Losing Weight Comes Down to a Few Simple Things

First, burn more calories than you consume. That means exercise. Here are the recommendations by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM):
  • 90 minutes of exercise or physical activity everyday.
  • Try walking, running, biking, hiking, rollerblading, swimming or leisure activities, such as a game of tennis, walking while you play golf (instead of using a cart) and dancing.

If you walk between a 15- to 20-minute mile, you are working in the desired range of exercise intensity. If you sustain this pace for greater than 20 minutes, you reap the greatest benefit. For example:

  • If a person who weighs 200 pounds and walks for 30 minutes at a 15-minute-mile pace (approximately 4 mph), they will burn approximately 285 calories.
  • Doing this four times a week will burn approximately 1,140 calories. (This meets the goal of 1,000 calories each week.)

Keep in mind: To lose one pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories. A good mix of different types of exercise and activity works well for many people. Play tennis one day. Go for a long walk the next. Try swimming the third day.  If you get bored with things quickly, having a variety of activities such as these can help prevent your exercise from becoming monotonous or dull.

Second, modify your diet to take in fewer calories. And make sure those calories are quality calories. You guessed it. Remove the foods from your diet that have a lot of simple sugars and fat (especially those foods with saturated fat). Try these five changes and you'll see a difference:

Avoid high-fat foods.

  • Keep butter to a minimum
  • Use little to no cheese on sandwiches and other dishes
  • Try chicken instead of beef
  • Eat less sweets (cookies, ice cream, cakes, pastries)
  • Replace fatty foods with fruits, vegetables, low-fat or fat-free foods
  • Remember: If you eat fat, you wear fat.

Stop eating fast food.

  • Fast food has little or no nutritional value. If you plan ahead, you can take advange of the numerous options for nutrient-rich foods.

Limit soda and coffee. Replace with water.

  • Drink approximately two liters of water each day.

Try eating five small meals each day.

  • Whatever you do: dont skip breakfast, and make dinner your smallest meal of the day.

If you aren’t hungry, there is no need to eat.

  • Drinking water helps get you through to the next meal.

For more information, please contact

30 River Park Place West, Suite 340, Fresno, CA 93720
(559) 459-1630   Fax: (559) 459-1710

 

 This information is made possible in part by gift from Cambridge Homes