The 6 Es of Healthy Weight Loss
Losing weight isn’t a simple objective for many people. Just like any goal you are trying to achieve, various obstacles tend to impede your path. Knowing this from the offset makes accomplishing your weight loss goals more feasible.
It is also important to understand that healthy weight loss is a marathon not a sprint. It is a complete lifestyle choice, or transformation, that doesn’t merely end after an allotted period of time. This is particularly essential for people who have immense difficulties keeping weight off after they lose it.
Going into weight loss with the idea that it is not a quick fix will make it easier and less stressful to undertake. There is no end to healthy weight loss because once the weight is off you need to maintain the acquired healthy habits for the rest of your life. Hopefully at this point you enjoy your results so much you don’t view it as a sacrifice anymore.
Educate
The first step to take is to educate yourself on the various diets and weight loss strategies. It behooves you to speak with weight loss professionals and nutritionists.
Don’t rely on weight loss fads that you see on T.V. or the Internet which promise quick results or which promote the ideal that you can lose weight with no effort at all. Losing weight healthily is not easy, nor should it be. It takes persistence, will power, and loads of patience. It will not just happen.
Enlighten yourself on what kinds of foods and liquids are right for your body type. Inform yourself on the kinds of exercise you need to maintain a healthy weight loss and ultimately, a healthy lifestyle.
Eat Right
After you have educated yourself on a healthy way to lose weight it is time to immediately begin eating right. The most important step you can take for weight loss is paying attention to what you put into your body.
What you should eat day in and out is dependent upon your diet and body type, but there are certain foods you should try to eliminate from your diet as much as possible. Foods high in trans fats such as fast food are not good for your diet. Fructose in high amounts is dangerous especially in products like fruit juices, dried fruit, and corn syrup. Processed foods such as meat products not organically grown are not beneficial. Fruits, vegetables, and meats with additives such as pesticides are chemicals are harmful as well.
Exercise
Not only is it imperative to eat right (although eating right is the first and most meaningful step) you need to exercise. Walking, jogging, playing sports all serve to provide you with appropriate amounts of exercise. The exercise needs to be active and provide cardiovascular training and conditioning. Going to lift weights can be great for your body but it won’t help you lose weight because muscle weighs more than fat.
The amount of exercise you do is also dependent upon many factors. Some experts suggest at least three 20-minute exercise sessions per week. Some suggest more or less. Exercising every few weeks will not benefit your healthy lifestyle in any relevant manner. On the contrary, exercising every day for 3-4 hours is not a good idea either. This would cause your body to break down as a result of overtraining.
Engage
Staying engage with weight loss tends to be the most difficult challenge especially during the ebbs and flow of the process. Initially the weight might come off quickly causing a noticeable plummet, but eventually this will plateau. That is ok.
When the weight starts coming off is not a time to ease up and reabsorb yourself into negative lifestyle patterns. During the plateau is not a time to get frustrated and give up on the healthy lifestyle you have built. It is not a time to become so super strict that you risk an unhealthy lifestyle on the opposite extreme, anorexia or bulimia.
Stay engaged with your weight loss and your way of life. Don’t be expeditious to give in. You are on the right track.
Evaluate
This shouldn’t be confused with judging or criticizing. Evaluating simply means taking the necessary steps to see where you are at in your weight loss. You will probably have to weight yourself from time to time. Use this and other measurements as a guideline to determine how your progress is unfolding. If you notice a slight weight gain than you know it is time to change the way you are eating or increase your exercise regimen. Use this evaluation period as a positive reminder not a means to judge yourself.
Endure
After you have taking the other five steps than you can successfully shift from a mere weight loss plan to a healthy and lifelong behavior. It will become something you want to do, not something you have to do. And this is the greatest progress of all.
