The decision to lose weight and get healthy is a huge one, and an important one. But it’s also one that many people go back on, finding it too difficult and losing motivation. The biggest reason that people find losing weight difficult is because they fail to understand how weight loss works.
With so much information being thrown at us every day about dieting and keeping fit, it can be difficult to realise the true essence of weight loss. Basically weight loss comes down to two factors, one far more important than the other, but both are involved.
So let’s have a look at how weight loss works, so you can keep in mind that whilst it may not be easy, it is a biological process that given the correct methods will happen over time.
The Most Important Thing
Weight loss boils down to one huge thing. The less calories you eat, the more weight you will lose. That’s the number one rule of losing weight. This does not mean that you should eat unhealthily, or an unbalanced diet, since doing this will generally backfire.
But in essence, you must consume less to lose more. You must work to get a caloric deficit, meaning more calories are being burnt than are being consumed. However, there is a small caveat.
Your calories need to be healthy ones, and need to be part of a balanced diet. Consuming less calories does not mean skipping meals, or having your daily intake in the form of a couple of chocolate bars.
Why? Well, essentially, initially, these things will make you lose weight. If you eat only breakfast, or only two chocolate bars a day, calories out will be more than calories in and you will shed pounds. But, and there’s always a but, by practising unhealthy eating habits one of two things is likely to happen.
Firstly, you are likely to get sick. Your body needs certain nutrients, and you will not get them if you are not eating properly, therefore your body will cease to function properly.
Secondly, you will fall off the wagon.
By eating badly you are going to feel bad. You will lack energy, you will be tired, you will be bad tempered, and you will eventually give in and eat. Once this happens, you lose all motivation and begin to practice your old unhealthy eating habits.
Yes, you must have a caloric deficit. But it must be a healthy one. This is how you lose weight. Forget the gimmicks, the magic pills, the one simple secret to losing belly fat. The one simple secret is this: eat less. Period.
The Slightly Less Important Thing
There is another component to losing weight, and you can probably guess what it is. Exercise. But here’s where things get a little confusing. You should not exercise to lose weight. In fact, the more you exercise, the hungrier you are going to feel, and the more you will eat.
So as a weight loss strategy, exercise is quite a bad one. However, exercise does play a part in weight loss. Exercise creates and maintains muscle. This is good for two reasons. Firstly, muscle is what makes you look good, and therefore feel good. Losing weight is excellent, but the great muscle tone is what gives you the sexy look. And the better you look, the more motivated you are going to be.
And secondly, muscle helps your body burn calories because it is metabolically active tissue. So don’t stop going to the gym, it is still important. But try not to think of exercise as a weight loss technique, it is more of a maintenance technique, though a necessary one. In the battle to lose weight and become a healthy person, the only real secret is to do what you know needs to be done.
Burn those calories, eat less, maintain muscle. These are the things that work.