Healthy Way To Lose Weight

The medical establishment recommends losing no more than 1-2lbs of fat per week if you are going to do it in a healthy manner whilst many of these "rapid weight loss" diets speed up the process causing 3-5lb losses each week possible if you're willing to put your body under real strain.

Indeed, ask most doctors or dieticians about the host of popular weight loss programs of today and they may well throw up their hands in desperation. Many of them have at least some unhealthy elements - yet ironically to protect themselves they then suggest consulting your doctor before you get started!

Don't get me wrong though - there *are* healthy ways to lose weight and in this article we're going to take a look at one such example.

Firstly, as mentioned earlier on, don't expect to halve your weight in the next 7 days. When losing weight in a healthy way, the emphasis is on gentle, gradual weight loss that is in tune with your body.

The basic premise of losing weight of course is to burn more calories than you consume which forces your body to use your fat reserves to make up the difference between the two.

However you don't want to make this deficit too large or you may well start to put your body under an unnecessary and unhealthy pressure.

Start off by cutting out as many fatty, unhealthy foods as possible. That means stop eating any cakes, biscuits, premade microwave meals, cokes and so on. All these high fat and high sugar foods are just the sort of things that have caused you to put on weight.

Refined sugars, such as those in these types of "junk food" take little breaking down by your body in order to access the energy they contain.

A healthier option is to instead feed your body on healthier, lower fat, lowerr carb items such as fruit, vegetables and lean meats.

Also swap from white carbs like rice and bread to their brown equivalents as these too require additional breakdown by your body before the energy they contain can be used.

When a food like cabbage or brown rice needs additional digestion, it means not only will the calories these foods contain be released slower than in other foods, but your body will also burn up more energy just digesting them into a useful format - so you benefit in 2 ways.

Once you have this dietary element resolved it is time to look at taking regular exercise to speed up your metabolism and so your body's fat burning ability.

Ideal exercises for this are cycling, walking, jogging or swimming. Try out a range of exercises to see which you enjoy doing the most. By doing something that you find pleasant you are far more likely to stick with it iver the long term and so get the greatest benefit from it.

Once you have an exercise you're happy with, aim for 30-45 minutes of it 3 times a week. The results will be greatest if you can exercise first thing in the morning before you eat breakfast.

Also, aim to improve your results by going a little further, or faster, or for longer each time to help ensure your body doesn't get too conditional and so your exercise begins to lose it's effectiveness.