What Everyone Should Know About Losing Weight

Whether you’re a low-carbohydrate consumer, a high-carbohydrate consumer, or a “carrot soup and tuna only” consumer, there is one key to weight loss many of us do not like to face; exercise. Americans in the U.S. are at the heaviest they have ever been. Our sedentary jobs and lack of movement in general have brought our calorie burning to an all time low. The USDA reports that the average daily caloric intake is around 3000 calories per day. If you want to lose weight, the bottom line is calories consumed versus calories burned.

In the days of old where people walked where they needed to go, watched little to no television and their work was physically demanding, it was possible for them to eat fat and calorie laden meals. Have you ever seen anyone on The Little House on the Prairie sit down to a grilled chicken salad? We have to eat this way because WE DON’T MOVE!

Nowadays, when people think about trying to lose weight they automatically set up their daily eating plan of lettuce and 3 chickpeas. Deprivation of nutrition will not help you lose weight and will most definitely help you binge your way up even higher than you are now.

Have you tried every diet out there and none of them are working? Are you wondering when that secret diet will come along that melts the fat off with little to no effort? Many experts agree that there is absolutely no diet in existence that will help anyone to lose weight and keep it off by abiding by its precepts alone. Fad diets may accomplish temporary weight loss, but it is improbable that someone could abide by such an eating plan for the remainder of their life. Extreme diets can destroy your metabolism, leaving your body in a worse state than when you began. Only a nutritious diet and exercise combined can achieve permanent weight loss.

Your body has an average amount of calories it burns in a day just from being alive. That’s right, even while you are sleeping your body is using calories to perform its necessary functions. What does this mean to you? By doing a search on any internet search engine you will find a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator. By inputting your individual information, you will receive a number which is said to be the amount of calories you burn in a 24 hour period. Let’s say the calculator gave you a number of 1800. If you only consumed 1800 calories per day and did not exert yourself whatsoever, you would maintain your current weight. However, if you found a way to move enough to burn 500 calories per day and still only consumed the 1800, in seven days you would be one pound lighter as you must burn 3500 calories to lose one pound of fat.

Up until this year, the USDA recommended a minimum thirty minutes of exercise per day. Now they recommend one full hour of exercise per day. Even one hour of exercise is really a bare minimum when you consider that the average daily caloric intake is in the 3000’s. Also consider that not only does exercise burn calories but it also releases feel-good endorphins, gives a sense of well-being and curbs junk food cravings.

Seventy percent of Americans are considered overweight or obese. If you are in this category, don’t stay in it. Get moving! Park you car in the furthest place from the store. Walk to the corner store instead of driving. Plan family activities where the whole family can get some exercise. Find hobbies that require you to move, such as sports. At work, get up from your desk and take brief walks to get your heart pumping. Find a workout buddy. Do anything in your power to cease your sedentary lifestyle and get moving!