Permanent Weight Loss - Healthy Ways to Succeed

There are many diets that may help you to lose weight but as soon as they are finished, the pounds start to creep back on, and then within a few months you are back where you started, probably feeling very de-motivated and frustrated. Most diets are focused on short term goals and do not educate us on long term changes that can easily be made to our diet and lifestyle to ensure we lose weight healthily and permanently.

Well the secret is to lose weight slowly and gradually, which is healthier for you, as the body does not like any sudden changes, so aiming for losing a couple of pounds each week is ideal.

1. One of the most important things is to increase the amount of physical activity you do on a regular basis, which will help to burn calories, and tone and strengthen the body. This doesn’t have to mean using expensive weight loss plans, diet aids or spending hours in the gym, just simply walking for 20 minutes 3 times each week or joining a dance class will help you to get fitter and slimmer. If you have friends that like cycling, swimming or even yoga, why not join their group? Whichever type of exercise you choose, it will help to burn fat fast.

Exercise is a metabolism booster, and your metabolism determines the rate at which your body burns calories - the higher it is, the more successful you will be in achieving permanent weight loss. Exercise helps to build muscle tissue in the body which in turn burns calories at a rate that is ten times higher than that of fat tissue.

2. Cut back on the amount of carbohydrates in your diet and reduce your intake of unhealthy fats. Increase the amount of foods in your diet that are high in fibre and low in fat, such as brown bread, pasta, rice and also fruit and vegetables, which will fill you up fast and are healthier for you.

To make the body use up its stores of fat, reduce your calorie intake …. which doesn’t mean living on a diet of lettuce for months on end! Switch to skimmed milk instead of whole fat milk and if you must, use a sweetener instead of sugar in your tea or coffee. Fizzy drinks can be replaced with water or fruit juices and cutting down on alcohol as much as possible will help you to reduce calories, as will eating slightly smaller portions.

Remember it is important to introduce changes gradually, and also to have realistic expectations. Making a number of small changes to your diet and lifestyle is the easiest way to shed unwanted pounds permanently. Eating one extra biscuit a day can lead to a 5 pound weight gain over the course of a year, so if you eat 1 biscuit less a day, you should lose 5 pounds!

So by reducing your calorie intake together with an increase in your physical activity, you can lose weight both healthily and permanently

Losing weight can improve your health, increase energy levels, reduce stress and is useful in preventing and reversing disease.

For more great diet advice and how you can maximise your metabolism click here now.

Sandra