The quest for weight loss has led many to resort to unhealthy alternatives such as pills, surgery, and starvation. While sometimes these work, they ruin the body's immune system. And eventually, the lost weight comes back faster than one can imagine.
Losing Weight Is A Mind Game
If you want to lose weight, you have to don the role of a thinker. Losing weight is not only about working out at the gym, following a balanced diet, or starving yourself so you do not eat the 'sin foods'. It is a scientific approach that should help you understand your body, and devise the correct, customized plan that works for you.
Google the keyword phrase "weight loss plans for women" and you will be astonished to see over 98,300,000 results! Is it ever possible for you to make yourself a guinea pig and experiment with those millions of ways to lose weight?
Let us talk about 'real' ways to lose weight effectively. And these methods will hurt neither your body nor your pocket.
Read Your Body
Before you even set out on a workout and diet plan to lose weight, you should understand your genetics. For example, it does not make sense for a person with persistent knee pain to run or jog for hours. Isn't it?
Weight loss is not an overnight affair. Over time, you will be experimenting with different workouts and diet plans. Accept what works for you and dismiss that does not.
Do Not Compare
"ABC method worked on my friend; why it does not work for me?" This approach will take you nowhere. Two people kept on the same diet, following the same workout routine, and sleeping for the same hours, will still yield different results.
Progressive Overload
This is by far the most effective principle for losing weight. What it means is that you gradually build up the stamina to either perform more repetitions of an exercise, or spend more time working out. For example, you can start with brisk walking for 20 minutes for 2 days, then 30 minutes for 2 days, then 40 minutes and so on. Alternatively, you can increase the intensity (keeping the duration same).
This way, your body will always be 'shocked', thus preventing 'plateaus'.
Motivation
While it may sound repetitive and boring, 'motivation' does hold an important role in achieving your goals. If you do not remain motivated, you will gradually lose momentum. One way to keep it going is to listen to music while exercising. Throughout the duration of your weight loss program, you can watch videos of people who worked hard to change their physiques.
You can also read articles related to health and fitness to remain motivated, and to learn new things.
There are several more ways to lose weight. We shall discuss more about weight loss exercises, diet plans, calorie counter, and other related topics in next articles.