Losing Weight Requires A Lifestyle Change

Tis the season for diets.  New Years resolutions are full of people vowing to lose weight.  And so many people go on crash diets or fad diets.  They take diet pills or begin to count calories.  But the shocking fact is, many of these people will actually gain the weight back.  A successful diet, one which will lose weight and KEEP it off, requires a lifestyle change.

Lifestyle Change To Lose Weight

Changing your lifestyle is the best, and healthiest, way to lose weight and keep it off.  Is it always the easiest way to lose weight?  Maybe.  It depends upon what your current lifestyle is like.  It may only require slight modifications to what you are used to, or it may entail several changes which can take time.  Suffice to say, a lifestyle change requires only a two simple changes:

1.  Change what you eat and drink
2.  Exercise

That's it.  Yes, it's that simple.

Change What You Eat

The obvious thing to look at here is junk food and fast food.  There are so many calories built into these products, that it doesn't take long to pack on extra pounds.  Contrary to popular belief, eating fewer times does not help much in attaining your goals.  In fact, it is recommended to eat more often, but in smaller portions.  Up to 6 times/day.  A healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner in smaller portions, along with snacks consisting of fruit, veggies, or yogurt.  Staying away from soda, especially diet soda, is also key.

What You Should Eat

Back in August, I wrote a piece entitled, "The Top 4 Secrets To Losing Weight".  In this post, I discussed the Glycemic Index.  I won't go into the details here, but in a nutshell there are certain foods which have a high Glycemic Index, and others with lower index ratings.  Foods with a high glycemic index spike the blood sugar levels in your body.  They also cause your blood sugar levels to come down rapidly, causing those cravings you may experience.  Whereas, foods with a lower index will rise the blood sugar slower and will come down more gradually, thus reducing those cravings.

Some examples of foods which are high glycemic would be:  pretzels, rice cakes, white bread, potatoes, and white rice.  Examples of low glycemic foods are:  most fruits and vegetables, wheat bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and yogurt.  You can find a larger list by visiting this site.

What About Exercise?

If you change your eating habits, cut out soda, and follow the gylcemic index chart your odds are pretty good that you will lose weight.  To improve your chances and increase the amount of weight you lose, exercise becomes very important.  Gaining weight comes down to simple chemistry.  If you consume more calories than you burn off, the excess calories are stored as fat.  It is a basic survival method of the body.

So the secret to losing weight is to burn off more calories than you take in.  Obviously, if you start to eat better you are going to be consuming less calories.  Therefore, if you lead a life where you get very little exercise, you will probably still burn off more calories/day than you take in.  It's just that the difference won't be very large.  However, if you start to exercise you will widen that gap.  Burning off more calories creates a larger difference and will, therefore, result in losing more weight.

Getting 20-30 minutes of exercise/day is all you need.  Depending upon the TYPE of exercise.  If you are doing something which increases your heart rate, then you are looking at 20-30min.  However, if you are simply walking around the block, your heart rate may not increase very much and you will need to exercise longer.

Making The Change

Now, before you go off changing your lifestyle, you may want to consult with your doctor first.  The last thing you want to do is to to do too much at one time.  An increase in the amount of exercise after leading a fairly sedentary life may cause injury.  So just be cautious.

But if you give this method a try, I think you will be happy with the results.  Not only should you start to see a decrease in your weight, but it is very possible you could see some beneficial side effects.  Things like lowering your blood pressure or cholesterol levels are just some of these benefits.  You will have more energy, you'll be in better shape, and you'll be healthier.  And best of all, you can decrease your risk of certain diseases like diabetes and heart disease.  I can recommend a system which will help you though this lifestyle change, so if you are interested simply send me an email and I will be happy to discuss it with you.

To Your Health.

Scott Huff has been helping people obtain optimal levels of vitamins and minerals through the use of  pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements.  He is also experienced in helping people create an alternate source of income, simply by educating and helping others with their health.  For more information on this unique opportunity, please watch this short video tour, or send an email with any questions to:  huffster@usana.com.