How
fast should you expect to lose weight?
Most experts agree that a safe, healthy rate of weight
loss is one to 1 ½ pounds per week. Modification of eating habits along with
regular exercise is the most effective way to lose weight over the long term.
It is also the ideal way to ensure that the weight stays off.
Starvation diets may result in rapid weight loss, but
this weight loss is almost impossible to maintain for most people. When food
intake is severely restricted (below approximately 1,200 calories per day), the
body begins to adapt to this state of poor nutrition by reducing its metabolic
rate, potentially making it even more difficult to lose weight. It is also
possible to experience hunger pangs, bouts of hypoglycemia, headaches, and mood
changes from overly stringent dieting. These symptoms can result in binge
eating and weight gain. Since a highly restrictive diet is almost impossible to
maintain for a long time, people who attempt to starve themselves thin often
start to gain weight again when they stop dieting.
The
no-diet approach to weight control
By adopting sensible eating habits and practicing portion
control, you can eat nutritious foods so that you take in as many calories as
you need to maintain your health and well-being at your ideal weight. Often,
weight loss occurs on its own simply when you start making better food choices,
such as avoiding processed foods, sugar-laden foods, white bread and pasta
(substitute whole-grain varieties instead), foods with a high percentage of
calories from fat, and alcoholic drinks.
While nothing is
absolutely forbidden, when you do succumb to temptation, keep the portion size
small and add a bit more exercise to your daily workout.
By replacing some unwise food choices with healthy ones,
you'll be cutting back on calories. If you add some moderate physical activity,
you have the perfect weight-loss plan without the need for special or
inconvenient (and often expensive) diet plans.
http://www.medicinenet.com/weight_loss/page3.htm
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