As an athlete, I am repeatedly asked "You have to watch what you eat don't you?". The short answer is no, I eat what I want, when I want. What matters most when trying to slim down, or even trying to maintaining your current weight, is how much you eat not what you eat. In my opinion dieting is useless. A person could spend weeks - months in some cases - eating drastically different from their ordinary food routine. You lose the weight, but then like so many other dieters, it isn't long before some of the weights comes back. A lifestyle change is necessary.
If you are having trouble maintaining a healthy weight, it's important to first evaluate your diet. Look for an area that is posing the biggest problem for you. Too many sweets, over-eating, or a fatty diet are common bad habits that can lead to unhealthy weight gain. You should also find out what your basil metabolic rate is, or BMR. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body burns in a day based on your age, height, weight, and sex. If you notice, most food products show nutrition percentages for a person on a 2000 calorie/day diet. However, recommended caloric intake differs from person to person. Once you know your BMR, you can take the necessary steps to reduce the number of calories you eat, and incorporate an exercise program to aide you in the weight loss process.
The secret to losing weight effectively really isn't a secret at all. You have to burn more calories than you ingest. It's that simple. If you are trying to lose weight the difference between the calories you eat and the calories you burn should be greater than 3500. Unfortunately, there is no getting around that simple fact.
Fatsecret.com is a website that allows you to create a profile and keep track of your meals and exercise in a day. Their food database includes literally thousands of foods and their nutritional facts.
The items you input are then compiled into a diary so that you can monitor the number of calories you eat, and the number of calories you burn. Here's an example of what it will look like.
The items you input are then compiled into a diary so that you can monitor the number of calories you eat, and the number of calories you burn. Here's an example of what it will look like.
The last column calculates your net calories for the day once you've entered all the food you've eaten and any exercise that you did. You will see a green arrow pointing downward if you burned more calories than you consumed that day. Alternately, you will see a red arrow pointing up if the number of calories you consumed is greater than the number of calories you burned. See the red circle below.
You must burn 3500 calories in order to lose 1 pound. You should be able to comfortably lose 1-2 pounds per week by reducing your caloric intake, exercising more, or a combination of the both - which would be the ideal situation.
For more information or any questions you may have, please don't hesitate to contact us at Trainer@TheKeyFactor.com
