While weight loss is not an easy goal to achieve, one can manage to lose a significant amount of weight if he/she follows a weight loss plan properly. The majority of the people fails to lose weight properly because they do not know the right methods to do so. To help such individuals out on their weight loss journey, here are five steps that must be followed:
1. Establish Weight Loss Goals:
Before really starting off with a weight loss program, it is important to first state the goals one has. As effective weight loss involves making longterm changes to the lifestyle of a person, there has to be some real thought put into it. The best way to start this process is by actually zeroing in on the priorities that a person might already have. For example, an individual might be looking to lose weight to look better while the other might be doing it to boost his/her self esteem. Making the goal clear keeps a person focused and determined.
2. Prepare Mentally:
As losing weight requires some long term lifestyle changes, a person has to be prepared mentally to make them. These changes are not only about the eating, habits in general, but also about the places one eats at as restaurants and dine-ins are where one puts on the greatest amount of calories.
3. Lose Weight with Cardio:
Performing Cardio exercises leads to a tremendous amount of fat loss in the beginning of the weight loss journey. Cardio can be performed either on machines like treadmills or through exercises such as running or jogging. Most people perform card at the same pace for long periods. While this is effective, it is not nearly as effective as performing interval training. For Cardio is really helpful, perform it with the interval training method, where intense but short bursts of exercise are followed by short periods of rest. This cycle is then continued for around 30 to 40 minutes.
The benefits that interval training has over normal paced training are immense. It helps burn fat faster and for longer periods of time, even when the exercise is not performed at all. Ideally, Cardio should be performed thrice every week.
4. Lose Weight through Weight Training:
Most workouts concentrate on the individual parts of the body. While this is beneficial, the positive effects can be doubled or tripled by performing compound exercises. Weight training involves exercises such dead lifts, squats, and bench press. To really make the most of the compound exercises, perform them in sets of low reps with heavy weights. The rest periods should be limited to 30 seconds at max.
5. Follow the Right Kind of Diet:
When it comes to the type of diet consumed, individuals should give a great amount of thought to the food they look forward to eating. They should focus on the rules listed below:
- Breakfast is never to be skipped. It is the first meal of the day and matters the most when it comes to increasing the metabolism. A healthy breakfast consisting of eggs and a little bit of turkey should be consumed.
- Sodas and other sugary drinks should be avoided at all costs. This is because they are very high in calories and have negative effects on the weight loss cause. Replace these drinks with water as water contains zero calories.
- Snacking should not be avoided. In fact, experts recommend consuming up to 6 meals a day. These meals should be more like snacks which are healthy. Fruits and nuts are excellent snacks that pack the vital nutrients too.
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