentially available in a given food. It can also be used to describe the amount of energy the body uses to do a given function.

It is very important that in the course of the day we carefully balance the calories that we take in with what we need to maintain our bodies and what we will bun out through activity. That is because only 60% of the calories that we take in are used for the basic metabolic processes. The rest will more than likely result in your weight gain. Keep in mind, when you are planning your diet that it takes only 3, 500 extra calories to produce one pound of fat.

A good way to determine what your daily caloric intake should be is to multiply your desirable weight by 16 if you are a woman and by 18 if you are a man. Of course, if your day is full of strenuous activity more calories will be needed.

EXAMPLE:

100 lbs= desirable weight

x 16

_

1600= Daily caloric intake

Unless there are medical reasons not to do so, anyone who weighs more that 20% over his or her normal body limit should be encouraged to slim down. It is important that the motivation come form within yourself and not from some outside source. Unless you really want to loose the weight, and are ready to do so, you will not be successful.

So, you are ready to get started! The key to successful weight reduction is proper eating combined with proper physical activity. This balance can be difficult to achieve because it will take a marked change in attitude and behavior. Once these changes are made, they will have to be retained unless you want to gain the weight back.

The first thing you will want to do when planning your diet is to determine how many pounds that you will need to loose. A realistic goal for you to set would be approximately one pound a week. This may seem slow to you, but remember any more and it would probably come right back anyway.

Start by weighing yourself when you first get up in the morning. For the next few weeks eat as you normally would-keeping a careful record of everything you eat, the time you eat it, and how many calories it contained. During this time you should also maintain your regular activity.

When the two weeks are up, weigh yourself again at the same time of the day. If you have not gained any weight, that means that you are in a basal-caloric state. Now, what you need to do is look at your food intake sheet and see what you might comfortably do without. You should try to think about eliminating fats and carbohydrates first. This is because your body will need the vitamins and minerals that are found in proteins.

When you replan your meals, keep in mind that the things that you cut out from your diet should add up to between 300 and 400 calories a day if you are going to loose one pound a week.

Your daily food intake should be divided into three meals a day. You can break it down into more if you choose, but it should be at least three. If you do need to snack, try snacking on low calorie foods. Carrots, celery, cucumbers, cabbage, and fruits are always good.

At the same time that you begin to cut down on your food intake-you should start to increase your daily exercise.