a guide to losing weight the healthy way Options

[iheartjohn]

Mmmhmmm.

Please note that the ONLY way you will lose weight if you burn more calories than you eat.

Example:

I ate 1200 calories today.
I burned 2400 calories. Thus, I lost 2 pounds.

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Got it? Okay, onwards.


Step 1. Eat right.

Don't cut out your carbs, okay? You're young. Don't screw with your metabolism.

The essentials: vegetables (crrots, lettuce, broccoli); fruits (apples, oranges, bananas); grains (cereal, bread, pasta); dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese) and iron (meats, fish, nuts)

Here are some eating tips.


Instead of French Fries, consider baked potato chips.

Instead of sugar, try Splenda or brown sugar.

(more suggestions coming soon)



Cutting these out of your regular diet will cut MAJOR calories.

Eliminate ALL soda.
Eliminate anything salty.
Cut out junk food ALL TOGETHER.



9 Rules of Eating

1.Prepare a balanced meal plan and stick to it.

2.Try to stick to regular meal times the best you can.

3.Eat slowly and chew each bite completely to decrease your appetite.

4.Avoid eating while you're watching TV or preparing a meal. It is far too easy to overeat when you are distracted or surrounded by food.

5.Cutout a picture of someone whose figure you admire, to keep you motivated.

6.Eat the most filling, least fattening foods first (for example salad before the pizza, soup before the meal) so you fill up faster and consume fewer calories.

7.People that eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grains often find that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight.

8.Drink four to six glasses of water each day, especially before meals. Water has no calories and it will help you to feel full.

9.Remember it takes your brain 20 minutes to realize that you are full, so eat slowly and chew your food as long as you can.


Boost your metabolism
Why? To keep your energy pulsating and your body in shape.

1.Drinking hot water as apposed to cold water can increase the speed of your metabolism and burn more calories.

2.Do not skip breakfast. A breakfast bowl of vegetables and brown rice is a great way to kick-start your metabolism for the day.

3.Avoid stress. Physical and emotional stress activates the release of cortisol, a steroid that slows metabolism.

4.Sleep. Research shows that people who don't sleep for seven to eight hours a night are more prone to weight gain.

5.Be positive! The more you feel good about yourself the easier and faster it is to lose weight.



Now on to being active.

Firstly, don't automatically run like hell everyday for the next two weeks to shed some weight. Start yourself off in moderation, so you don't get tired.

Start with a modest goal, like 15 to 20 minutes at a leisurely pace.

Gradually extend the duration and the speed.

Walk up one or two gentle slopes.

Your walk should be comprised of three segments: warm-up, exercise pace and cool-down.


How to walk:
That's right. You're probably doing it wrong.

Walk with your chin up and your shoulders held slightly back.

The heel of your foot should touch the ground first. Roll your weight forward.

Swing your arms as you walk.

To avoid stiff or sore muscles or joints, start gradually. Over several weeks, begin walking faster, going further, and walking for longer periods of time.

Walk on soft ground.

Rehydrate yourself -- drink 8-10 ounces of water for every 20 minutes of activity.


More information.

The more you walk, the better you will feel. You also use more calories.

Walking will give you more energy, make you feel good, help you to relax, reduce stress, help you sleep better, tone your muscles, help control your appetite, increase the number of calories your body uses.

To lose weight, it's more important to walk for time than speed.

Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness - leading to more miles and more calories spent on a regular basis.

Make walking a daily habit or at least 3-5 times a week depending on your schedule.




If you want to add some tips of your own, you're very welcome to. I will add more of my own later.

[jo3]

ok sorry but some of your tips are killing me, so i have to reply

Step 1. Eat right.

Don't cut out your carbs, okay? You're young. Don't screw with your metabolism.

wrong. although you shouldn't go all out and completely eliminate your carb intake, you should limit your carbs. carbs are the fastest to digest, so you get hungry faster.

