The war against the extra pounds has been raging on for decades, with no victory for either side in sight, losing weight has become a kind of quarterly ritual. There are people who achieve impressive personal victories, and go ‘From Obese to Beast’, but a lot of people are going through an endless cycle of diets and phantom gym memberships.
Losing weight is not rocket science, it is actual elementary math, if you take in more calories than you need then the you will gain weight. A healthy diet is important but doesn’t automatically mean you will lose weight, the rule of input compared to output still applies here.
Every person has to find their personal best method, if you have been dieting for four years with no result, or no sustainable result, then it is not working. Period.
Here are a few basics, that you have most probably heard a thousand times, but reading about them is not always enough.
Reduce Carbs
This is a classic, carbs are a big enemy of weight loss. They include white bread, rice, potatoes and all things sugary. Get these things out of your life they prevent the fat stored up in your body from being utilized as they themselves are an instant source of energy. And the worst part is that excess carbs are stored as fat too. Replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners is not a good idea, generally “light” products are a scam, eat less but real food.
Eat Good Amounts of Fiber
Fiber is your best friend if you want to start eating healthy. Fiber is found in vegetables and fruits. It keeps you full, keeps your appetite down, and cleans out your stomach. Some studies have even suggested that high-fiber diets also make you lose a slight amount of body weight as well.
Do Strength Training
Strength training is helpful in many ways, research shows that regular strength training has very good long term effects on weight loss.
Although you burn less calories when lifting weights, compared to jogging for example, but the increased muscle mass increases the general amount of energy the body burns. As a result, the body’s metabolic rate is increased when resting, and in this state the primary source of energy is body fat, yay. Also the higher consumption of oxygen helps in burning fat too.
In short, more muscles is like increasing your body’s miles per gallon. You use more gas to cover the same distance, it is not good for your car but good for losing weight.
Do Cardio Daily
Cardio exercise helps you lose weight by burning calories and increasing your oxygen consumption. A lot of people over estimate the amount of energy burnt during exercise, exercise is not the holy grail of weight loss, it helps in combination with eating less.
You can use a treadmill or a stair-mill, but a good run or jog in the morning is good enough for a daily cardio fix. If you find it difficult to exercise with such intensity, you can even walk briskly; that can be counted as cardio too.
Sustainability
No matter where you look, everybody is giving the same advice but why is it not always working if it is so simple? It is mainly because most people choose a method that does not suit their lifestyle, so after a lot of effort, and some success, they bounce back to their old habits, even sometimes gaining more weight than they have lost, the yo-yo effect.
If you want long term results, find a method that interferes the least with your present lifestyle and slowly adapt to the new conditions. It is extremely simple math
Energy input equals energy output = No change in body mass
Energy input is less than energy output = Decrease in body mass
Energy input is more than energy output = Increase in body mass
