Struggling to Lose Weight? You’re Not Alone
Obesity is one of the biggest health concerns in the United States. Approximately 50% of adults in America are trying to lose body fat or maintaining their weight. This is why the dieting industry’s revenue is growing and continuing to grow with the increase in dieters. It was documented in 2012, that Americans were spending more than $65 billion per year when trying to lose weight. Even after all the money spent, almost all dieters gain their weight back within five years. Do not let this statistic discourage you. Many fail before keeping their weight off for good.
While losing weight is difficult, there are effective ways to lose weight. Think of your diet as a lifestyle change. You are changing your lifestyle to increase your quality of life. Start with adding in healthy foods to your diet. Instead of snacking on a candy bar, replace it with a hand full of almonds. You will be snacking healthy and your decision to be healthy will help you stay motivated and committed to your lifestyle change. Getting rid of temptation is another great way to stay on track. Get rid of the cookie jar on the counter. Secondly you should reduce your portion size. This means do not skip any meals. Skipping meals commonly leads us to over eat at a later meal due to being overly hungry. Plan meals ahead of time to prevent skipping meals.
Drinking water is extremely important.
The body is made up of more than 60% of water. It is important to drink water to keep the body hydrated. Avoid drinking pop, diet pop, and any other sugared drink. Avoiding carbonated drinks is more important than just helping us shed the pounds; there are other health factors as well. When we consume carbonated drinks, like pop, the acid-base balance in our body is thrown off. Our body then pulls calcium from our bones to help reduce the acid levels in the body. This can lead to osteoporosis, especially in women.
To lose weight effectively, it takes more than eating healthy to be successful.
Regular exercise is important as well. Low impact cardiovascular aerobic activities such as walking, biking, swimming, or the elliptical machine for 30-45 minutes, 3-5 times a week at a moderate intensity will help you to burn off some of those extra calories. You should also consider weight training with low weight and high repetitions. This will help you to build muscle. Muscle is a tissue that also burns calories. So the more muscle you can build while reducing your body fat, will help your body to be more efficient in utilizing the calories you take in.
Setting reachable goals, having a support system, and getting more sleep are all important contributors to effective weight loss.
Goals can help keep you motivated and committed to your new lifestyle change. Set a goal to go for a daily walk. Join a fitness club for additional weight loss support, and maybe ask a friend to join with you. Get enough sleep, studies have shown when someone is lacking sleep they are more likely to snack on high carbohydrate snacks and eat larger portions, which leads to weight gain.
Dieting does not have to be difficult, although it often times is. By adding healthy foods, drinking water, setting goals, sleeping, and having a support system you can motivate yourself to be effective in your weight loss goals. At Flex Physical Therapy, we have a program specially designed to help you lose weight effectively and quickly. With Ideal Protein you will be able to see results (most dieters will lose between 2-5 lbs a week) and you will be provided with the educational nutritional knowledge to help keep the weight off. Call 712-256-1800 now to schedule your free weight loss consultation and start effectively losing weight.