1.Prepare a balanced meal plan and stick to it.

i kind of agree. however, the key to sticking to a plan is variety. make sure you have plenty of options for each meal. otherwise, you'll give up and revert back to your old, nasty eating habits

2.Try to stick to regular meal times the best you can.

if you mean eating only breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then i disagree. it is beneficial to eat lots of small meals rather than 3 big meals. most health conscious people try to eat at least 4-6 meals a day. NOTE** these meals are smaller portions that what you'd normally eat if you only ate 3 meals a day

7.People that eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grains often find that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight.

i hope this was supposed to be a "myth". anything in excess will get you fat, regardless of how healthy it is. food = calories, and the more food you eat, the more calories your body takes in.

8.Drink four to six glasses of water each day, especially before meals. Water has no calories and it will help you to feel full.

i agree, except you should actually drink about a gallon of water a day. that's sixten glasses of water.

9.Remember it takes your brain 20 minutes to realize that you are full, so eat slowly and chew your food as long as you can.

you really don't need to eat slowly. eat half of whats on your plate, and then take a little break. talk to the people you're eating with about your day and stuff. if you're eating alone, go do something for about 10 min. if you're still hungry, go ahead and eat more, but chances are you'll forget about what you were eating.

1.Drinking hot water as apposed to cold water can increase the speed of your metabolism and burn more calories.

i really don't know much about this topic, but i'd think that if it really did make a difference (and i doubt it does since it's really not enough), cold water would be beneficial since your body is kind of in shock and needs to make adjustments to regulate your body temp. but like i said, you're not drinking enough water to make that big of a difference

2.Do not skip breakfast. A breakfast bowl of vegetables and brown rice is a great way to kick-start your metabolism for the day.

i would die if i ate veggies and brown rice for breakfast. when you eat breakfast, make sure to include lots of carbs. your body hasn't had any nutrients for the past 8 hours or so, so it needs energy fast. carbs digest the fastest, so now would be a good time to eat them.

3.Avoid stress. Physical and emotional stress activates the release of cortisol, a steroid that slows metabolism.

work out or go out for a run. both of those reduce stress because they release endorphins, which are essentially the body's pain killers

To lose weight, it's more important to walk for time than speed.

Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness - leading to more miles and more calories spent on a regular basis.

that's incorrect. maybe in the end you'll end up burning the same amount of calories (high intensity x short time, low intensity x long time), but since your body has been under a lot of stress when running, the aftereffects will last longer. your metabolism will stay up for a longer period of time than when you walked because you pushed your body to the limit. that's why it is highly encouraged to lift heavy weight and low reps as opposed to light weights and high reps. not only are higher intensities better, but they save you lots of time.

other than that, i agree with what you're saying haha.

other things i'd like to add:
- there are 3 main nutrients: proteins, fats, and carbs (there's more, but these are the one's that everyone pays attention to). whatever you do, make sure you NEVER EVER eat something with lots of fat and carbs. that's the worst possible combination you can have. in the morning (breakfast), eat a meal consisting of high protein and high carbs. your body is starving at this point and needs a quick boost of energy, which carbs will provide. as the day goes on, eat less and less carbs, and begin to eat the foods with fats (the healthy fats i might add). make sure you are constantly eating protein. no, eating lots of protein won't make you huge or super buff. the amino acids in protein are vital in creating and maintaining muscles, and they are vital for many other things. the reason to eat fats at night is because fats take the longest to digest, so while you're sleeping, your body is still digesting the fats. Essentially, you're trying to ensure that your body has something to work with at all times.

- if you wanna run to burn off fat, do it in the morning after waking up. make sure to do it on an empty stomach, as that will maximize your fat burning since your body will have to resort to fat to keep itself running.

- high intensity, low reps/time limit is what you should ALWAYS try to do. it will not turn into Arnold Schwarzeneggar or anything. Since girls lack testosterone, they pretty much have no chance of getting HUGE. that's why most of the female bodybuilders you see are hairy and have low voices (they take testosterone shots and/or pills).

- spot training will not get you the results you want. for example, you can't do millions of crunches and expect all the fat around your stomach to disappear and have a 6 pack appear. your ab muscles will get stronger, and you will burn calories, but your stomach fat will most likely be there. You need to do a full body workout AND incorporate cardio into your workouts. otherwise, you'll keep that 1 pack of yours

wow that took me forever to edit/write up. i hope someone actually reads it