Reducing the number of calories you intake – through eating – while increasing the number of calories you burn – through physical activity – is the most effective way to lose weight. To lose one pound, for example, you’ll need to burn about 3,500 calories through physical activity. You can do this by reducing your calorie intake, modifying your calorie intake, or increasing your physical activity, or preferably, a mix of all three.
Consider the following scenario. You will gain one pound if you consume 500 more calories per day for one week without changing your activity level (7 days multiplied by 500 calories equals 3500 calories or the number of calories resulting in a one-pound weight gain). In contrast, if you consume 500 calories less each day for a week or burn 500 calories per day through activity for a week, you will lose one pound. Which one would you pick?
Perhaps before you start thinking about losing weight, you should analyze your eating habits. It’s not always just about cutting calories; sometimes, it’s also about changing what you eat — eat less greasy foods and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.
The following are some examples of high-calorie foods and beverages:
230 calories per slice of pepperoni pizza with original crust.
160 calories per glass of dry white wine
150 calories per can of cola
500 calories in a quarter-pound hamburger with cheese
580 calories in 1 large banana nut muffin
Do you eat any of them regularly? If that’s the case, it’s probably time to make some modifications!
Crash diets are never a good idea when it comes to losing weight. Most health and fitness professionals agree that dropping one to twelve pounds per week is a safe and healthy rate of weight loss. Anything more than this will increase your chances of regaining weight in the future. You will be going on the most efficient strategy to lose weight in the long run by changing your eating habits and adding in some regular activity. It’s also the most effective approach to keep the weight off.
Although starvation diets might cause rapid weight loss and provide instant effects, they are extremely difficult to maintain over time. When food intake is severely reduced to less than 1200 calories per day, the body interprets this as insufficient nourishment and slows down its metabolic rate. This can make losing weight much more challenging in the long run. Crash dieters may also endure hunger pangs, hypoglycemia, headaches, and mood swings as a result of their strict dieting, which can lead to binge eating and weight gain.
People who try to starve themselves thin generally gain the weight back once they stop dieting because a severely restrictive diet is nearly hard to sustain for an extended period. As a result, there’s a good reason to start a steady, long-term program that improves both physical fitness and well-being.