Losing weight is easily achieved by burning off more calories than you have consumed. The estimated daily average calorie intake for women is 2000 and 2500 for men, this is an estimate and will depend on your age, height, body composition and how much activity you do. Ok it sounds easy and it will be if you put in the hard work and effort. There is no quick fix when it comes to losing weight, you want to lose weight and be healthy.
Where is the weight coming from?
Take a look at how many calories you consume. A good way to do this is too keep a food diary for a week, every time you eat or drink something write it down. At the end of the week add all the calories up and divide by 7, that will be the average daily calorie intake you consumed. Any calories that you consume over what you need/use will be converted into fat. There is no need to do this for more than a week as I just want you to see how many calories you do eat and drink, you may just be surprised at how quickly they build up especially if you are eating certain types of food. It will also give you an idea of how many calories particular foods contain.
A healthy and realistic amount of fat to lose is approx 1-2 pounds per week. So you are looking at creating a deficit of approx 500 calories per day. So by burning off an extra 500 calories per day you will lose weight. If you already exercise then you need to work out more than you do or harder than you are already.
If you don’t work out at all and lead quite a sedentary lifestyle then you need to start working out.
Whatever your current level of activity you need to look at what you are eating and aim for a healthy balanced diet. Much of losing weight is done by sorting out your diet. I don’t mean going on a crash diet and drastically reducing the amount you eat. If you go on a diet and then after losing the weight you return to your previous way of eating and level of activity the weight will return. So it is best to lose weight through exercise and eating the right way. You want to be able to make a life change so that you can keep to it and stay fit and healthy..
How much exercise to lose weight?
For general health and a good quality of life it is recommended that you do at least 45-60 minutes of moderate activity per day every day of the week. Taking a brisk walk etc. This is just for good health and to prevent you from gaining weight so now if you want to lose weight you need to exercise for longer or work harder.
You need to burn off an extra 500 calories per day. This can be done through a combination of cardio and resistance training. Cardio is the best fat burning exercise.
Cardio
Go jogging, running, swimming, cycling, play a sport like tennis, badminton, squash anything that you will enjoy and that is going to get you working at a higher intensity than you are currently and raise your heart beat.
A recommended fitness plan will be as follows:
5 days a week cardio for 25-60 mins per day – the time will depend on your intensity. Eg if you do interval training or HIT training then you can do 25 mins per day. Add in resistance training 3-5 days per week on top of the cardio. Resistance training (also known as strength or weight training) helps increase your muscle mass, no I don’t mean you will get all big and muscular like the bodybuilders this take a lot of training and a very specific eating plan to accomplish. You want to build muscle so that once you losse that fat you will look lean and toned. Resistance training increases your metabolism so you will be burning more fat even when you are relaxing.
Resistance Training
If you do resistance training you can do a whole body work out every other day, or you can split the routine up. So you can split the different parts of your body up, one day do legs and back, next day do chest and triceps, and the next back and biceps this way you can work out on consecutive days and still have enough time for your muscles to recover. You need to give your muscles time to recover because the recovery of the muscles and the repairing of the small tears is how the muscles become stronger. Instead of isolation exercises do compound exercises, these work one than one joint and muscle group, so squats, lunges, deadlifts, bench press, push ups, pull ups these all work more than one muscle group at a time, meaning you can work out more of your body in less time. If you split up your routine then do 5 days per week, if you do compound exercises or a full body work out then you could do 3 days per week.
Join a Class
Join a class at the gym, spinning, circuit training, body pump. These classes will help you push yourself harder and are great for fat burning they also make the experience a little more sociable, you may find working out with others more motivating.
The key to starting an exercise programme is to make sure you choose the activities that you enjoy doing as you are more likely to keep to them and integrate them into your lifestyle, if you miss a session it’s fine don’t give up just get right back out there and start again.
Set a goal and be specific with how much you weight you want to lose, put a number on it and a date that you want to achieve it by, take your measurements not just your weight. As soon as you start to see you are losing those cm/inches you will be motivated to keep going.
Get started today, have fun with it and enjoy the results!
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