Losing weight and keeping it off requires a long-term commitment to lifestyle changes, not just a quick fix. Hundreds of fad diets, weight-loss programs, and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to make lasting lifestyle changes. This article explores consistent strategies for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, drawing on scientific evidence and practical advice.
The Foundation: Commitment and Support
Long-term weight loss takes time and effort. So be sure that you're ready to eat healthy foods and become more active. The journey begins with a personal commitment to change. No one else can make you lose weight. You need to make diet and physical activity changes to help yourself. It's important to acknowledge that this is a personal journey that requires dedication and perseverance.
To stay motivated, create a list of reasons why weight loss is important to you. The list can help you stay inspired and focused. Maybe you want to boost your health or get in shape for a vacation. Think of your goals on days when you don't feel like eating healthy foods or moving more. Find other ways to stay on track too.
While individual effort is crucial, support from others can be invaluable. It's up to you to make the changes that lead to long-term weight loss. But it helps to have support from others. Pick people who will inspire you. If you prefer to keep your weight-loss efforts private, take some steps to stay on course. Track your diet and exercise in a journal or an app. Also track your weight. Identify family members or friends who will support your weight loss efforts. Coworkers or neighbors with similar goals might share healthy recipes and plan group physical activities. It may help to join a weight-loss program or visit a health care professional, such as a nutrition or weight-loss specialist. You can also ask your health care provider for resources to support a healthy weight. Talk with your healthcare professional if you need help taking charge of stress.
Setting Realistic Goals
Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week over the long term. Losing 5% of your current weight may be a good goal to start with. If you weigh 180 pounds (82 kilograms), that's 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Even this amount of weight loss can lower your risk of some long-term health conditions. It can help to set two types of goals. The first type is called an action goal. You can list a healthy action that you'll use to lose weight. For instance, "Walk every day for 30 minutes" is an action goal. The second type is called an outcome goal. You can list a healthy outcome that you aim to have. "Lose 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)" is an example of an outcome goal. An outcome goal is what you want to achieve. But it doesn't tell you how to get there. An action goal does. Set short-term goals and reward your efforts along the way. Focus on two or three goals at a time. Effective goals are specific and realistic. For example, "exercise more" is not specific.
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Nutrition: Fueling Your Body Right
To lose weight, you need to lower the total calories you take in from food and drinks. One way that you can take in fewer calories is to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are known as plant-based foods. They're low in calories and high in fiber. Fiber helps you feel full. Eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits a day. Have whole grains, such as brown rice, barley, and whole-wheat bread and pasta. Use healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and nut oils. Limit foods and drinks that have added sugar. These include desserts, jellies and sodas. Focus on eating fresh foods. They have more nutrition than processed foods. Processed foods often come in a box or a can.
It's a good idea to be mindful while you eat. Focus on each bite of food. This helps you enjoy the taste. It also makes you more aware of when you feel full. Try to not to watch TV or stare at your phone during meals. Having a good understanding of how your body responds to food and eating can help you make sure you’re not overeating. This is known as mindful eating. It can involve the following: eating more slowly, learning to recognize when you’re hungry vs. when you’re craving food for emotional reasons, cooking colorful foods with a variety of textures to prolong and enjoy your meals. The reason eating quickly can be problematic is that it doesn’t allow your brain to register consciously when you’re full. Eating slowly gives your stomach more time to tell your brain you’re full, which helps you learn to distinguish the feeling of genuine hunger vs. fullness. This can result in you eating less. Try minimizing distractions while you eat and follow these to slow down during your meals.
Aim to include a variety of foods at each meal. To balance your plate, your meals should include protein, fat, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Eating a recommended amount of protein is essential to help preserve muscle mass while losing weight.Diets with adequate protein may also reduce cravings and snacks by helping you feel full and satisfied. All vegetables can be nutrient-rich additions to your diet. Aim to eat about 2.5 cups of vegetables daily. Although some oils, like olive oil, are considered healthy, they also provide 9 calories per gram, compared to protein and carbs, which provide only 4 calories per gram. For this reason, it’s important to eat healthy fats in moderation and limit saturated and trans-saturated fats.
The Power of Physical Activity
You can lose weight without exercise, but it's harder to do. Exercise has many other benefits. It can lift your mood, lower blood pressure and help you sleep better. Exercise helps you keep off the weight that you lose too. How many calories you burn depends on how often, how long and how hard you exercise. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking. Work up to at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week. Also aim to do strength training exercises at least twice a week. Any extra movement helps you burn calories. So think about ways to move more during the day.
