Welcome to our weight loss tips on how to lose weight and become healthy quickly, easily and most importantly permanently!
On paper, losing weight really is simply a case of eating less and exercising more. In reality, nothing is ever that black and white, and to be truthful, losing weight is one of the hardest processes you will ever endure.
Lately, health experts and officials have grown increasingly concerned with the obesity epidemic sweeping the nation, and many parts of the developed world. Increasingly, the number of overweight individuals living on our planet came in at 1.9 Billion. Experts now predict that that number is even higher. Out of these 1.9 Billion, a staggering 650 million were obese. Since the 1990s, obesity levels have tripled, which indicates that somewhere along the line, we’re doing things very wrong.
Understanding Health Risks Associated With Obesity
Before jumping to all kinds of weight loss programs, it’s important to understand health risks that are associated with obesity. Now we’re going to take a look at a few major health risks associated with obesity and being overweight.
Type-2 Diabetes
Type-2 Diabetes is very much a condition heavily linked to obesity. The vast majority of people affected with type-2 diabetes are obese or overweight. Losing weight is a great way to manage the disease, and if you do happen to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle, you could even potentially rid yourself of the disease entirely.
Heart disease
Heart disease is the number one killer in the world. Each year, more people die from heart disease than from all forms of cancer combined. Being overweight means that your LDL cholesterol will likely be high, and you will also likely suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) these can be precursors for heart disease, as well as other potentially fatal conditions such as a stroke.
Joint issues
People that are overweight often suffer from joint issues such as osteoarthritis. This is because the extra weight that they are carrying is placing additional stress and pressure on their joints. The knees often bear the brunt of this weight, though back and hip issues are also common with overweight individuals. Losing weight can ease pressure placed on these joints and can therefore improve their overall quality of life.
Fatty liver disease
Individuals who happen to be obese are far more likely to suffer from fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease is a condition in which the liver literally becomes coated in a restrictive layer of fat. If not addressed, it could potentially be fatal.
Well that’s a brief look at the situation we are facing and why it’s important to do all we can to increase our health while decreasing obesity
Assessing Our Current State Of Health For Weight Loss
In order to begin a weight loss program correctly, we need to understand our current state of health. In life, sadly, nothing worth having seems to come easily, and that unfortunately also seems to apply to good health. If you’ve ever struggled with your weight in the past, you’ll know all too clearly how difficult it is to lose weight.
Losing weight is an arduous, drawn out, stressful, and draining process. To make matters worse, gaining weight seems to be something that many of us can do without even trying.
It can take weeks of diet and exercise to lose a couple of pounds, yet one or two fairly high-calorie meals and that weight can be replaced in the blink of an eye.
Despite weight loss being difficult, it’s considered essential for a healthy and prosperous life. When it comes to our weight however, it’s important to monitor our body fat percentages in order to get an accurate reading.
There are a number of different ways of measuring and monitoring body fat levels, with some proving to be more accurate than others. Here’s a look at some of the different ways of measuring body fat.
Visit your doctor
This first example is very simple, yet highly recommended. Remember, obesity can literally be fatal and it can lead to all kinds of illnesses, diseases, and ailments.
A visit to your doctor is therefore highly recommended and where any weight loss program should start as they will be able to assess your weight and prescribe you various treatments or refer you to trained specialists such as nutritionists.
Your doctor may perform a simple body fat caliper test to measure your body fat, or they may even use the BMI method.
Whatever the case may be, you will have an accurate reading and an assessment from a qualified medical professional that you’re good to go. If there are any precautionary measures that you should be aware of, your doctor will inform you about those.
BMI
BMI, or Body Mass Index, is arguably the most common method of measuring body fat in the developed world, but it is far from ideal.
Basically, with a BMI test your weight will be measured against your height. If, according to the scales, you are heavier than your optimal weight for somebody your height, you will be classed as overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.
Weight, however, does not necessarily equal fat. An average height bodybuilder with a six pack, weighing in at over 230 pounds of solid muscle, would, according to a BMI test, be obese. This is of course not true as that 230 pounds largely comes from muscle, but even so, that’s what the BMI test will say.
Weighing Scale To Monitor Your Weight Loss
If you want to easiest and most primitive method of measuring your body fat, you could invest in a good quality set of weighing scales and weigh yourself.
Weighing scales are far from perfect because they can’t differentiate between fat, water, and muscle, but even so, they’re great for providing a rough idea of where you’re at. If you’re looking to lose weight, weighing yourself once a week should give you a good idea of whether your efforts are proving fruitful thus far.
Bio Impedance Scales
Bio Impedance scales are very effective when it comes to measuring body fat because they are able to differentiate between muscle, water, and body fat.
