The best way to lose weight

Finding the best way to lose weight is really quite simple. It requires one thing that many diets choose to ignore. The best diets ever created are based on a few simple principles. If you do them right, you will be successful. When you lose even one of these simple items, your success becomes more difficult, but not impossible.

The First Principle: Proper Nutrition is Essential to Your Diet

Many diets on the market today want to ignore this fact. They guide you to focus on a narrow group of foods that leaves your body starving for nutrients. When your body feels a lack, it will start producing cravings. Your diet should include these essentials to be successful:

• complex carbohydrates
• fats
• protein
• Dietary fiber
• Adequate vitamins and minerals

Some diets suggest that you should focus on protein and avoid carbohydrates. Other diets focus heavily on cutting out all fat. Many diets do not contain enough dietary fiber or the minimum requirements for vitamins and minerals. Let’s look at each category briefly.

Complex Carbohydrates – Energy to fuel your fat loss

Carbohydrates provide energy. When you try to fuel your body with only protein and fat, you will start to feel lethargic and weak. Include some complex carbohydrates in your diet every day to maintain the energy you need to keep your metabolism strong.

Complex carbohydrates can be found in whole grain breads, potatoes, and pasta.

Not all dietary fats are bad

It’s easy to convince yourself that your diet should eliminate all fatty foods. There is a grain of truth to this idea, but only from the point of view of eliminating bad fats. The healthy fats in nuts, fish, and some other foods can help you lose weight faster.

The processed fats found in donuts, French fries, and other fried foods are unhealthy. They contain high amounts of calories and very little nutrition. The fats in these foods can slow digestion and increase the risk of cardiovascular problems.

Protein: The Essential Building Block

Without adequate protein in your diet from fish, poultry, meat, eggs, and other sources, your body cannot maintain and build additional muscle tissue. Including a serving of protein at each meal helps you maintain fat-burning muscle mass.

Protein alone will not build additional muscle, but we’ll discuss that shortly.

Dietary Fiber – Keeping Your Body’s Digestive System in Order

When you are trying to lose weight it is very easy to eliminate fiber. Without adequate dietary fiber, your digestive system can become clogged. Decreases the frequency of bowel movements and increases the possibility of constipation. Along with a sluggish digestive system comes increased calorie absorption and a slower metabolism, which is not a good combination.

Vitamins and Minerals – Keeping Your Body Healthy While on a Diet

With reduced calories and food intake comes the possibility of not getting adequate nutrition. By maintaining a well-balanced diet filled with fresh vegetables, healthy cuts of meat, and whole-grain produce, you’ll get most of your essential vitamins and minerals through your diet.

You can still choose to add a good daily vitamin to your diet to ensure you are receiving all the essential vitamins and minerals.

Principle Two: Understanding the Basic Science of Weight Loss

It’s time to understand the real science behind weight loss. To lose excess fat you must burn more calories than you eat. To lose 1 pound of fat requires a deficit of 3,500 calories. All miracle diets must also adhere to this rule. (Any weight lost outside of this rule will not be fat, but is likely to be a loss of body fluids.)

To determine how many calories you should aim for each day, vary based on your activity level as follows:

• Low activity: 11 calories per pound of body weight.
• Moderate activity – 14 calories per pound of body weight
• High activity: 16 calories per pound of body weight.

These numbers are averages for an overweight person based on findings published by WB Saunders in Clinical Nutrition Volume I. These are the calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. To lose weight, you need to fall below these numbers. As an example:

A 200 pound man – Moderate activity

• 200 pounds x 14 calories/pound = 2,800 calories per day
• To lose 2 pounds per week requires a deficit of 1,000 calories per day.
• Daily goal = 1800 calories per day.
• Weight loss per week = 2 pounds

The important lesson for the number above is that you have two methods to lose weight. Cut calories or increase activity. As an example with the same person:

A 200 pound man – High activity

• 200 Pounds x 16 Calories/Pound = 3200 Calories per day.
• Daily goal = 1800 calories per day.
• Weight loss per week = 2.8 pounds

This example brings us to an important part of their diet.

Principle Three – Exercise – The Mystery of Metabolism Revealed

We all know people who never seem to gain weight. It seems so easy for them. You have to watch these people very closely. They never stay still. The real mystery behind losing weight faster is starting to move more. This should start with a good daily exercise program, but proceed with care.

One of the biggest obstacles dieters have in starting to exercise is the tendency to overdo it. Start slow and gradually increase. As an example, if you can walk for 20 minutes per day and only go 1 mile today, try slowly picking up your pace each day. Within a few weeks, you can walk 1 mile a day and burn extra calories. You can slowly add 5 to 10 minutes per day to your walking to increase your weight loss.

As activity increases, you burn additional calories and lose more body fat. Exercise promotes muscle retention and growth, which increases your fat-burning potential. Exercise is an essential component to a successful diet.

Principle four: the final key to the best weight loss programs is in your head

Knowing the facts about proper nutrition, exercise, and caloric deficits is great, but sticking with the diet is where the real challenge begins. Being successful requires motivation, staying focused, and enjoying the journey. Consider using some of these mental tools to help you:

• Create a list of Affirmations to repeat daily.
• Find before and after photos of successful dieters, view your own before and after photos.
• Read success stories of people who lost weight and imagine their success.
• Start imagining yourself wearing new “skinny” clothes.
• Listen to motivating music.

Keeping your mind on target is perhaps the most important factor in a successful diet. When you stay focused on your goal, you can adjust strategies and overcome temporary plateaus until you achieve success.

Continue learning for the greatest success

Educating yourself on proper nutrition, new recipes, and fun physical activities can take your dieting endeavors from tedious to exciting. Never stop learning new ideas while staying focused on the basic ideas we’ve discussed. In the end, a successful diet is based on common sense, not miracles.