3 Quick Weight Loss Tips

Many people find losing weight a very difficult task. They struggle to drop the pounds, then when they eventually achieve this they struggle even more to keep the weight off. As I have mentioned previously, regular exercise and healthy, well planned meals are the best tools for achieving your weight loss goals in the long term.

To begin any weight loss plan you first need to calculate how many calories per day are required to maintain your ideal weight. A quick way to work this out is take your ideal weight and multiply it by 12 if you are female and 14 if you are male. So if your target weight is 150lbs then you will need to consume approximately 1800 calories if you are female and approximately 2100 calories if you are male. Alternatively, you can try this Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator.

Then you need to break down these calories into several small meals to be eaten throughout the day. This is because your body will store less fat if you are eating regular, small portions as it knows that more food will be coming soon. At first you will have to count the calories every day and make sure that the calories in all these meals do not exceed the calories required for your target weight. However, it will not take long for you to start memorising calories instinctively and soon you will be able to look at a dish and know the correct portion size and roughly how many calories are in it without the need for counting.

As you start paying more attention to the calories you put into your body you will start to learn more about nutrition. Why? Because you will want to be getting as much nutrition as possible out of the reduced amount of calories you are consuming. The technical term for this is Calorie Restriction with Optimal Nutrition (CRON) and it has a number of health benefits which you can read all about at The Calorie Restriction Society.

By following the above advice you will lose weight gradually until you reach your ideal weight. Once you are there you will be able to maintain this weight provided you stick with the same meals and daily calories as before. Here are some final quick tips to help you:

1) FOLLOW A SOLID PLAN:- One of the best weight loss tools is a strong plan which you stick too. It is much easier to focus when you have a step by step plan written down rather than having no plan and being unsure of yourself.

2) SET A TARGET GOAL:- Wanting to lose weight is quite different from actually taking the action to accomplish weight loss. You need to set more specific, realistic targets and meet them. For example, lose 5lbs by the end of the week, lose 30lb by the end of the month.

3) DISCIPLINE:- It is very easy to become lazy but you will fail if this happens. Keep looking at your targets every day and make sure you achieve them, even on the days you do not feel like it.

There you have it. Once you know how to lose weight by reducing your daily caloric intake you just need three things; a solid plan, target goals and discipline. Simple really.

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If you enjoyed this article and want to learn more about losing weight you may wish to read Top Secret Fat Loss. In this ebook Dr Suzanne Gudakunst offers her unusual and unique approach to losing weight.

3 Top Tips to Burn Body Fat

Being fat can have a number of negative effects. Not only does it impede your health but it can also leave you open to personal insult and impede your performance in a number of activities including sports. Ultimately, being fat has an adverse effect on your life and can often stop you reaching your full potential. In this article I outline how you can burn body fat by focussing on three key areas of your diet; Daily Caloric Intake, Unhealthy Foods and Meal Plans.

1) DAILY CALORIC INTAKE:- Before you start burning any fat you need to start monitoring how many calories you are consuming each day. If you do not keep a daily check on how many calories are in the foods that you are eating you could be negating the effects of any additional exercise you do. Why? Because you may be unwittingly consuming the additional calories that you burn when exercising. For example, you may be going for a jog each day but also eating an extra chocolate bar and packet of crisps without realising. Therefore, you need to write down the foods you eat every day during the course of a week, work out the total calories and then determine your average daily caloric intake. After you have calculated this you then need to make sure that you stick to this even when you are doing additional exercise. This will ensure that you are burning more calories than you consume and ultimately that you burn body fat.

2) UNHEALTHY FOOD:- Apart from monitoring your daily caloric intake it is also useful to identify unhealthy foods in your diet and then replace them with a healthier option or remove them completely. Drinks are a particular area where unhealthy options can really pile on the calories. For example if you buy a tall latte each morning from your local coffee shop guess how many calories it can contain? Between 200 and 500. That’s 200-500 calories on a drink that can easily be substituted with a zero calorie glass of water, a zero calorie black coffee or a 5-10 calorie milky coffee (depending on the type of milk used). Carbonated drinks are another source of empty calories that can easily be substituted with a drink of water. Dressings and condiments also add unwanted calories to a potentially healthy meal. Salad dressing is one of the main sources of fat in the average American woman’s diet so make sure you check the calories and always choose the low calorie option. There are many other areas of your diet I could discuss but overall you need to keep an eye on the nutritional information of everything you eat and pay particular attention to your consumption of saturated fats and empty calories.

3) PLANNING YOUR MEALS:- By taking the time to plan and know what you are eating in advance you can prepare healthier, low fat, low calorie meals. Although this will take a little extra time, if you want to burn body fat it is a much better option than going for quick and easy takeaways. To create a menu containing both healthy and tasty meals you are likely to need some assistance. Check online recipe websites, weight loss forums, recipe books (and hopefully this blog in the future) to get some inspiration. Once you have chosen your new healthy menu make sure that it contains less calories than your old diet, otherwise your new meal plan will not help you burn body fat. Also try to stick to your new menu as much as possible. It is OK to have pizza or a burger sometimes but the point of planning your meals in advance is to avoid the temptation of unhealthy food.

In conclusion, looking at these three core dietary areas and making the suggested changes can really help you burn body fat. All you have to do is determine your average daily caloric intake, then reduce it by removing unhealthy foods and preparing more healthy meals. Simple really – reduce the number of calories going in and increase the amount of body fat that you burn.