I am overweight. I constantly worry about my weight and eat because I am worried. And then I get worried because I ate. This cycle goes on and I gain more weight.a
What do I do to lose these excess pounds fast?
As a fitness trainer, I get this question very frequently. But I always tell them. There are no shortcuts to weight loss. Remember, you didn’t pile all those pounds in a day or two. It took years to get you all apple shaped, now it would take at least months for you to get back into shape if you set to doing it.
How do I proceed to losing the excess pounds?
Taking the first step is always the difficult one. The first step in your weight loss journey is to set a realistic plan for losing the weight. I say realistic plan, because if you intend to lose more than 20 pounds in a week, it is not possible, and it is also very unhealthy to try something like that. But if you set a goal of losing 1-2 pounds a week, it is realistic. The short- term goal achieved would give you some satisfaction as well as motivate you through your journey.
Analyze your diet habits. Keep a diet diary and note down every morsel that goes in to your mouth. You will see a pattern of emotional eating or over eating in this diary.
Change your diet habits into healthier one. Include more fibers, more protein and less carbohydrate, take good fats and reduce the intake of bad fats. Most important, learn portion control. Once you control your portions, you would be able to limit your calorie intake and create more calorie deficit.
Now comes the most important means to weight loss; Exercise. Most people shun away from the thought of exercise, making excuses of lack of time, lack of energy etc. But once you get into the habit of exercising, you would start loving the feeling of well being after exercise. And this would lead you to look forward to your exercise time as well. This is goal you have to achieve. Weight loss would come with it.
As a beginner to exercise, start with easy exercises. Then as your stamina improves, build up the intensity as well as time.
There are some simple but effective exercises any individual at any stamina and weight can do. Some are.
- Walking. Take a stroll across the neighborhood park. Start at an easy pace. If you cannot manage 30 minutes of walking at a stretch, break it up in to three 10 minute intervals through the day. On an average, you burn 100 calories in 30 minutes even if you are taking a stroll.
- Jogging. If you have a little more stamina, you can convert your walking into mild jogging. Break it up in your walking time. If you walk for 30 minutes, spend at least 10 minutes, together or five minutes each as intervals jogging.
- Swimming. Come summers and everyone is looking for a membership at the pool in the club. But how many people realize swimming as a cardio exercise. Instead of lazing around at the pool, spend some time swimming. It is a good workout for all your muscles, improves your stamina and keeps you cool at the same time. Swimming is a preferred cardio also because, as you are exercising in the water, the fatigue or exhaustion due to the intense exercise is not present.
- Water aerobics. If you do not know how to swim, no worries. You still may be able to do your workout in the comfort of the pool. Water aerobics classes are organized at most of the pools. Water aerobics include aerobic exercises done while in the water.
- Resistance training. Resistance training with weights or using your body weight would help. It is a misconception among most people that resistance training would bulk you up and hence many females wanting to lose weight hesitate to undertake resistance training as part of their schedule. Resistance training would not bulk you up, but tone your muscles. The toned muscles would expend more calories and in turn would help you lose weight.
Do whatever you can, but do some physical activity. This would aid in losing weight.
In addition to doing exercises and keeping dietary control, the important point to keep in mind is being motivated.