There is the hormonal reason for being overweight, and then there is the calories reason for being overweight. This post does not apply to people who are overweight because of hormones.
If you are overweight because of eating, and you want to lose weight, then here is a plan.
First of all, you should not target losing more than 1 pound per week. It is just not sustainable and can't be done in a natural way. The trick to losing weight is to work out more than eating.
The workouts should be slow and stretched out. If you walk, then walking at 4km/h for 1 hour is better than walking 8km/h for 30 minutes, although you cover the same distance, you end up burning more calories because you are moving longer. If you cycle, again, cycle slowly for longer time. This additionally ensures that you don't develop muscle. If you work out fast, you tend to develop muscle. If you workout slowly, you will burn calories. People who workout fast tend to notice an increase in weight initially. This is because fat gets converted to muscle and muscles weigh more than fat. Workouts such as push ups, crunches etc will not help at all. Skipping rope is the best thing, because you stay in one place and can stop when ever you want, and the cost of the equipment is way cheaper than those walking machines or cycling. The shoes will probably be the most expensive part of this purchase. If you do decide to skip rope, please do it properly. If you are walking leisurly, say one step every half second, you will burn approx 20kcals every 10 mins. so walk for 100 mins, which is roughly 1.5 hours and you lose 200kcals. In a week, this will be 1200 kcals or just under 0.5 pounds.
Stop snacking. Ration your food and drink. Reducing your food intake reduce the other side of 0.5 pounds. Bringing your goal of 1 pound per week in sight.
All liabilities disclaimed. Nothing given here should be considered advice. Consult your doctor before experimenting.
2008-04-28
Losing Weight
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2 comments:
Sounds good but can you mention about the eating habits and how that can help in painless journey towards weight loss
@abhilash:
The idea is to start burning more calories than you take in. So instead of prescribing a diet, what I think is that just eating lesser of whatever it is that you are eating will reduce your calorie intake, while doing exercises, even if they are mild will increase your calorie burn. So, if you are surviving on pizza and beer, continue to do so, but reduce from 6 slices to say 4 slices, and from 3 cans to say 1 can. Not saying that this particular diet is good for you, just saying that this would be a step forward towards losing weight.
My thinking is that it is very difficult to change ones lifestyle. Most of the times the effort to reduce weight fails not because of inability to commit to the goal itself, but because of the inability to adjust to a lifestyle different from what one is used to, and different from those around us.
The only objective should be to get the weight to a level where your BMI is nornal. The precondition of changing ones lifestyle to achieve that is too much pressure.
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