They work by sending out a series of electrical impulses throughout the body, and then measuring the rate in which they return. Electrical currents flow through different materials (fat, muscle, water, etc) at different rates. You simply stand on the specially designed scales and you’ll find that the results are with you in a matter of seconds.
Take “Progress” Photo’s (Before & After Weight Loss)
This is a very important step and with just about everyone having a smartphone, it just takes seconds to snap a photo of your body. Take one photo with you facing forward and one photo of your side profile… similar to what you see in the weight loss magazines.
Photos are probably the best indicator of how far you’ve come in your weight loss journey. A general rule of thumb is that in the first 30 days, you may see your weight drop a little and you’ll notice the difference but your family and friends probably won’t.
By the 60th day, there’ll definitely be a visible difference and your family members will start to take notice that you are getting slimmer.
By the 90th day, just about everyone who knows you will have to admit that you’ve shed the pounds and you look fitter, healthier and have a certain glow about you.
The question now is… Will you reach day 90?
The photos that you take once every 3 weeks or monthly will keep you going. If you rely on the weight that you see on a scale, you may probably give up like thousands of people who do.
There’s a reason for this. The scale does not show how much fat you’ve lost and how much muscle you’ve gained. People who start training after a long period of being sedentary can gain lean muscle quite quickly. The body is craving muscle and grabs the chance to build some when you’re eating and training right.
For example, if you lose 7 pounds of fat but gain 3 pounds of muscle at the end of a month, the scale will reflect a drop of only 4 pounds. This can be very discouraging to many people because they were expecting better results.
What they don’t realize is that muscle is more dense than fat. So, by losing 7 pounds of fat, there will be a significant difference in your appearance.
Your jawline may become more pronounced. Your thighs may have stopped rubbing against each other when you walk and your arms may be much more toned.
But you can’t see any of these results on a scale. That is exactly why you should take photos every now and then. When you compare your before and after photos, you’ll be amazed at how much change there is… and these positive changes will spur you to do better and give more. You’ll stay the course and be motivated to reach your weight loss goal.
This is about all you need to do to assess your current situation. In the next part, we’ll look at the most crucial factor that determines if you’ll lose weight successfully or join the majority of people who never succeed at it and battle with their weight all their lives…setting goals & sticking to them!
Setting Productive Weight Loss Goals and Motivational Techniques
As you know, obesity can potentially be fatal, which is why it’s so important for us to get our weight under control as quickly as we possibly can.
The sooner we act, the longer we will hopefully live. If you’re serious about losing weight, it’s vital that you stick with the plan for the long-haul.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to losing weight, nor are there any quick fixes. If you’re serious about losing weight, it’s important to set yourself goals. Goal setting however, is easier said than done. To stick to your goals, you need to ensure that you are motivated and driven.“Weight loss is not a physical challenge. It’s a mental one”.
Before you even set any weight loss goals it’s time for a reality check. Here are a few things you need to know and be aware of.
- Losing 1 or 2 pounds of fat a week is normal.
- The more overweight you are, the more fat you will lose in the initial stages. As you progress, your weight loss results will start tapering down.
- There may be a week or two when the numbers on the scale just don’t change… or might even go up a pound.
- Your caloric deficit is the most important factor.
- It takes time to lose weight.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, here’s a look at how to set goals and stay motivated.
Set realistic goals – When losing weight, the temptation is always there to set yourself an outrageous weight loss goal in a bid to help keep yourself driven and focused.
At first this technique may prove beneficial, but as time goes by and reality sets in, you’ll begin to realize that, actually, the goals you set are not really viable.
Losing 3 pounds in a week for example, is quite tough, but it is realistic. Setting a goal of losing 10 pounds in a week though, is not realistic or practical. If for example, you lost 4 pounds that week, ordinarily that would be an extraordinary loss. Because you set a goal of 10, as you would be 6 pounds light, you’d view it as a failure.
This would then result in you adopting much more of a negative mindset. When you set weight loss goals, always be realistic.
Visualize Your Weight Loss Result
When we attempt to lose weight and get in shape, we will experience highs and lows.
Some days we’ll find ourselves full of energy and motivation, and ready to tackle whatever the day throws at us. Other days however, we find ourselves tired, unmotivated, and questioning why we’re even bothering.
When you feel like this, visualize your goals and targets and remember why you’re losing weight in the first place. Visualize yourself leaner, fitter, healthier, and happier and focus on how much better you will look and feel.
Make small goals and meet them. Once you start cleaning up your diet and eating wholesome, nutritious food, your goal can be to slowly eliminate the detrimental foods over time.
As far as your training regimen goes, your goal may be to get to the gym 3 or 4 times a week or walk daily. It doesn’t have to be huge goals. Aim for ones that you can manage and each week, make small improvements.
While we’ve covered setting goals & motivation for weight loss, the real work is about to begin. Click here to look at nutrition and the fundamentals of a healthy diet.
