Healthy Eating And Exercise To Lose Weight

To effectively keep extra pounds off over the long term, it is best to lose weight gradually. And most experts say that you can accomplish that successfully without resorting to a "diet," which is just a word for depriving yourself of food. Rather, the trick is making small changes to your life, which in turn may provide the incentive you need to make the lifestyle changes that are necessary to lose weight.

One of the most important lifestyle changes you can make is to stop eating fast foods. Yes, I hear your objection that all the foods in fast food restaurants are tasty and satisfying. They are. However, when you eat them without proper nutrition, most likely your body will start to store the excess calories as fat, which results in weight gain over time. That's why many dieters report feeling sluggish during the first weeks of a diet.

You should also include plenty of lean proteins and fresh vegetables in your diet. Lean proteins are found in such things as tofu, which are easier to prepare and digest than other meats, and chicken, which have even more protein content. Fresh veggies are great for quick weight loss, because they take longer to cook than dried vegetables. Instead of 3 large meals per day, you should alternate smaller meals or snacks that contain healthy, nutritious foods. This will help you Lose Weight faster, even if you are tempted to sneak a little bit of bad fast food in between.

In a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers examined the effects of having a high fiber intake on body weight loss and found only a small reduction in calories in overweight or obese women. But the fiber group did report a significant reduction in abdominal fat. So if you suffer from abdominal fat, the odds are good that increasing your fiber intake will help you lose weight. In another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examined the effects of a high protein meal on body fat and found no significant effect, but they did report that the increased protein meal made people feel fuller longer.

One diet that you may not have heard of is the South Beach Diet. Oprah Winfrey and her friends have been using this diet for years, and it is a popular way to lose weight. Basically, you eat six times as much protein as you eat for one day. This allows you to burn calories for the rest of the day, which leads to weight loss. In South Beach, you don't have "meals" every three or four hours. Instead, you eat five or six small meals a day, spaced throughout the day.

Of course, South Beach is not the only low-calorie diet around. The Atkins Diet is similar, except you eat very small amounts of protein (instead of six or more). The reason the Atkins diet is so low in calories is that you feel full immediately after you eat, so you keep the calories in your body longer. By eating large amounts of chicken, fish, legumes, nuts, and vegetables, you end up feeling full and satisfied longer. When you eat smaller meals more often, your metabolism burns more calories and keep them longer.

Another reason healthy eating and exercise can help you lose weight is because when you eat fewer calories overall, your body uses fat stores for energy. In order to lose weight, your body needs to use energy, not stored as fat. When your body has less calories, you should start to feel fuller and burn more calories at night.

Changing your eating habits can be difficult, especially if you have been used to eating too much, but it's a necessary part of any weight-loss program. Healthy eating habits and regular exercise are important parts of any weight-loss program. If you add a little exercise to your day, you will see results faster than if you try to make significant changes to your eating habits.