Increased physical activity is an essential component of a comprehensive weight-reduction strategy for overweight adults who are otherwise healthy. One of the best predictors of success in the long-term management of overweight and obesity is the ability to develop and sustain an exercise program. For a given individual, the intensity, duration, frequency, and type of physical activity will depend on existing medical conditions, degree of previous activity, physical limitations, and individual preferences. For previously sedentary individuals, a slow progression in physical activity has been recommended so that 30 minutes of exercise daily is achieved after several weeks of gradual build-up. The activity goal has been expressed as an increase in energy expenditure of 1,000 kcal/wk, although this quantity may be insufficient to prevent weight regain. For that purpose, a weekly goal of 2,000 to 3,000 kcal of added activity may be necessary. For many individuals, changing activity levels is perceived as more unpleasant than changing dietary habits. Breaking up a 30-minute daily exercise “prescription” into 10-minute bouts has been shown to increase compliance over that of longer bouts. Some evidence suggests that home exercise equipment (e.g., a treadmill) increases the likelihood of regular exercise and is associated with greater long-term weight loss. In addition, individual preferences are paramount considerations in choices of activity.
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When strength training or resistance exercise is combined with aerobic activity, long-term results may be better than those with aerobics alone. Because strength training tends to build muscle, loss of lean body mass may be minimized and the relative loss of body fat may be increased. An added benefit is the attenuation of the decrease in resting metabolic rate associated with weight loss, possibly as a consequence of preserving or enhancing lean body mass.
Be sure to talk with a doctor before starting a new exercise plan.
Long-Term Sustainability: Making it a Lifestyle
It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for just a few weeks or months. To keep off extra weight, you should make these healthy changes a way of life. Think about negative habits or other challenges that have kept you from losing weight in the past. You'll likely have some setbacks on your weight-loss journey. But don't give up after a setback. Simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle.
The most important determinants of weight loss maintenance are those that cement changes in behavior. The data to date confirm the importance of self-regulation, and in particular self-monitoring of the day-to-day behaviors that drive energy intake and energy expenditure, especially eating behaviors. Those who have high self-efficacy (belief in your capacity to execute certain behaviors) for exercise in particular are more successful at sustaining weight loss.
Additional Tips for Success
- Stay Hydrated: Drinking plenty of water can help promote weight loss by reducing your food intake, especially if you drink water before a meal. It might also work by increasing fat burning, which can help enhance long-term weight loss. Be sure to choose water or other low calorie drinks rather than sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, which are high in sugar and calories and could contribute to weight gain. Other benefits from drinking water related to weight loss include helping you stay hydrated while you exercise and helping remove waste from the body. In general, drinking water helps your body run more efficiently.
- Eat More Fiber: Fiber moves slowly through the digestive tract and can help you feel fuller for longer to support weight loss.Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, breads, and legumes are food groups that contain a lot of fiber. Aim to eat 2 cups of fruit and 6 oz of grains daily. Many vegetables and legumes also contain fiber.
- Get Plenty of Sleep: In addition to changing your diet and exercise routine, getting enough sleep each night may be beneficial for weight loss. One study found that people who regularly sleep less than 7 hours per night are more likely to have a higher body mass index and develop obesity than those who sleep more. Plus, sleep deprivation might also alter levels of hormones that control hunger and appetite. As a general rule of thumb, it’s recommended to aim for at least 7 hours of high quality sleep each night.
- Track Your Progress: Tracking where you are now helps to identify how you want to improve your health. You can start by tracking your nutrition, physical activity, and sleep. Nutrition: Include everything you consume for a few days in a food and beverage diary. Sleep: Include the hours of sleep you get. Other wellness factors you can track include how you are feeling when you eat and drink and are active, and lifestyle challenges.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Unrealistic Expectations: Going into a diet with the sole purpose of losing weight as fast as possible often creates unsustainable eating habits. While they may produce results in the short term, participants often gain the weight back once the diet is over. Some diets, particularly "fad" diets that don't take nutritional needs into account, can even be harmful.
- Lack of Planning: Not setting goals and not planning meals can increase the temptation to cut corners and snack more.
- Social Isolation: If you lack a support system while dieting, it may be difficult to stay motivated.
- Insufficient Education: Not being educated on proper nutrition and portion sizes can make it difficult to plan healthy, satisfying meals.
- Distracted Eating: Have you ever opened a bag of chips to snack on while watching your favorite show and ended up finishing the bag without noticing? This can happen when you're too distracted to notice your body's "full" signals.
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