To Lose Weight and How To Do It Successfully

To lose weight you need to have a healthy diet as the food you eat should give you all the minerals and vitamins that are needed to maintain a strong immune system, which in turn help your body protect itself from harmful diseases. It is through our diet that we will either strengthen or weaken it.

Starving is not an option and you should not have to. It is no good starving yourself for a week and then having a pizza the weekend, all you will end up doing is putting on back the calories that you lost – you are setting yourself up for failure. Then you wonder why you can not lose that belly fat. The fact is that while on a diet you will begin to obsess more about food, not think less about it.

The less you eat the more you will put on, worse still, the more you try to lose weight and for longer periods, the more miserable you are going to get. Furthermore, as you begin to eat less and less the body will react, it will go into 'starvation mode' because it does not know when the next source of energy ie, food, is going to come from, the food that you do eat will be stored as fat.

Not only are how and when the foods that we eat important, exercise too is important. So which weight loss programme do you choose. You need to make sure you do not fall for wide claims of too much weight loss over a given period of time as it can actually be harmful to you, the best and most simple way to lose weight is to do it gradually and consistently.

Even if you do exercise you will still gain weight if your eating habits are bad, such as eating large quantities of food at a time, or eating too little. Both exercise and a proper diet are essential to maintain both a healthy mind and body.

So fine, you are all geared up and raring to go but what next – we can not do it on our own, and we should not have to.

Would you like to start something straight away, and I do not mean you need to go to the gym you do not.

There are people who hate going to the gym, ashamed about the way they look and feel, especially around people who have 'better bodies' than they. In fact, you do not need to go to the gym or spend anything on exercise equipment. There are many things you can do right now.

1. Remember to take regular breaks throughout your weight loss routine, do not over stretch yourself.

2. Drink plenty of water this will help your kidneys to continue getting rid of waste products. Without the vital ingredient of water your they would not be able to function at their best and to their job properly.

3. Make sure to drink water before a meal as this will help to suppress your appetite.

4. Decrease the level of salt intake as this can cause you to retain water causing you to gain more. Reducing your salt intake will help the body get rid of excess weight which the water may 'artificially' create through bloating.

5. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables as research has shown eating more of these foods increases your energy levels and at the same time reduces your hunger, helping weight loss.

6. Research has shown that people who eat mainly fruit and vegetables tend to lose weight faster and their weight remains constant much longer than those who do not.

7. Eat more fibre as this gives you the feeling of feeling full for much longer, reducing food cravings in the process. It also increases energy levels.

8. If you are a beginner simply start off with a simple exercise routine that lasts no more than 10 minutes several times a day. This will work just as sufficiently as one 30 or 40 minute session as it gives your fat burning metabolism a chance to slow down.

9 Continue adding a little more physical activity to your routine each day. As mentioned before this does not mean you have to sign up to any gym any kind of physical activity can easily be done in the comfort of your own home.

10 Eat breakfast as many studies have shown people who miss breakfast are more likely to put on weight than people who do because it kick starts your metabolism helping you to burn more calories in the process

11. Chew your food do not swallow it, give your body time to realize it has actually eaten something.

12. Make sure you have sufficient amounts of sleep as research has shown people who sleep for longer than the required period of 8 hours, or those that do not have sufficient rest, tend to gain more weight than people who do.

13. Do not become a 'couch potato'. Instead of using the remote bin it, every time you need to change the channel – get up and do it instead. The metabolism of people who are inactive for long periods at a time slows down thereby increasing your fat storage capabilities.

14. Cut back on junk food and try eating more healthily each day, automatically helping you to lose weight by the reduction in extra calories.

15. Eat more frequently throughout the day – this will reduce hunger pangs helping weight loss considerably. The longer you wait in between meals the more your hunger will increase, increasing the likelihood of over eating when you do eat.

16. Increase your daily activity for example take the stairs whenever permitting.

17. Do not make the mistake of thinking if you do not eat anything you will not put on any weight. Do not crash diet or your weight loss program will coming crashing down on you.

18. Eat smaller portions and only eat until your hunger has stopped and then stop. When you continue to eat you are over eating.

19. Reduce your sugar content in drinks such as tea and sugar.

20. Cut out fizzy drinks, these too are laden in sugars.

21. Cut your alcohol intake which can be high in sugar content.

22. Avoid canned and processed foods – these are both high in sugar and salt, which can contribute considerably to weight gain.

23. Whenever possible eat fruit which are full of natural sugars and fibre instead of fruit juices which may contain higher sugar levels.

24. Listening to music while exercising as this can be a great motivational tool to aid you in your journey to lose weight.

25. Get your mind in sync with your desire for weight loss – come up with valid and strong reasons why you want to lose weight, for example I want to look better, or I want to lose weight so that I can fit into my new suit. Give yourself the leverage and put yourself in control.

26. Cut out sweets and biscuits from your diet or if this is going to be harder than you think, try and reduce your intake considerably.

27. Keep a record, give yourself the fuel by acknowledging and recording your achievements.

28. Changes, however small can lead to big changes. It is important not to lose sight of your focus.

29. The most effective way to lose weight is both by the foods that you eat and the level of exercise you do.

30. If you are not successful in your quest for weight loss, do not beat yourself up. Persistence is key, a little everyday can go along way. Persist. What the mind can conceive it can achieve.

31. Finally, there are no short cuts to losing weight, but done consistently and gradually you will lose weight with results that will last.

If you look good you will feel good, which I believe is absolutely true. Keep doing what you do consistently and you will see results.