Tips for Losing Weight
Well, it's pretty obvious that you found this article because you wish to lose some weight and if you take what you are going to read about here seriously, it can make that wish come true for you.
The aim of this article is to show you how it can be a lot easier than you may have believed as long as you are prepared to do this for yourself.
So let's get on with it and show you what most dieters don't really know about.
You see, many people believe that weight loss is a difficult thing and it's fraught with failures and unhappy people who never seem to get any slimmer.
That very image of a fat person looking miserable as they bite into that hamburger they know they are not supposed to but can't help themselves, is one that haunts many would-be dieters resulting in either early failure or even worse, the failure to even get started.
However, it doesn't have to be like that.
All in the Mind
Losing weight is primarily a state of mind, or a mindset if you like. Go into it believing that you are going to fail, and guess what?
You will fail!
But go into it truly believing that you can do it and then a little magic happens. A positive mental attitude toward success actually helps bring that success to you simply because you believed you could do it.
This is pretty powerful and a big part of the reason so many people who do succeed, actually succeed. They started out with a firm belief in themselves that they had it in them to lose the number of pounds they wanted to lose and then set about doing it in the absolute belief that nothing was going to stop them reaching their goal.
You can do that too. Yes you can!
Three little words that you must repeat to yourself over and over are "YES I CAN" and before you know it, yes you will! Once you have that belief firmly etched on your brain so that nothing is going to rock it or make you waver, then is the time to start your weight loss plan.
And it is really as simple as you want to make it. Here are the basic tips for weight loss that work for every person, every time when they not just follow them, but truly understand them.
Prime Rule of Weight Loss
There is one prime rule of weight loss and it is a physical law that is absolute. Get this and you will get the whole story of losing weight:
Burn more calories than you consume and you will lose weight
It is so simple yet so many people just either don't get it or choose to ignore it and come up with some lame excuse why they are not losing weight while on a calorie controlled diet or a meal replacement diet food delivery program like the big name brands such as Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig or Medifast, for example.
You see, as long as your body is using more mass than you're putting into it, by burning up the calories in all the food you eat plus some, the law of physics says that you must lose something and that something is body mass.
There's no escaping this absolute law because you can't make something out of nothing and when you take something away from something else, you end up with less than you started with.
Once you understand that, and I mean really understand it, then you will see that the fat person who says they are fat because they have a medical condition that stops them losing weight or whatever, they are lying. Lying to you and to themselves. What is really happening is that they are not sticking to their calorie controlled diet or their diet is not restricting their calorie intake enough so that they are burning more than they are eating.
You can make sure you burn more than you eat in two ways. These two ways are through dieting and through exercising.
The recommendation from experts is that you combine the two for the most effective means of losing weight. There are some more additional things that will help the process along for sure, but get the two core basics into your strategy first and then add all the extras to make it even more effective.
Diet
Your diet needs to contain sufficient nutrients to ensure you stay healthy but it can do without all processed foods, bread and pasta, cakes, cookies, pie, pastries, candy bars, potato chips and other savory snacks, fast and junk foods etc. All that stuff just loads on empty calories and contain so many artificial additives that it's a wonder there aren't more sick people.
Same goes for what you drink. You don't need soda (even diet soda) or sports drinks, or cordials or even some fruit juices.
Stick to plain water, fresh wholesome foods and fresh fruit and amaze yourself as the pounds drop off.
You can help things along even further by eating slowly. Put your fork down in between mouthfuls. Spend some time actually tasting each mouthful of food and learn to appreciate what you are eating. Don't have distractions while you are eating, such as the TV, radio or newspaper/magazine etc. Do not have fast music playing, even quietly because this makes you eat faster.
Eating slow helps your digestive system work more effectively so you process your food much better and store less fat. Drink a glass or two of plain water before each meal and that will help your digestion even further as well as making you feel fuller faster.
Exercise
It's one thing eating to lose those excess pounds, but your body needs to be in a fit state to be able to burn more of the calories that it consumes. Exercise is the way to make that happen and it doesn't have to be strenuous work outs at the gym or ten mile runs to make it happen.
Going for long walks, swimming, taking the stairs instead of the elevator at every opportunity and generally being more active all counts towards increasing your body's calorie burning process throughout each day.
When you walk, try walking a little faster than normal to get the blood circulating and some activity going on in your leg muscles. These muscles are big and will use a lot of energy when you work them hard, meaning they will be responsible for burning more calories than any other in your body. If you can go for a run, all the better, but its not essential.
Swimming uses all your muscle groups and is one of the most beneficial and comprehensive workouts your body can get. Vary your stroke and try to swim as many lengths of the pool as you can before quitting and then have some fun before you get out of the pool because exercise doesn't need to be a solemn chore.
It should be fun too, because when you enjoy doing something, you'll want to do it more!
These are just the basic weight loss strategies, tips and methods that anyone can do when they really understand the process of losing weight and improving fitness and health all together, because its all about a whole body improvement so you not only look better, you feel better too.
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