If your goal is to lose weight permanently you should follow a weight loss program or diet that leads towards slow, steady weight loss. Official weight loss guidelines indicate that no matter how much excess weight or fat you have, you should not lose more than 2 pounds of fat a week. Initial weight loss may be greater due to the loss of water. An exception to this would be if your doctor believes that it would be beneficial to your health if you lose weight more rapidly. It is always a good idea to consult your doctor before starting a diet or weight loss program. More about weight loss programs.
Basic weight loss advice that makes a diet plan easy to follow – our top 15 weight loss tips:
- Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses water a day
- Eat a healthy breakfast every day
- Get regular exercise
- Avoid drinks that contains a lot of sugar for example some soft drinks, fruit juices, and sports drinks
- Avoid eating fast food
- Avoid eating fried foods
- Eat several servings of fruit and vegetables a day
- Use carrot sticks, fruit, or a piece of whole grain toast as snacks instead of processed foods like chips and crackers or sugar based sweets
- Eat when you’re hungry, not because you are depressed or feeling bored
- Do not skip meals
- Eat small portions of food and avoid overeating
- Avoid eating while watching television or while driving
- It helps to have a support system, like family and friends, to encourage you when the going get though
- Set weight loss goals and tell your family about it
- Keep a food diary and get into the habit of keeping record of what you eat
So there you have it, 15 top diet tips. Select your diet
The World Health Report estimates that more than 300 million people worldwide are obese and that 750 million more are overweight. The estimate by the International Obesity Task Force that 22 million of the world’s children under 5 are overweight or obese are surely an indication that obesity is escalating.
Our list of recommended diets and weight loss programs.
Research on obesity suggests five main causes of obesity
Overconsumption of food
Consuming more calories than our daily energy needs is considered as a possible root cause of increase of obesity in our modern society. Sales figures of the fast food ads soft drink industries is a definite indication of the increased consumption of high calorie foods. When over consumption occurs the surplus calories are stored as body fat.
Eating too many high-fat and and food containing refined sugar
There is evidence that the type of food people eat an significant role play in the worldwide increase in obesity. Research continue to link more and more metabolic and digestive disorders with insufficient fiber intake combined with the overconsumption of fats and refined white flour carbohydrates. Eating patterns like this interfere with the food and energy metabolism in the body which contribute to excessive fat storage. Associated “modern” diseases include insulin resistance, types of diabetes and obesity. These diseases are rapidly increasing worldwide.
Reduced energy expenditure
If people burn less calories than they eat, their calorie surplus is stored as fat. A simple calculation illustrate this best, if a person consumes 100 more food calories a day than the person burns, the person will gain about 1 pound a month, which could lead to a weight increase of about 10 pounds in a year. Over two decades this excessive calorie intake will cause a weight gain of 200 pounds! Lack of exercise and fitness capacity is a possible root cause of obesity.
Family influence
Family diet and lifestyle patterns are considered a major contributory cause to obesity and more specific modern child obesity. Parental behavioral patterns pertaining aspects such as diet, shopping, cooking, eating and exercise, have an important influence on a child’s eating, playing and exercising habits, their body energy demand and ultimately their weight. It is clear that family influence also extends to adult obesity, it is a fact that obese children and adolescents frequently grow up to become obese adults.
Genetic causes of modern obesity
A number of weight-related processes in the body, such as blood glucose metabolism, fat-storage, metabolic rate and hormones are affected by genetic factors. Studies of adopted children indicate that adopted children tend to develop weight problems similar to their biological, rather than adoptive, parents. Infants born to overweight mothers have been found to be less active and to gain more weight by the age of three months than infants of normal weight mothers. Research has also indicate that normal-weight children of obese parents may have a lower metabolic rate than normal-weight children of non-obese parents, which can lead to weight problems in adulthood. This all support the theory that a predisposition to obesity can be inherited. However, the fact that obesity has increased so much in the modern society appears to discount genetics as the main cause as genetic factors can not explain the rise in obesity.
Most successful diets are directed toward a slow, steady and natural weight loss. For more information regarding weight loss please check the list of recommended diets and weight loss programs.
